The Feeling Of Bliss In Bliss By Katherine Mansfield

In the short story “Bliss” by Katherine Mansfield, Mansfield writes about a thirty-year-old woman name Bertha Young, who stubbornly clings on the feeling of bliss. Even though the story is told in third person, most of the narration can be assume to be in Bertha Young’s perspective. The story starts off with Bertha suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of bliss when she realizes that she lives a privileged life. As the story progresses though, the narrator exposes how different sources of Bertha’s bliss are not what she has depicted them to be. Bertha’s feeling of bliss is ironic, because as the story progresses, it becomes more apparent that Bertha’s feeling of bliss is a mask for everything that her life lacks.
Bertha’s problems are rooted …show more content…
Although she “appreciates’ Harry and “his passion for fighting,” she does not acknowledge the fact that Harry is not fighting for their marriage; they are “really good pals” (5). Harry treats Bertha like a child by constantly bring up her stomach problems. Although “Bertha liked this and almost admired it,” this just exemplifies how Bertha is masking the flaws in her life with the feeling of bliss. Towards the end of the story, Harry swifts the mood when he suddenly decides to escort Miss Fulton out the house. Bertha’s feeling of bliss turns to utter confusion and denial when she interprets Harry’s and Miss Fulton’s embrace when Miss Fulton leaves--the focal point of the end of the story. Just like how Bertha was overwhelmed with the feeling of bliss, she is now overwhelmed with what is going on between Harry and Miss Fulton that she just questions the pear …show more content…
The pear tree symbolizes Bertha. She heavily focuses on the pear tree in the story that, although she states that her outfit for the night was not purposely mimicking the pear tree, it does. Nevertheless, Miss Fulton and Bertha’s odd connection becomes more apparent when both of them are admiring the pear tree. Towards the end of the story—when Bertha is trying to comprehend what she just saw between Harry and Miss Fulton—Miss Fulton murmurs “your lovely pear tree” (12). Bertha repeats those four words and puts all her emotions onto the pear tree. Bertha even starts to think the pear tree is mocking her. As the story concludes, Bertha admiration for the pear tree, another source of her bliss, diminishes, also with everything she admires, when she realizes that the pear tree did not change as her whole life is unraveling. In addition, Bertha realization of how lonely she really is when everything—her love for her baby, Husband, and Miss Fulton—seems to be fantasized by her own