Bliss Paper
Katherine Mansfield’s “Bliss”: A Literary Analysis
In the short story “Bliss” by Katherine Mansfield, Bertha, the naïve 30 year old mother ponders important life choices, including, work, sexuality, and where here future will take her. Most readers will analyze the subjects of sexuality in literature this long ago was taboo, but I decided to completely ignore the major details of the story and talk about the one thing that really stood out to me. In the Introduction when you first meet the baby when the nanny wouldn’t give her own child back to Bertha and was reluctant to let her feed her own child. This, to me is a symbol showing that your personal life issues should be for the most part handled if you are going to have a child, it’s just common sense. The Sad Thing is, this was incredibly common in the 1800’s, children not being raised by their parents, instead being nurtured by nannies and nursemaids and not getting true mother nurturing.
First, When Bertha comes into the story, when she talks about her feelings of bliss and ignorant happiness, and you here this and thinks; “this is a child living in blissful naivety”(“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!”). You then find out Bertha is a 30 year old woman who has a daughter and a family. It is completely fine to be happy and blissful with you life, but when you live in ignorance and naivety, you can’t possibly raise a kid well without damaging him and leading to serious psychological issues. When you think of a parent blissful ignorance shouldn’t be the top feeling coming from them.
In the short story “Bliss” by Katherine Mansfield, Bertha, the naïve 30 year old mother ponders important life choices, including, work, sexuality, and where here future will take her. Most readers will analyze the subjects of sexuality in literature this long ago was taboo, but I decided to completely ignore the major details of the story and talk about the one thing that really stood out to me. In the Introduction when you first meet the baby when the nanny wouldn’t give her own child back to Bertha and was reluctant to let her feed her own child. This, to me is a symbol showing that your personal life issues should be for the most part handled if you are going to have a child, it’s just common sense. The Sad Thing is, this was incredibly common in the 1800’s, children not being raised by their parents, instead being nurtured by nannies and nursemaids and not getting true mother nurturing.
First, When Bertha comes into the story, when she talks about her feelings of bliss and ignorant happiness, and you here this and thinks; “this is a child living in blissful naivety”(“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!”). You then find out Bertha is a 30 year old woman who has a daughter and a family. It is completely fine to be happy and blissful with you life, but when you live in ignorance and naivety, you can’t possibly raise a kid well without damaging him and leading to serious psychological issues. When you think of a parent blissful ignorance shouldn’t be the top feeling coming from them.