| Title | : | Bliss |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0141196130 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780141196138 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 70 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1918 |
Bliss Reviews
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“What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss - absolute bliss! - as though you’d suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?...”
It sounds horribly twee, doesn’t it? Stick with it. What sounds too good to be true is bound to be so.
Bertha Young (nominative determinism in the surname?) comes home to prepare for a dinner party. The first hint of something less than perfect is, as often with Mansfield, indicated by clothes:
“Bertha threw off her coat; she could not bear the tight clasp of it another moment.”
She goes to the nursery, but the nurse scolds her for coming at the wrong moment. It’s her own baby!
“She was young. Harry and she were as much in love as ever, and they got on together splendidly and were really good pals. She had an adorable baby. They didn’t have to worry about money. They had this absolutely satisfactory house and garden. And friends - modern, thrilling friends, writers and painters and poets or people keen on social questions - just the kind of friends they wanted. And then there were books, and there was music, and she had found a wonderful little dressmaker, and they were going abroad in the summer, and their new cook made the most superb omelettes…”
Not quite bliss, then.
Back to dinner party prep. The guests include:
“A ‘find’ of Bertha’s called Pearl Fulton… Bertha had fallen in love with her, as she always did fall in love with beautiful women who had something strange about them.”
They gaze out to the garden:
“At the far end, against the wall, there was a tall, slender pear tree in fullest, richest bloom; it stood perfect, as though becalmed against the jade-green sky.”
The symbolism is explicit:
“She seemed to see on her eyelids the lovely pear tree with its wide open blossoms as a symbol of her own life.”
Image: “Blossoming Pear Tree” by Van Gogh (
Source)
Pearl and a pear tree - nominative determinism again?
From comfortable contentment, Mansfield, as so often, takes the story in another direction.
More Mansfield
• The Garden Party. See my review
HERE. It explores manners, class, and expectations, singed by death.
• The Daughters of the Late Colonel. See my review
HERE. It explores manners, class, and expectations, singed by death.
• Miss Brill. See my review
HERE. It’s a very short vignette of loneliness.
• You can read this story, and others,
HERE.
Pram in the hall
This story has the line:
“‘This is a sad, sad fall!’ said Mug, pausing in front of Little B’s perambulator. ‘When the perambulator comes into the hall - ‘ and he waved the rest of the quotation away.”
The idea is invariably credited to Cyril Connolly, as: “There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall.” But he was born in 1903, and this story was published in 1920, and Mansfield suggests it was already a quotation. -
Bliss by Katherine Mansfield. First published in 1918.
What we have here is a story featuring a well-to-do young wife and mother, Bertha Young, wherein we follow her arrival home one afternoon, her preparation for a dinner party, and presentation of the dinner party itself. What I found was story with not well disguised nor subtle sexual components - tension, repression, fantasy and sexual longing affecting Bertha, her husband, Harry, and a dinner guest, Miss Pearl Fulton.
The other dinner guests add some levity and distraction to the main theme, but not for long.
Recommended for fans of Katherine Mansfield and of early 20th century posh culture. -
Bliss
by Katherine Mansfield
*SUMMARY:
‘Bliss’’ opens with Bertha Young reflecting on how wonderful her life is. As she walks home, she is overwhelmed by a feeling of bliss; she feels tremendously content with her home, her husband, her baby, and her friends.
داستان با برتا یونگ شروع میشود. برتا زنی سی ساله و همسر هری یونگ است. ابتدای داستان بازتابی است از شادی و رضایت برتا. همانگونه به خانه می رود می رقصد و میدود و نمیتواند معمولی راه برود. بسسار از خانه و همسر و دوستان و فرزندش راضی است.
At home, she begins to prepare for a dinner party she is having that evening. She reflects on the guests that will be arriving soon: Mr. and Mrs. Knight, an artistic couple; Eddie Warren, a playwright; and Pearl Fulton, Bertha’s newest friend. Bertha wishes that her husband, Harry, would like Pearl; he has expressed some misgivings over the women’s burgeoning friendship and Bertha hopes they will eventually become friends too.
برتا در خانه مشغول آشپزی برای مهمانی شب است.. قرار است زوجی هنرمند به خانه آنها بیاید. همچنین آرزو میکند که همسرش آنان را دوست داشته باشد.
As Bertha waits for her guests, she looks out on her garden. Her enjoyment of a pear tree with wide open blossoms, which she sees as representing herself, is ruined by two cats creeping across the lawn. Bertha meditates on how happy she is and how perfect her life is. She goes upstairs to dress, and soon thereafter her guests and husband arrive for dinner.
زمانی که بارتا منتظر مهمانان است، از پنجره به بیرون نگاه میکند و درخت گلابی با شکوفه های بازش را میبیند که به وسیله دو گربه آسیب دیده است. این درخت در واقع نشان دهنده شخصیت و زندگی بارتا است. بارتا سعی میکند با تمرکز و اندیشیدن به خوبی های زندگی اش این تفکرات را از خود دور کند. در همین حال مهمان ها و همسرش از راه می رسند.
The group moves into the dining room, where they eat with relish and discuss the contemporary theater and literary scene. Bertha thinks about the pear tree again. She also senses that Pearl shares her feelings of bliss, and she is simply waiting for a sign from the other woman to show her recognition of the empathy between them.
به اتاق غذاخوری رفته و شروع به بحث در مورد تئاتر و صحنه های ادبی میکنند. او رضایت را در چهره مهمانش (پرل) نیز می بیند و منتظر زمانی است که زن احساس خود را بیان کند. در همین حال دوباره به درخت گلابی می اندیشد.
After dinner, as Bertha is about to make the coffee, Pearl gives her the sign by asking if Bertha has a garden. Bertha pulls apart the curtains to display the garden and the pear tree. Bertha imagines that Pearl responds positively to the tree, but she is not sure if it really happened.
Over coffee, the group talks about a variety of topics. Bertha perceives Harry’s dislike for Pearl and wants to tell him how much she has shared with her friend. She is suddenly overcome by a feeling of sexual desire for her husband. This is the first time she has felt this way, and she is eager for the guests to leave so she can be alone with Harry. After the Knights leave, Pearl and Eddie are set to share a taxi. As Pearl goes to the hall to get her coat, Harry accompanies her. Eddie asks Bertha if she has a certain book of poems. Bertha goes to retrieve the book from a nearby table. As she looks out into the hallway, she sees her husband and Pearl embrace and make arrangements to meet the next day. Pearl reenters the room to thank Bertha for the party. The two guests leave and Harry, still cool and collected, says he will shut up the house. Bertha runs to the window to look at the pear tree. She cries ‘‘‘Oh, what is going to happen now?’’’ but outside the pear tree is just the same as ever.
بعد از شام برتا میخواهد قهوه درست کند. پرل یکدلی خود را با سوال کردن از برتا در مورد باغچه نشان میدهد. برا پرده را کنار زده و امیدوار است که پرل نیز چنین احساس مثبتی نسبت به درخت گلابی داشته باشد، اما مطمعن نیست.
بعد از قهوه در مورد مطالب مختلفی حرف میزنند. اما برتا حس میکند که شوهرش پرل را دوست ندارد و برتا میخواهد تا به شوهرش از احساس مشترک خود و پرل بگوید. اما ناگهان علاقه ی شدید جنسی به شوهرش پیدا میکند، طوری که تا بحال چنین حسی نداشته و می خواهد زودتر با همسرش تنها شود. ادی از بارتا میخواهد که برای او کتاب شعری بیاورد. وقتی برتا از بیرون راهرو نگاه میکند، همسرش را میبیند که پرل را در آغوش کشیده و برای دیدار مجدد فردا با پرل قرار میگذارد !
پرل دوباره وارد اتاق میشود تا از بارتا برای مهمانی تشکر کند.
برتا به سمت پنجره می رود و با خود میگوید :" حالا چه اتفاقی قرار است بی افتد" اما بیرون درخت گلابی مثل همیشه است.
*Characters:
Pearl Fulton
Pearl Fulton is Bertha’s enigmatic مرموزnew friend in the story. With her indirect way of looking at people and her half-smile, she appears distant and mysterious. Although Bertha acknowledges that she and Pearl have not had a really intimate conversation, on the night of the dinner party Bertha senses an intimate attachment between them. This feeling of attachment is confirmed when Bertha discovers that Pearl is having an affair with her husband, Harry.
Mrs. Knight
Mrs. Knight and her husband are guests at Bertha’s dinner party. Though she is ‘‘awfully keen on interior decoration,’’ Mrs. Knight dresses herself in wild clothing and resembles a giant banana peel.
Norman Knight
Norman Knight is about to open a theater that will show thoroughly modern plays.
Eddie Warren
Eddie Warren is an effeminate زن صفت playwright. He is described as always being ‘‘in a state of acute distress’’ and over the course of the evening complains about his taxi ride to the party.
Bertha Young
Bertha, a young housewife, is the main character in the story. Despite the fact that the story is told from her perspective, readers learn few concrete details about her. She appears to enjoy a fairly leisurely life, as she and her husband are financially comfortable. However, though she claims she and her husband are ‘‘pals,’’ her home life would seem not as ideal as she views it; her marriage lacks passion, and the nanny clearly keeps her at a distance from her young daughter.
Bertha’s most notable characteristic is her inexplicable state of happiness. As the story opens, she is pleased with all life offers her. During her dinner party, she seems to find joy in almost everything she sees: the lovely pear tree in the garden, which seems to represent both herself and Pearl Fulton. She even sexually desires her husband for the first time in her life and looks forward to spending the rest of the evening alone with him. By the end of the story, however, this world in which Bertha finds such pleasure is shattered when she discovers that her husband is having an affair with Pearl.
Harry Young
Harry is Bertha’s husband. He provides a good income for his family, enjoys good food, and has a zest for life. However, his most notable characteristic is his duplicitous دوگانهnature: while he declares to Bertha that he finds Pearl Fulton dull, he is secretly engaged in a love affair with her. In fact, during the dinner party, he pretends to dislike Pearl. Yet he risks exposure of the affair when he embraces Pearl in the hallway while his wife is in the next room.
*Themes
Marriage and Adultery
The themes of marriage and adultery are central to ‘‘Bliss.’’ Bertha believes (or makes herself believe) she has a fulfilling, complete marriage. Although she characterizes her husband as a good pal, she still contends they are as much in love as they ever were.
*The climactic( THE CLIMAX) event of the story—Bertha’s realization of Harry’s affair with Pearl—proves that her husband does not share his wife’s contentment. As Harry’s affair demonstrates, he is not happy with the lack of passion in their marriage. Harry’s actions reveal his duplicitous nature: not only has Harry been hiding the affair from his wife, he also pretends to dislike Pearl in order to cover it up. The risk that Harry takes in kissing Pearl in his own home, as well as his method of hiding his true feelings, indicate the likelihood that he and Pearl share a very strong connection.
Change and Transformation
Change and transformation are subtle themes in the story. Bertha’s extreme sense of bliss, along with her new feelings of desire for her husband, show that she is undergoing a profound change in her life. She wonders if the feeling of bliss that she had all day was actually leading up to her increased attraction to her husband. At the end of the story, she wants nothing more than for the guests to leave so she can be alone with Harry.
Bertha’s transformation into a sexual being is abruptly halted when she sees her husband kissing Pearl
Fulton. She realizes that she can no longer look at her world as perfect, nor can she move forward to a new relationship with Harry. When she runs to the window to look at the pear tree she finds that it is ‘‘as lovely as ever and as full of flower and as still.’’ This is a clear sign that the change Bertha has undergone will be brought to an abrupt halt, for the pear tree—which is seen to represent Bertha— remains exactly the same.
Modernity
The concept of modernity is an important aspect of the story. Bertha constantly characterizes the elements of her life—her relationship with her husband and her friends, for instance—as being thoroughly modern.
However, Bertha’s view of modernity would seem to be a liking for things that are shallow, superficial, and duplicitous. She has rationalized her poor sexual relationship with her husband as ‘‘being modern’’ because they are such good pals. Thus, in Bertha’s mind, a modern marriage needn’t be based on love or attraction but simply on the bonds that would make two people friends.
Her view of the modern marriage hurts her relationship with Harry as he experiences dissatisfaction at the state of their relationship. Even Bertha and Harry’s philosophy of raising children is perceived as modern.
Bertha seems to spend little time with her daughter, instead entrusting her to a jealous nanny; moreover, Harry claims to have no interest in his daughter.
Bertha’s friends are also considered thoroughly modern—but they appear utterly ridiculous. Mrs. Knight is described as a cross between a giant monkey and a banana peel. Her modern ideas for decorating—including
French fries embroidered on the curtains and chair backs shaped like frying pans— seem distasteful and ugly.
Plays and poems mentioned by the guests seem dismal and pseudointellectual, and the satire reaches a high point in Eddie Warren’s lauding of a poem that begins, ‘‘Why Must it Always be Tomato Soup?’’ The guests and their interests, rather than seeming ‘‘modern’’ and ‘‘thrilling,’’ seem merely excessive and absurd.
*Symbolism
The most important and complicated symbol in ‘‘Bliss’’ is the pear tree: it represents different people at different times throughout the story. First and foremost, it represents Bertha because she believes that ‘‘its wide open blossoms [are] as symbol of her own life.’’ When Bertha first notices the tree, she is intent on pursuing the belief that her life is full and rich, open to wondrous possibilities.
Later on in the story the pear represents Pearl Fulton. Like the pear tree, Pearl, dressed in silver, emits a shimmery, ethereal glow. Thus both Pearl and Bertha—who are actually rivals—are connected to each other by association with the pear tree.
However, the pear tree also takes on a masculine identity in its phallic description: ‘‘it seemed, like the flame of a candle, to stretch up, to point, to quiver in the bright air, to grow taller and taller’’ under the gaze of the women. In this manifestation, the pear tree can be seen as representing Harry, who further unites the two women.
In addition, the pear tree seems to be reaching toward the moon, which previously had been identified with Pearl. Thus Harry’s sexual desire, which Bertha now wants for herself, is clarified as reaching toward Pearl, not Bertha.
*The point of view is third-person limited.
*Satire
Satire is the use of humor, wit, or ridicule to criticize human nature and societal institutions. Indirect satire, as found in ‘‘Bliss,’’ relies upon the ridiculous behavior of characters to make its point. Bertha describes her friends as ‘‘modern’’ and ‘‘thrilling’’ people, yet they are presented as ridiculous figures. Mrs. Knight resembles some kind of monkey, wearing a dress reminiscent of banana peels. The most notable characteristic of Eddie Warren, who appears to be a writer, is his white socks and his affected way of speaking. -
“How absurd it was. Why have a baby if it has to be kept- not in a case like a rare, rare fiddle- but in another woman’s arms?”
It is a beautiful afternoon and Bertha Young, married with child, feels an intense feeling of nervous happiness she doesn’t really understand as she prepares for her dinner party that evening. Everything points to a wonderful future. Katherine Mansfield is one of my all-time favorites and I reviewed her ‘Collected Works’ three or four years ago, but have always felt the inadequacy of reviewing a whole book of stories when each individual one is itself a work of art. I was happy to see her short stories receiving individual reviews and felt I would add to them. Revisiting its themes of perception and reality. and of the restraints against flourishing, meant rereading it was a joy. Mansfield is always to be recommended! -
Although Bertha Young was thirty she still had moments like this when she wanted to run instead of walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement, to bowl a hoop, to throw something up in the air and catch it again, or to stand still and laugh at—nothing—at nothing, simply.
What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly by a feeling of bliss—absolute bliss!—as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe? . . .
*shrugs* -
Un relato que es una delicia.
Ganas de seguir descubriendo lo que esconde Katherine Mansfield.
Las gracias son para el sitio Eterna Cadencia:
http://eternacadencia.com.ar/blog/hyp...
Leído aquí:
http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/cuen...
Información biográfica de la autora, aquí:
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?i...
17.02.2016
Sigo leyendo a Katherine Mansfield a sorbitos. Hoy, "El canario":
http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/cuen...
Un relato de tintes poéticos sobre la soledad y la melancolía.
24.06.2016
Después de descubrir gracias a Mª Ángeles Cabré que Katherine Mansfield fue una de las autoras favoritas de las escritoras Isak Dinesen y Carson McCullers, yo, por mi parte, le sigo rindiendo pleitesía también.
Leí "La mosca":
http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/cuen...
Un relato sobre la crueldad de la guerra y el instinto de supervivencia.
Vila- Matas opina lo siguiente: "Pero mi amiga no era Marguerite Duras, más bien estaba emparentada con el entrañable Olmo y, sobre todo, con Katherine Mansfield, cuentista neozelandesa que escribió "La mosca", uno de los mejores cuentos del siglo pasado. En ese cuento, con su habitual poesía de lo mínimo y lo fugaz —con ese tipo de melancolía que a Proust, por ejemplo, le permitía describir los destellos del crepúsculo sobre los árboles del Bois de Boulogne—, narraba la entrada en los dominios de la muerte y la salida a la vida una y otra vez de una mosca atrapada en un borrón de tinta: una enfermedad literaria.
Sospecho que esa mosca era la propia Katherine Mansfield, que se pasó media vida luchando contra la tuberculosis, contra la muerte: "Los relojes están dando las diez [...] tengo tuberculosis. Hay una gran cantidad de humedad (y dolor) en mi pulmón malo". La enfermedad fue el eje de su vida atormentada y hablaba de ella en su diario de forma obsesiva, del mismo modo que la mosca que mató mi amiga podría haber hablado, largo y tendido, de su tuberculosis particular: la humedad del martini blanco."
*Fragmento sacado de este artículo:
http://www.letraslibres.com/revista/l...
09.01.2017
Avui, per tal de recordar la publicació en català dels contes de "Felicitat" l'any 2001, llegeixo el conte "Anet en vinagre" aquí:
http://www.catorze.cat/noticia/5029/a....
Es tracta d'un relat sobre el retrobament de dos amants després de sis anys sense haver sabut res l'un de l'altra. Mansfield passa del reconeixement inicial per part d' ella, la tensió sexual que reviscola i l'adulació d' ell envers ella, per acabar amb la decepció quan ella opta per deixar-lo d'escoltar anant-se'n.
És com si el lector es convertís en testimoni d'una relació sentimental fallida de llarga durada però concentrada aquí en una tarda.
Genial.
16.02.2017
"Matrimonio a la moda" es un retrato despiadado de un matrimonio que hace aguas. Él pasa la semana en Londres trabajando y solo regresa a la casa familiar, alejada de la ciudad, los fines de semana. Para ella, que él vuelva es un estorbo. Para no aburrirse se pasa el día con unos amigos sin hacer nada: frivolidad y risas vacías. La historia termina cuando él le manda una carta de amor que ella lee en voz alta a sus amigos que se burlan. Parece que nada cambia y la vida sigue.
El título no tiene desperdicio. Fantástica, Mansfield.
Leído aquí:
http://ciudadseva.com/texto/matrimoni... -
Mansfield's short stories are delightful, so much so that she has made me want to read more of them, and not just hers. I haven't read a lot of short stories. I suppose it is time I change that.
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I thought the title story "Bliss" was just wonderful, but I didn't really understand the other two. But I definitely want to read more of Mansfield now.
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This is another short story I first read in Swedish. It was first published just over 100 years ago and it strikes me that the somewhat exaggerated romanticism in the original English is slightly more apparent than I remember it from 5 years ago. It underscores the feeling of impending tragedy.
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"Bliss" was an incredibly well thought-out short story. I felt almost blinded by the intensity of the emotions of Bertha, the main character. The way Mansfield described how she saw the world was so pure and naive, but also with a sense of urgency, where so many emotions happen in only 12 pages (human emotions do have a tendency to superpose themselves, coming by and leaving again very fast) and it made me as a reader oblivious to what was really going on, which is why the ending surprised me. Although she did sound as if she wanted to reassure herself on the normality of her life, the extreme towards which she took her feelings and the moment they share outside of the kitchen are beautiful, but you can tell that she is almost wearing blinkers (the glasses horses wear to obstruct their peripheral vision), in the sense that she takes into account the things that confirm her opinion on current events — which is a trait that is very human, although here taken to a new level. The introduction of implied homosexuality is subversive and shocking for its time (1918) — for both the poet and Bertha —, but it is also in line with Bertha’s wish to be “modern”, although she consciously focuses on superficial and shallow aspects of this modernity. To me, this theme reminded me of Boris Vian’s writing — it is flowery, excessive, absurd, satiric, and almost simplistic and superficial to cover up the deep signification that might be too hard to face. I liked the symbolism of the pear tree as the leitmotiv of this piece, it stands for blissful ignorance, for Bertha — “its wide open blossoms [are] as symbol of her own life”; how Pearl Fulton is a personified version of it — dressed in silver and emitting a shimmery glow, but actually her rival; the masculine identity it takes on for both women — “it seemed, like the flame of a candle, to stretch up, to point, to quiver in the bright air, to grow taller and taller”, with the tree reaching for the moon, also a representation of Pearl, rather than for Bertha.
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It is odd that I have more than once been "introduced" to an author who wrote in another language through a Swedish translation published by Novellix. This is one more example and an excellent introduction to Katherine Mansfield's writing. She writes in a way that encourages the reader to identify with her protagonist and succeeds, I think, masterfully.
I should have done this five years ago, but having now read the English original I'd like to compliment Christina Salby for her excellent Swedish translation! -
I loved it desperately, desperately!
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En novell på 21 sidor. En elak och sorglig betraktelse. I modern svensk översättning av Christina Stalby.
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En castellano titulado "Éxtasis" también "Felicidad". Un relato prodigioso por lo que supone el personaje de Bertha apasionada e ingenua, ella viviendo en su mundo propio, levitando llena de felicidad por lo que tiene o por la idea que cree que tiene de su vida, sufre una profunda transformación hacia el final del relato. La vida no es la idea que te quieres hacer de ella y realmente Bertha parece que no esté viviendo sino pasando de puntillas sin pisar a fondo esta vida.
Y hay un punto satírico o irónico en la vision de los personajes que aparecen en esta historia, porque aunque Bertha los considere "modernos" y maravillosos, a nuestros ojos nos parecen ridiculos y pedantes. La visión que ella tiene de sus amigos tampoco es real, como tampoco es real la imagen que tiene de Harry, su marido. El final me lo vi venir pero así y todo me pareció un relato magnífico. Y este párrafo en concreto, lo dice todo del personaje de Bertha:
"Cielos, ¿es qué no hay modo de que puedas expresarlo sin estar ebria o fuera de tus cabales? ¡Necia civilización! ¿Para qué nos darán un cuerpo si tenemos que encerrarlo en un estuche como a un Stradivarius?" -
Reading Mansfield somehow makes me feel blissed out. Her work is simple and feather light to me, a well needed feature for my overcomplicated mind.
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О, а такий модернізм мені по нраву. Майже безсюжетний, яскравий, прозорий, якийсь аж пурхаючий, але емоційно пронизливий, як комариний писк серед глупої ночі.
Bliss здається лайт-версією "Місіс Делловей", але за спалахом щастя сердешної Берти Янґ визирають такі драми, що де там лайт. The Daughters of the Late Colonels - ідеальна готика без готики, я вже чекала, що в сюжет нарешті зійде привид покійного батечка і все спростить, але без привидів виходить значно страшніше. The Doll's House - my precious, шикарний ляльковий дім як чинник побудови дитячої ієрархії і - водночас - об'єкт чистого мистецтва для наймолодших - це ж прекрасно абсолютно.
Даремно я побоювалася збірок Кетрін Менсфілд. Її гуртом треба читати, три новелки - то надто мало. -
I read this back in high school and I had to re-read it again this year because it has been playing in my mind the whole day. Bliss is a short story about a married couple, Bertha and Harry, hosting a dinner party with a bunch of interesting dinner guests.
This story is very thought-provoking and metaphorical. Mansfield’s words just sweeps you away, leaving you feeling so many emotions all at once. -
That was tragic. :(
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Brilliant writer.
Yes, it was most certainly bliss. -
4/5
I actually really enjoyed this small collection of short stories by Katherine Mansfield.
I found 'Bliss' to be poignant and thought-provoking. I also have been caught in that state of pure innocent, naive bliss, unaware of the true implications of the situation. When the reality settles in, do you continue to look to the pear tree (ignorant bliss), or do you see it all for what it is?
'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' was just okay. I appreciated how Mansfield portrayed the female dependence on males in this society but I just wasn't completely drawn into the narrative.
'The Doll's House'... Analysis --> "Through the portrayal of the predicament of the Kelveys, Mansfield brings out the class consciousness that was faithfully handed down by one generation to another, from parents to children and vice versa. Moreover, through the deft portrayal of the character of Kezia, Mansfield tries to challenge the existing social class consciousness which was wreaking havoc on the social fabric." (
Source) I enjoyed the story at face value, to be honest, and only sought out the meanings afterwards.
I'm glad I bought this collection. I'll definitely be reading more of her works in the future! -
Its always a pleasure to read Mansfield. Her narrative style is imaginable & it takes you away from your ordinary life to a state of contentment & blissfulness. This story did exactly the same.
I have read Miss Brill before this short story. Both the stories are about sad & lonely women, who thinks they are happy or are trying to find joy by living their lives to the fullest. Or are content that their favorite people are around them but soon they get to know that they are actually quite lonely. No one seems to like them or want to be with them.
Same happens to the protagonist, Bertha of this story, living a rich & luxurious life. Her life is in bliss for having a husband & a baby. She is happy & everything around her seems to be in a good state until, she finds out that she's been betrayed by her own husband. What a tragic end to her blissful life :(
Now, coming back to the title of the story.. is it really that blissful anymore? Was she ever that blessed to have such a life? Though they are financially stable, have a fine house with rich furnishings, guests coming over to her place, still not everything is perfect. All this time, she was being lied & cheated to! The truth is it was never a BLISSful life! What would she do now? :/
The story is here
http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.... -
Rounded up to 2.5. I didn’t really see the point in the story nor did I understand really the relationship the couples have to each other. I don’t really know if I’d recommend it but it was nice to read something short that I could finish in one night. I do however suspect that the main character could be a lesbian based off of her description of women, her relation to them and how she acts around her lady friend. My guess is that because of the time period this is in it wasn’t openly accepted to be gay and therefore she had to take a husband.
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A very quick, enjoyable read. You find yourself flying through this story because Mansfield writes with such urgency and you feel like you need to find out what's going to happen. There's clearly a lot going on in this story and I think I need to do some reading around before I can fully understand why events played out as they did, but even without that external knowledge I very much enjoyed this. If you're a fan of short stories and female writers then I'd urge you to give this a look.
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The moral of this story is that there will always be two people in a marriage. Just because you feel absolute bliss doesn't mean your husband's not diddling a woman you may or may not have sexual feeling for.
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Katherine Mansfield's stories are fiction but they always touch on something remarkably true. A pleasure.
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How had I never read Mansfield before?! Simply delightful and exactly what I'd been wanting to read.
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I didn't get it, but I liked it.
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Excellent story. I really recommend it to everybody who likes romance.
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By this time, I'm fairly sure that I'm not made for short stories.
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girl just likes her pear tree
