Previous
Irony
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Mood
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood of "Bliss" shifts throughout the story, closely adhering to Bertha's own frame of mind as she moves from a state of ecstatic joy to one of dread and despair after realizing that her love for Pearl Fulton is unlikely to be requited. At the beginning of "Bliss," many of Mansfield's descriptions and images impart a sense of buoyancy, wonder, movement, and brightness: Bertha’s feeling of bliss is compared to the feeling of swallowing “a bright piece of that late afternoon sun,” and she feels “in her bosom…that bright glowing place—that shower of little sparks.”
Other images, though, suggest precisely the opposite: severity, restriction, and lurking danger. Bertha’s coat has a “tight clasp,” (which she throws off, unable to “bear” it), and there is “cold air” in her house, as well as a “cold mirror” in which she regards herself. Later, the Nurse tells Bertha that her daughter, Little B, has been playing with a dog in the park, leading Bertha to want “to ask if it wasn’t rather dangerous to let [Little B] clutch at a strange dog’s ear"—indicating that even in her blissful state, Bertha is aware (and fearful) of the danger and darkness contained in the outside world.
As the story wears on and Bertha draws closer to Pearl (a relationship marked by danger, since same-sex romance in this time period would not be permitted), this latter category of images becomes more prominent. Bertha feels that there is a “fire” in her bosom (mirroring the roaring fire in her drawing-room), which becomes a “blazing” “fire of bliss,” as opposed to the pleasant array of “little sparks" from the beginning of the story. Furthermore, when the party begins to draw to a close, “something strange and almost terrifying dart[s] into Bertha’s mind”: she realizes that she will soon be alone with her husband “in the dark room” once her guests leave, and this realization causes her to experience a sudden onset of dread.
Though Bertha's beloved pear tree remains "lovely as ever and as full of flower and as still" at the end of the story, the relative brusqueness of that description, ending in the word "still," suggests that something has been lost—the "bliss" Bertha felt leading up to the party—and leaves the reader in a space of melancholy: a marked shift from the rollicking and energetic mood at the beginning of the story, when Bertha had high hopes for her relationship with Pearl.
Related Themes:
