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¶ … Bliss
oModernist literature distinguishes itself from literature that came before it by employing a number of literary devices that make the stories more personal and introspective. Katherine Mansfield's story "Bliss" is a good example of modernist literature because of her use of symbolic language, and the protagonist's impressionistic feelings regarding the events around her instead of providing direct interpretation. leading to an ambiguous ending.
The reader realizes that the protagonist, Bertha, is experiencing some kind of emotional turmoil because of the title, "Bliss." Bliss is an experience of perfect happiness without much thought -- thus the cliche that "ignorance is bliss." As we read the story, we see that Bertha takes in what is going on around her with the happy assumption that her life is perfect and could not possibly be any better. However, her name, Bertha, a play on the word "birth," suggests that she is about to experience a rebirth, or new perception, about her life. In addition, her husband, whom she believes...
In another play on her name, Bertha fairly recently given birth to a child. It is appropriate for an infant to experience bliss, because babies aren't capable of evaluating their circumstances. However, Bertha seems to be reacting to the events around her as a baby might, taking simple delight in everything she sees, and not noticing where there is and is not depth to her daily experiences. The bliss she feels is uncomplicated because she is not completely taking in the events unfolding around her.
For instance, the afternoon sun "burned in her bosom" over the simple joy of arriving on the street she lives on. However, even then she notices that society will restrain her from expressing her full sense of joy. She keeps meeting restrictions throughout the afternoon and evening. The nurse doesn't want to let her feed her own child and lectures her sternly about what to do and not do,…
"Mansfield's characters share the topical hopelessness that characterized much of early Modernist writing. Characters like Miss Brill seem to be living on the brink of personal disaster; the sense of community has vanished; they are largely alone" (Devi). Miss Brill must face the dreadful truth that the community she felt so much a part of could easily go on without her. By the time she reaches her dark room,
Ibsen's a Doll's House as Modern Tragedy The most powerful and lasting contributions to the literature of a given era are invariably penned by bold thinkers struggling to comprehend the ever changing world in which they live. Spanning the 18th and 19th centuries, the European Modernist movement, which was propelled by the authorial brilliance of authors and playwrights such as like the Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, was shaped and inspired by the
Katherine Mansfield Early Works Later Works and Themes Kathleen Mansfield Murry, commonly known by her penname Katherine Mansfield, was born in the late nineteenth century and only lived to be thirty-four years of age. Her early death was due to the effects of tuberculosis on her body. During her lifespan however, she was able to write a variety of short fiction stories in the modernist genre. Her works gave her a great deal
Cold War dominated American culture, consciousness, politics and policy for most of the 20th century. Even after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which symbolized the fall of the Iron Curtain and therefore finale of the Cold War, Cold War rhetoric and politics continued especially in the War on Terror. Depictions of the Cold War in American literature and film parallel the changes that took place in American ways
Adolescence to Adulthood: Comparative Study of Stephen Dedalus from James Joyce's "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man" to Felicitas Taylor from Mary Gordon's "The Company of Women" Stephen Dedalus, the hero in "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce, is very similar to Felicitas Maria Taylor, the heroine in "The Company of Women" by Mary Gordon. The novels they are protagonists in both track their