Katherine Mansfield

1
Katherine Mansfield

• Brittany Egan
• Tara Connelly
• John Harnish
• JJ Clark
• Caitlyn Pitone
• Sean Murphy

2
Her Life

• Oct 14,1888 - Jan 9, 1923
• Born into a prominent middle-class family
• In Bliss, Berthas concern for public outbursts
  is fitting of a middle class family who would
  have been concerned about acceptable image and
  behavior.
• Her Father was a successful merchant who was
  promoted to chairman of a bank
• She describes her mother as constantly
  suspicious, constantly overbearingly tyrannous

3
Her Life

• 1903- received an education in London at Queens
  college
• Returned to New Zealand to pursue a literary
  career
• Married George Bowden, divorced, and found
  herself pregnant with Garnet Trowells baby.
• Though the pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage,
  all these events lead up to and influenced her
  writing of short stories.

4
Her Life

• 1917 - diagnosed with tuberculosis shortly after
  marrying John Middleton Murry
• Died at the young age of 34 of a lung hemorrhage
• After her death, Murry took on the task of
  editing and publishing her works

5
Her Writing

• Her short stories are poetic, delicate, ironic
• Theyre characterized by a subtle sensitivity to
  mood and emotion, revealing the inner conflicts
  her characters face and resolve.
• Noted for stories relating to womens lives and
  social hierarchies
• Acquainted with literary and historical figures
  as D.H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Lytton
  Strachey, and Bertrand Russell.

6
Her Writing

• 1911 - The First Collection The German Pension
• Collection of 13 short stories
• States her feelings towards Britain Pre-WWI
• These were the first pieces to reveal her
  attraction to both men and women, which is
  referenced in many of her other works, including
  Bliss.

7
Her Writing

• Major Works
• 1917 Dill Pickle
• 1920 Bliss
• 1921 - The Stranger
• 1922 At the Bay
• 1922 The Garden Party
• Considered her finest work
• Written a year before her death

8
Bliss
9
Characters

• Bertha Young
• Harry
• Little B
• Mary
• Nurse

• Pearl Fulton
• Eddie Warren
• Mr. And Mrs. Norman Knight

10
Themes

• Marriage and Adultery
• Bertha convinces herself that her marriage is
  perfect, and sees her husband as a good companion
• She comes to the realization that her husband is
  having an affair with Pearl, whom she had thought
  he strongly disliked.

11
Ignorance is Bliss

• Main Theme of the Story
• Bertha chose to live a life of ignorance rather
  than believe what was really going on between her
  husband and Pearl
• Bertha views both her husband and Pearl in a
  positive way because the story is told through
  her eyes, readers are not able to see Harrys
  lies.
• By the end of the story we find that Berthas
  view of her husband was not exactly correct
• Naïve, yet forced herself to believe she was
  happy

12
Sexuality

• Berthas connection to Pearl could be seen as
  more than just a friendship.
• Pearl inspired the bliss within Bertha and gave
  her new sexual desires
• Correlation to Mansfields attraction to women.

13
The Pear Tree

• Symbolic of Berthas happiness and friendship
  with Pearl.
• "But the pear tree was as lovely as ever and as
  full of flower and as still.
• After realizing the affair, Berthas attitude is
  quickly changed and we see that she
  misinterpreted this connection with Pearl.