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Definition of Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given situation, and that of the... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a character's understanding of a given... read full definition
Dramatic irony is a plot device often used in theater, literature, film, and television to highlight the difference between a... read full definition
Dramatic Irony
Explanation and Analysis:
"Bliss" is underpinned by dramatic irony, which lends tension to the story and demonstrates the extent to which Bertha is cut off from her own reality. This irony becomes especially apparent during Bertha’s musings at the dinner party:
Really—really—she had everything. 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 . . .
Bertha's transitory episode of bliss at the beginning of the story—which leads her to declare that she has "everything" she wants in life—misrepresents the true substance of her life: the material comforts she enjoys hardly compensate for her detachment from the people around her, including her family. Bertha’s own daughter is effectively being raised by her nanny, who discourages Bertha from spending too much time with the baby (as was the custom for wealthy women in the early 20th century). Moreover, Bertha likens her relationship with her husband, Harry, to a friendship between “good pals,” strongly suggesting that they are rarely sexual or romantic with each other.
In the above passage, Bertha claims to be utterly satisfied with her lot in life, which clearly bears the hallmarks of a comfortable, and occasionally luxurious, lifestyle. Ironically enough, though, as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear to the reader that Bertha isn't fully aware of her own unhappiness. Although Bertha tries to convince herself that she has no need for romance (“That was the best of being modern,” she reflects, referring to her and Harry’s seemingly platonic marriage), her fond obsession with Pearl indicates her yearning for intimacy. At the end of the story, Bertha is shattered when her feelings prove to be unreciprocated, and she is at last made aware of the distance between her actual life and her own unmet desires.
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