Katherine Mansfield’s short story, “Bliss”

Katherine Mansfield’s short story, “Bliss” | Comment on the ending

Q. Comment on the ending of Katherine Mansfield’s short story, "Bliss". What does the ending signify?

Answer: Katherine Mansfield is a well known writer as well as a critic of New Zealand. Her short story, "Bliss", is regarded as a notable short story. It was first published in 1920. In this short story, Mansfield uses a psychological theme of the protagonist.

Notably, in this short story, the protagonist is a young woman, named Bertha. The story is related to the psychological disturbance of Bertha. She was a woman in her late 20s. She experienced a profound state of ecstatic joy and happiness.

Besides, the ending of Mansfield's short story, “Bliss”, is filled with dramatic irony. It builds on the central themes of the story. Throughout the story, Bertha feels a joyful state of ‘bliss’. It is an energized sense of joy and happiness. This state of happiness is represented by the ‘peer tree’ outside the window of her room. Bertha views this ‘pear tree’ as a symbol of her own growth and development of mental and spiritual realization.

However, in the final paragraph, Bertha’s blissful reverie is settled all of a sudden. She discovers that her husband, Harry, is engaged in an extramarital affair with her best friend, Pearl.

This unexpected engagement of her husband very severely shocked her. She stares at the pear tree through the window. Immediately, she realizes "how stupid and sham and artificial was the little blue-and-white hydrangea (a species of flowering plant) that she had brought all the way from town - a horrid symptom of something that had gone wrong." This image serves as a metaphor for Bertha's own shattered illusions about the idyllic state of her marriage and her sense of self.

The ending is more complicated by Bertha’s reaction. Rather than feeling devastated or betrayed, she is overcome by a strange scene of excitement. Bertha is very shocked when she finds Harry and Pearl together. She thinks: "Why, why, why do I feel like this? Why do I feel as if something almost unbearable was going to happen?"

This ecstatic reaction of Bertha suggests a deep-seated emotion and psychological complexity within her. However, the ending of Mansfield's short story, “Bliss”, signifies the weakness of martial life. It also signifies a transitory nature of human happiness and fulfillment. Bertha's joyful state of "bliss" is revealed quite unexpectedly. It covers the underlying tensions and unhappiness of her marriage and personal life.

The discovery of Harry’s infidelity ruins her idyllic notion of martial life. It forces Bertha to face the harsh realities of her situation. However, her ambiguous response to this revolution suggests a strange state of human mind. This state of feelings is a more nuanced understanding of human experience. It is regarded to be one that defies simplistic categorizations of joy and sorrow, fulfillment and disappointment.

The ending therefore invites the reader to think of the complexities of the human condition. It makes the readers think over the strange ways in which our perceptions of reality can be saved and received by our own emotional and psychological landscapes.

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