In Mansfield's "The Stranger"

Marriage, a reoccurring theme in many of the stories within The Garden Party and Other Stories is central to "The Stranger." Mansfield pointedly refers to the main characters as Mr. and Mrs. and establishes a tone of wary expectation when Mr. Hammond is waiting for his wife’s ship to come in. He tells everyone gathered at the dock all about Janey and how proud he is of her, and how he will soon be reunited with her. Mr. Hammond is both excited and expectant, assuming Janey will be exactly as he remembered her. Yet he senses something is wrong once they are alone together, despite her reassurances to the contrary. He does not posses the wherewithal to separate his desperate desire for physical contact with his need to protect and care for Janey. Marriage to Mr. Hammond is akin to ownership; he loves his wife but years to possess her. Janey in turn, seems to find her husband’s over-attentiveness draining and yet she seems unsurprised by his behavior. She submits to his will only to a point and then withdraws.