Bliss

“Bliss” is a short story written by New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield. It was originally published in 1918 in The English Review and later republished in 1920 as a collection of short stories entitled Bliss and Other Stories. Katherine Mansfield was a contemporary of British writers such as Virginia Woolf (Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando), D. H. Lawrence (Sons and Lovers, Women in Love), and James Joyce (Ulysses, Dubliners). As a Modernist story, “Bliss” focuses on the protagonist’s emotions and growing self-awareness, and Mansfield extensively uses stream of consciousness to explore the inner workings of her protagonist’s mind.

The story begins with Bertha Young, a 30-year-old wife and mother returning to her London townhouse during the early 1900s. As she is walking, Bertha becomes overwhelmed by a giddy happiness that she seeks to understand. She recognizes that she is feeling blissful, but she struggles—from that moment until the end of the story—to identify the source of her happiness. After being let into the house by her maid, Mary, Bertha asks if Nanny has returned. Although she is told that the nanny has returned, she chooses to arrange fruit before going to see her baby. Bertha creates two fruit arrangements, places them on the dining table, and then observes the pleasing artistic effect. She acknowledges to herself that she intentionally selected purple grapes to coordinate with the colors in the carpet, but she rejects this decision as being absurd. She laughs with happiness at the pleasing effect of the fruit and carpet, but then she accuses herself of being hysterical. Bertha runs upstairs to the nursery.

In the nursery, Bertha finds her baby, Little B, being fed her supper by Nanny. Little B is recently bathed and dressed for bedtime; she is excited to see her mother. Bertha and Nanny have a whispered conversation about the events of the day. Nanny recounts how a strange dog approached them in the park and the baby tugged its ear. Nanny is proud of the baby’s actions, but Bertha believes the actions were dangerous. However, Bertha doesn’t question Nanny’s supervision of her child. Instead, Bertha insists on taking over feeding Little B, and after a struggle of wills, Nanny relinquishes her and leaves the room feeling offended. Bertha and Little B share a few loving moments alone together, something that doesn’t happen often. Bertha admires her daughter’s beauty, and the feeling of bliss returns. At that moment, Nanny triumphantly enters the room telling Bertha that she is wanted on the phone.

The phone call is from Bertha’s husband, Harry, who tells her that he will be a little late getting home from work. They are expecting guests for a small dinner party, and Harry asks that the meal be pushed back 10 minutes. Bertha agrees. She wants to tell Harry about the happiness she is feeling, but she does not.

Bertha goes to the drawing room, lights a fire, and rearranges the cushions on the chairs and couches. She is filling the time before she needs to dress for dinner. Four guests have been invited: Mr. and Mrs. Norman Knight, Eddie Warren, and Miss Fulton. The Knights are a respectable couple; Eddie is a young poet; and Pearl Fulton is a friend from the club that Bertha has fallen in love with. All four people fit Bertha’s description of the people in their life, “modern, thrilling friends, writers and painters and poets or people keen on social questions” (Paragraph 53).

Bertha goes to the open windows and looks out on her garden. While she is admiring a beautiful pear tree and flowers in full bloom, two cats—one grey, one black—slink across the garden. Bertha shivers when she sees them and comments to herself that cats are creepy things. Turning away from the window, Bertha sits on a couch and reflects on the fact that she has everything that she could ever want. In her mind, she runs through all the good things that she and Harry have. This reignites the blissful feeling which she once again dismisses as an absurdity, blaming springtime for her dizzy happiness.

The dinner guests begin to arrive, starting with the Norman Knights. They enter the house with a bluster, Mrs. Knight (called Face by her husband) wearing an orange coat with a border of black monkeys on the hem and front. Norman Knight (called Mug by his wife) sports a fancy monocle, which he removes and replaces from time to time during the evening. The Knights tell Bertha about the stir the orange coat caused among the other riders on their train into town from Hampstead. Soon Eddie Warren arrives. A poet, his affected rendition of his harrowing taxi drive is punctuated by emphasized words and melodrama. Just then, the front door bangs open and Harry returns home. He rushes upstairs to change for dinner while Bertha chats with her guests. When Harry joins them in the drawing room, he comments on the absence of Miss Fulton. Just then she arrives, almost on cue.

Bertha takes her arm and guides Pearl Fulton into the dining room ahead of the others. Bertha questions the sudden heat she feels when she touches Miss Fulton’s cool arm. She associates that heat with the feeling of bliss but doesn’t understand its significance. Dinner conversation is spirited and modern. They talk of plays and gossip about a shared acquaintance. Bertha happily notices that Harry is enjoying his dinner, and she is delighted when he compliments her on the soufflé. In a detached manner, Bertha thinks how much she enjoys entertaining and seeing her guests so contented. Her mind wanders to the pear tree in the garden that she longs to show to Miss Fulton. She believes that the tree will be special to Miss Fulton, too, and she is convinced that seeing the tree together will constitute a sign.

After dinner, Miss Fulton asks if Bertha has a garden, which Bertha does interpret as a sign of a shared attraction and desire. They cross to the windows and stand side by side, silently gazing at the garden, the tree, and the moonlight. The moment is broken when Harry snaps on the light, and the two women join the others for coffee and more conversation. While he is handing around cigarettes, Harry stops in front of Miss Fulton, shaking the box in her face, and brusquely asking her to choose. Bertha is upset by Harry’s behavior because she believes that he isn’t just bored by Miss Fulton, he also actively dislikes her. Bertha decides to talk to Harry that night. Bertha wishes to tell him all that she has shared with Miss Fulton so that he understands what she is feeling. While she thinks about this conversation that she envisions occurring in their bed, Bertha is suddenly overwhelmed by desire for her husband. This is as unexpected as it is sudden because she has never felt any sexual attraction for Harry. The realization that she can feel the same physical desires that Harry feels makes Bertha happy. She credits this desire with being the reason for her unexplained bliss. Inspired by her ardent desire, Bertha longs for the party to be over and for her guests to leave.

Mrs. Knight announces that it is time that they are going, and although Harry presses Norman to have a whisky, they do not linger. Bertha walks them out, and as she says goodbye, she feels “that this self of hers was taking leave of them for ever” (Paragraph 135). This will prove to be prophetic as an enormous change is awaiting Bertha. She returns to the drawing room to find that Eddie and Miss Fulton are also getting ready to leave, deciding to share a taxi so that Eddie will not have a repeated nightmare ride.

Although she steps forward to help Miss Fulton with her coat, Harry pushes past her instead. Bertha believes that he is feeling bad for his previous rudeness; this makes her happy. In the meantime, Eddie Warren wishes to show her a line of a poem that they were discussing. They quietly step to a table near the doorway to the foyer. Eddie takes the book. Bertha looks up and sees Harry and Miss Fulton. Harry has thrown her coat aside and taken hold of her shoulders. Bertha watches as her husband and friend exchange loving looks and plans to meet tomorrow.

Bertha hears Eddie discussing a frivolous line of poetry and Harry pretending to discuss a taxi. In that moment, everything changes while everyone behaves as if all is the same. Miss Fulton shakes hands with Bertha as she says goodbye, once again commenting on the pear tree. She leaves with Eddie trailing her like the black cat following the grey cat earlier in the evening. Harry, cool and extravagantly calm, says he will lock up the house for the night. Bertha runs over to look at the pear tree in the garden, crying, “Oh, what is going to happen now” (Paragraph 160).