When the play opens, what shows that this is a middle class family

The doll house itself represents middle to upper class.Before being brought into the home, the doll’s house—so large it needs to be carried by the carter and Pat, the Burnell’s servant—is set on wooden boxes in the courtyard. It smells strongly of fresh paint; in Aunt Beryl’s opinion, strongly enough to make one ill.

The doll’s house is painted a dark, oily, spinach-green color with bright yellow accents. It has real glass windows, white and red chimneys, and a yellow door that resembles a slab of toffee. It is a perfect little house—who, the narrator asks, could mind the smell, which is part of the doll’s house’s joy and newness.