'Bliss,' is a modern short story by Katherine
Mansfield (1888-1923), It was first published in the English review in
August 1918 and later reprinted in 'Bliss and Other Stories'. 'Bliss' by Katherine
Mansfield is a character driven story. The protagonist of the story, Bertha,
experiences a sense of rapture as she reflects on her life. Which later turns
to disappointment and registration as she discovers that her husband is having
a love affair with her friend.
At the beginning of the story, we find the principal
character, named – Bertha Young, who is the protagonist of the story, Bertha Young
is a wealthy, middle class woman who marries to Harry and
has a young daughter, Little B. Bertha is a sociable woman who seems to feel things
very strongly and who wishes to be open about her emotions. She is “prevented
from approaching life in this frank way”, however, because of the
rules of propriety governing British society of the period. She does not have a
bold or daring personality and, for this reason, there has “trouble
questioning the authority of people around her or being honest about her own
wishes.”
The story starts with Bertha in a
blissful mood as her party approaches, as "she
considers the specialness and unconventionality of her mood".
The maid has prepared a colourful fruit tray for the party, which Bertha
will arrange. Nanny
reluctantly lets Bertha hold her. The moment of connection with her
daughter brings her more bliss.
Bertha thinks ahead to who will attend the party in the
evening. A couple, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Knight (close friends of Bertha and Harry), Eddie
Warren, a neurotic and sought-after writer, and Pearl, a
strange, mysterious young woman that Bertha has taken a liking to after
meeting at a club. As she prepares the drawing room cushions, Bertha
recalls how Harry has declared that he finds Pearl dull. She is sure there is
much more to her.
In the dinner party, With everyone present, the meal begins.
Compliments are paid regarding the food as theatre is discussed, and Bertha is
overcome again by a sense of bliss, delighting in the company she has chosen.
She thinks of the perfect “ pear tree in the moonlight in the garden,” as she
wonders how she can feel so connected to Pearl. She is somehow sure that
Pearl must be feeling the same.
Lastly, Bertha thinks about how her husband is being quite rude to Pearl, which upsets Bertha.
She decides that she will try to find a way to explain to him what she
and Pearl have shared, but she also realises that soon the party will
end. And As the guests begin to leave to catch their trains and taxis, Harry goes to help Pearl with her coat in the hallway,
which Bertha
appreciates considering his earlier brusqueness. As the final guests leave, “Harry
nonchalantly locks up behind them”. Uncertain about the future, Bertha runs to her garden
window and gazes upon her perfect tree, "as lovely as ever."
To conclude, Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Bliss”
chronicles a day in the life of thirty-year-old Bertha
Young. Bertha’s feeling of “bliss” in the story comes from her attraction to Pearl
Fulton, a woman she has recently become friends with. Although Bertha
married, she comes across as sexually naïve and has never “desired” her
husband. Not coincidentally, she feels sexually attracted to him “for
the first time in her life”
in which "homosexuality was neither legal nor socially acceptable
and was rarely discussed in polite society", Bertha’s
sexual desire towards Pearl is
depicted ambiguously and in terms of forbidden desire. This reflects the
repressive nature of propriety in this period and Mansfield’s
criticism of a society in which people are forced to conceal feelings of love
and desire for the sake of social convention.
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