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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Soňa Lysková

Narrative Organisation, Personal Relationships and Individual Perception in Stories by Katherine Mansfield Bachelor‘s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D.

2014

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

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Author‘s signature

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D. for his invaluable feedback and encouragement. Further, my grateful thanks go to the best friends of mine, who have been encouraging me during the process and who always believe in me.

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 5 Chapter One: ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ ...... 11 1.1 Perception of Edna and The Development of Her Relationship with Henry ...... 11 1.2 Perception of Henry and His Relationship with Edna ...... 16 1.3 Perception of The Relationship through The Use of Symbolism ...... 20 1.4 Narrative Organisation in ‗Something Childish but Very Natural‘ ...... 25 Chapter Two: ‗Bliss‘ ...... 29 2.1 Perception of Bertha and Her Relationship with Pearl and Harry ...... 29 2.2 Symbolism and The Individual Perception of The Main Characters ...... 36 2.3 Narrative Organization in ‗Bliss‘ ...... 41 Chapter Three: ‗A Cup of Tea‘ ...... 44 3.1 Perception of Rosemary and of The Relationship with Philip ...... 44 3.2 Narrative Organisation in ‗A Cup of Tea‘ ...... 49 Conclusion ...... 51 Works Cited ...... 55 Résumé ...... 59 Resumé ...... 60

Introduction

Katherine Mansfield is a New Zealand modernist writer and the master of the 20th century English short story. She was born in Wellington on 14 October

1888 as Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp to her Australian parents Annie

Beauchamp and Harold Beauchamp – a successful businessman. Mansfield perceived herself as the ugly duckling of the family and she eventually left New

Zealand in order to pursue a career of a writer. She changed her name and moved to England, however, though she has left her life in New Zealand behind, she does return to her childhood memories in many of her stories.

Mansfield lived a bohemian life, often struggling with money. In 1911, she met

John Middleton Murry, who later became her husband, and with whom she pursued a relationship which some of her stories are influenced by.

In 1918, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and even though she was terminally ill, she still managed to write some of her best stories. The themes

Mansfield deals with in her stories are mainly love and disillusionment, traditional roles of women and men in the society, social class and the thin line between reality and imagery. Katherine Mansfield died in January 1923, leaving behind several stories and poems which were later published by her husband

John Middleton Murry.

Among the conventional themes of Mansfield‘s stories is the theme of love and relationships – whether the focus is on the development of the relationship itself or on the attitude men have towards women and vice versa.

Further, it is common for Mansfield‘s stories to provide an insight into the events through the protagonist‘s way of perception. Therefore, the aim of the

5 thesis is to examine the depiction of personal relationships in the stories by

Katherine Mansfield and the individual perception of the main characters, predominantly in relation to the particular relationship. If present in the story, the autobiographical features shall be also highlighted and analysed and to support the potential evidence, the corresponding quotation from a biography will be provided.

Furthermore, the thesis shall look at the unique narrative techniques that are characteristic for Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield is the first author to use the ‗stream of consciousness‘1 which became typical of modernists‘ works. Mansfield frequently shifts the narrative perspectives in her stories and she is closely associated with the use of free indirect discourse which transitions between direct and indirect discourse which According to Julia

Van Gunsteren‘s study of Mansfield‘s narrative presentation Katherine Mansfield and Literary Impressionism, free indirect discourse presents a ―compromise between direct discourse (dialogue) and indirect discourse‖. She sees free indirect discourse as a method, ―which enables the narrator to hide behind his leading character‖ (Gunsteren 107). Further, the examination of narrative organization shall be based on Mieke Bal‘s terminology and approach to the study as presented in her book Narratology, Introduction to the Theory of

Narrative.

My approach is to look at three stories by Katherine Mansfield, where each story is intentionally chosen from a different collection of stories in order

1 That is noted by Jeffrey Meyer‘s in Katherine Mansfield: a Darker View: ―Katherine was the first to use the ‗stream of consciousness‘ technique that was later masterfully employed by Virginia Woolf‖ (Meyers 157)

6 to analyse stories, which were written years apart. The purpose of this is to offer an insight into the development of the depiction of the relationships in the stories. The stories are therefore in a chronological order.

The first chapter is dedicated to the analysis of ‗Something Childish, but

Very Natural‘, which was written and first published in 1914 and republished in the collection Something Childish and Other Stories after Mansfield‘s death. The depiction of the perception of the female character Edna shall be analysed with a focus set on the development of her character in connection to the relationship she pursues with Henry. Further, Henry‘s perception and approach to his relationship with Edna will be analysed and supported with quotes from the story. Since the symbolism in ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ is closely connected to the relationship between Henry and Edna and the development of the relationship is often displayed by the imagery I decided to devote a subchapter merely to the use of symbolism as a guide through Edna‘s transition in the story.

The second chapter examines the story ‗Bliss‘, which was written in 1918 and published in the volume called Bliss, and Other Stories in late 1920. The analysis researches the events through the perception of the female protagonist

– Bertha Young. Her perception of the relationship with her husband Harry and with Pearl shall be examined. Similarly as in ‗Something Childish, but Very

Natural‘ Mansfield uses imagery to introduce Bertha‘s perception of herself and perception of the other characters.

The third chapter looks at ‗A Cup of Tea‘, a story written in 1922 and published in the collection called The Dove's Nest and Other Stories. In spite of

7 the fact, that this is the shortest story from those examined in the thesis, it provides an interesting perspective on transience of how one‘s perception of herself or himself can change – such as the perception of Rosemary, which is influenced and undermined by her husband Philip. Further, Philip‘s attitude towards Rosemary and his way of achieving power and control over the partner in the relationship shall be considered.

Prior to analysing the stories, a brief summary of each story further examined shall be provided:

‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ is a story about a 17 years old

Henry, who meets a younger girl Edna one day on a train. Henry falls in love with Edna and would like to engage in a physical relationship, however, Edna acts restrained and keeps the relationship purely platonic. Through Henry‘s perception it is visible, that Edna‘s character develops throughout the story and eventually allows Henry to touch her. The transition between innocent childhood and becoming an adolescent, who acknowledges the physical aspects of a relationship, is a major theme in the story. Further the tension between perception of reality and illusion is depicted.

‗Bliss‘ presents a series of events concerning a dinner party. The story is presented through the perception of Bertha Young, who has a loving husband and everything a woman could possibly want. Bertha considers herself to be happy, because she must be happy since she has everything one could wish for. However, she does not desire her husband, until she starts to feel attracted to another woman – Pearl Fulton, who is also invited to the dinner party. The story questions the sexuality of the protagonist. As the evening progresses,

Bertha finds out that her husband who seemed to dislike Pearl is actually having an affair with her. Throughout the story, there are several hints, which might indicate that Bertha knew about the affair and chose to ignore the truth and decided to live in the state of bliss. However, from a different perspective she could be seen as a naive wife believing in her husband.

‗A Cup of Tea‘ follows the female protagonist Rosemary Fell, who is presented as wealthy content woman. Rosemary is shopping at the Curzon

Street, when she sees a poor girl who asks her for the price of a cup of tea.

Rosemary decides to take her home and take care of her, because it would make her feel like a heroin she knows from novels by Dostoevsky. At home, she is approached by her husband, who does not appreciate the presence of the poor girl and tries to persuade Rosemary to let the girl go. To have his way, he states that the girl is really ‗pretty‘ and ‗lovely‘, which makes Rosemary feel insecure. She obeys her husband and asks him, whether he considers her to be pretty. In this story the theme of social class and materialism is depicted and more importantly for the purpose of the thesis marriage, change of individual perception and dominance of man over woman is also presented.

The main secondary sources, that were chosen to evaluate and support the interpretation of Mansfield‘s stories and the arguments in the thesis, are:

Mieke Bal‘s Narratology, Introduction to the Theory of Narrative (1999), Claire

Tomalin‘s Katherine Mansfield, A Secret Life (1988) and Jeffrey Meyers‘

Katherine Mansfield: A Darker View (2002).

Narratology, Introduction to the Theory of Narrative by Mieke Bal was chosen as a tool to assist with specifying the unique narrative techniques that

9 are employed by Katherine Mansfield in her short modernist stories. Bal presents the description of how the narrative text is constructed and further she suggests to divide narrative texts into three levels – text, story and fabula and assigns an agent for each level: text – ‗speaker‘ (narrative agent), story –

‗character‘ (‗focalizer‘), fabula – ‗actor‘.

Prior to analysing, it is fundamental to thoroughly examine the author‘s life and background to be able to decipher the various symbols and layers of

Mansfield‘s stories, as some of them are closely connected to her life experience. For this purpose two biographies were chosen:

Katherine Mansfield, A Secret Life by Claire Tomalin presents an outlook on Katherine Mansfield‘s life, closely following her steps from her birth to her death. This biography describes Mansfield‘s life from every aspect, commenting on her relationships, sexual ambiguity, career and health conditions.

Katherine Mansfield: A Darker View by Jeffrey Meyers offers an insight into Katherine Mansfield‘s life from perspective of another writer, which is important in order to eliminate the aspect of judgement.

Chapter One: ‘Something Childish, but Very Natural’

1.1 Perception of Edna and The Development of Her

Relationship with Henry

Edna is the over sixteen years old female protagonist of the story. In this particular story the female character is not the leader of the story or of the relationship, however, she is equally important as the male character Henry.

The reader observes Edna through Henry‘s subjective point of view as in the story Mansfield does not give space to Edna‘s inner unspoken emotions.

Apart from the conversations between Edna and Henry that are concerning the relationship between them, the family relationships of Edna are depicted in one concise paragraph:

―Mother and I are exactly alike. I haven‘t a thing in common with my father;

he‘s just... a little man in the city – but mother has got a wild blood in her and

she‘s given it to me. She hates our life just as much as I do.‖ She paused and

frowned. ―All the same, we don‘t get on a bit together – that‘s funny- isn‘t it?

But I‘m absolutely alone at home‖ (Something Childish, but Very Natural 138).

Edna sympathises with her own mother, even though she states that they do not have a good relationship. The paragraph depicting the family bonds seems like a parallel to Mansfield‘s own attitude towards her family. As Tomalin states

Mansfield recalled that her own mother would say she had wanted to travel and explore and not to settle just like she and Edna‘s mother did: ―If her own father had not died, Katherine remembered her saying, she would have liked to have become a traveller, an explorer even‖ (Tomalin 10). To the theme of isolation as it is indicated by Edna‘s point about being alone at home, there is a

11 connection to Mansfield, who used to consider herself the ugly duckling or ‗the odd man out of the family‘ (14). Further she shares with Edna the antipathies for her father and contempt for his occupation.

Edna is depicted as a shy girl, who blushes and feels embarrassed. When she and Henry first meet in the train, she is presented by her short responses that follow Henry‘s questions and she does not initiate involving in new conversation topics. Edna is not seeking start of a relationship with Henry and at this point she does oppose Henry, when he says that life is wonderful: ―I don‘t think so. But then I‘ve been a fatalist for a long time now‖ (Something

Childish, but Very Natural 134). Nevertheless, when Edna gets to see Henry for the second time, as they share their names and age, she fondly engages into a conversation with him. At this point, their forming relationship is pure and innocent and they both admit that neither of them had ever been in love:

―If only their bodies would not tremble so stupidly! Still half hidden by her hair,

Edna said: ―Have you ever been in love before?‖

―No, never! Have you?‖

―Oh, never in all my life.‖ She shook her head. ―I never even thought it

possible.‖ (136).

Despite the initial innocence of the relationship, there is also a first sign of physicality, as their bodies – including Edna‘s body – are said to tremble, which is frequently used with a sexual connotation.

Furthermore, Edna seems to be longing for appreciation and being complimented by Henry as she eventually shows Henry her hair and is wondering whether he likes her hair or not, even though Henry told her that he is fond of it: ―I‘d give anything to see your hair properly‖ (139).

Edna seems to present herself in the relationship rather naively and like being more of an accessory to Henry, as she does not discuss any significant issues nor she has a well-read personality trait. She usually agrees with

Henry‘s thoughts and maintains a submissive position, although, she keeps away when it comes to physical contact with Henry:

―That‘s all life is — something childish and very natural. Isn‘t it?‖

―Yes — yes,‖ she said eagerly. ―That‘s what I‘ve always thought.‖

―It‘s people that make things so — silly. As long as you can keep away from

them you‘re safe and you‘re happy.‖

―Oh, I‘ve thought that for a long time.‖

―Then you‘re just like me,‖ said Henry. The wonder of that was so great that he

almost wanted to cry. Instead he said very solemnly: ―I believe we‘re the only

two people alive who think as we do. In fact, I‘m sure of it. Nobody

understands me. I feel as though I were living in a world of strange beings —

do you?‖

―Always.‖

―We‘ll be in that loathsome tunnel again in a minute,‖ said Henry. ―Edna! can

I— just touch your hair?‖

She drew back quickly. ―Oh, no, please don‘t,‖ and as they were going into the

dark she moved a little away from him. (140).

Edna is not presented as a dreamer as Henry and is more down to Earth considering relationships and love. She lets him believe that their opinions and thoughts are almost as of thoughts of one person. They agree on that to keep people away from oneself is what one needs to do to be safe. Nevertheless,

Edna does keep distance from Henry although Henry is never acting reservedly

13 and seeks the adventurous side of love connected with physical contact. When it comes to admiration of her, she allows Henry to see her hair that he obsesses and often comments about; however, she does not let him touch it. Henry‘s attempt to touch Edna only results in her distance. The distance is paralleled by the dark of a tunnel, which makes her move away from him. This might indicate that Edna realises her vulnerability and perceives herself still as just a child that is not ready to make physical contact.

On the other hand, as it is presented later in the story, she supposedly does not understand why she really keeps the distance:

―I do hate hurting you so. Every time you ask me to let – let you hold my hand

or –or kiss me I could kill myself for not doing it – for not letting you know. I

don´t know why I don‘t even‖ (144).

Edna does realize that the physical aspect of the relationship is essential for a functioning relationship and she does wonder, whether keeping her distance might reason in Henry loving her less:

―Will it make you love me less?‖

―Oh, no,‖ he said. ―Nothing could – nothing on earth could do that‖ (145).

This might be interpreted as a thought of an innocent childish girl who fears that her barriers could slowly chase Henry away. Though, from a different point of view, it might be seen as an intentional and scheming question with the intention of the girl to get the satisfaction by the expression of admiration and imperishable love from her significant other.

Edna‘s perception of the relationship with Henry develops throughout the story very inconsistently like it is imitating varying thoughts going through constant changes. At one moment she opens to Henry for instance when she

14 shows him his hair, the very next moment she closes herself from Henry and pushes him away by keeping a distance. For Edna, the relationship slowly approaches its climax through the fantasy of them happily living together:

―Our bedroom is at the very top – that room with the two square windows.

When it is quiet we can hear the river flowing and the sound of the poplar trees

far, far away, rustling and flowing in our dreams, darling‖

...

―If we‘re going for a walk just take the cat and put inside the front door,‖ said

Henry, still pretending‖ (148).

Edna joins Henry‘s fanciful idea of their future. Unlike before, she does fear the fantasy and does not pull away from Henry, even though the idea is presented in an obsessively detailed manner. However, when Edna is facing the reality as

Henry states that he really wants them to live together now – not just in the future or in state of dreaming, she is the one who approaches the reality by reminding Henry of the lack of money. In this case, it is again Edna who is more rational and realistic than the dreamer Henry.

―Oh, she breathed, ―I do love you. Hold me, Henry.‖ He put his arms round her,

and she leaned against him and looked into his eyes. ―Hasn't it been terrible, all

to-day?― said Edna. ―I knew what was the matter and I've tried every way I

could to tell you that I wanted you to kiss me—that I'd quite got over the

feeling.‖ (155).

Following the fantasy, Edna eventually transitions into adulthood and intimate maturity by accepting the physical aspect of the relationship. Her character develops to the decision to explore the significance of combining the physicality

15 with the emotional part of the relationship with Henry. This development of

Edna‘s sexuality is also brought to attention of David Dowling:

―Ironically, we see even through Henry‘s narrative that Edna grows up during

the story, becoming ready to acknowledge sexual desire – the symbol of reality,

and constant obstacle for romantic love stories‖ (Dowling 45).

However, in the end Edna leaves Henry alone in his living in a state of dreaming.

1.2 Perception of Henry and His Relationship with Edna

Henry is the male protagonist in the story ‗Something Childish, but

Very Natural‘, presumably inspired by John M. Murry, Katherine Mansfield‘s lover and later husband as it is observed by Ian A. Gordon in Writers and

Their Work: No.49 Katherine Mansfield (1955):

„Early 1914 saw the collapse of Murry‘s Journals. During the year that

followed, Katherine Mansfield wrote two of her best stories to date,

Something Childish, but very Natural, a love-story which is evidently the

Murry‘s love-in-a-cottage situation projected back to a couple of

youngsters…― (Gordon 10).

Henry is a seventeen – nearly eighteen years old boy, whom Mansfield ascribed a quality of looking particularly erudite: ―Henry was a great fellow for books.... the quantity with which he was on nodding terms was amazing‖

(Something Childish, but Very Natural 129). This is a typical trait for a man to be well-read and the one who is initiative of the age during which this story was written. However, Henry is throughout the story presented as a little foolish and idealistic young boy with rather naive expectations and

16 demands on Edna. He is trying to pursue a relationship with her quite persistently. He is a dreamer who has a tendency to give in to his fantasies of the relationship with Edna. Henry seeks in Edna mostly physical relationship and he is mainly focusing on her physical beauty and does not seem to be interested in exploring her personality or past in that matter.

Henry is obsessed with Edna‘s physical features, such as her hair which he considers ‗the loveliest thing in the world‘ and he often mentions her dreamy smile. The only information about Edna that Henry seeks is her name and how old she is, there are no further questions about what she possibly likes or dislikes and no deeper interest in her is presented by Henry.

The motif of sexual tendencies of the male protagonist Henry seems to also rise from Mansfield‘s husband John M. Murry as it is examined in the article by Jeffrey Meyers called ‗Murry's Cult of Mansfield‘ which was published in the

Journal of Modern Literature. 7.1 (1979), where Meyers quotes Aldous Huxley:

―Huxley quite accurately perceives not only the falseness of the cult and Murry‘s

pitiful exploitation of his grief, but also the emotional immaturity and childish

role-playing of both Katherine and Murry, and he describes the destructive

aspect of Murry‘s ―mystical‖ love in the metaphor of sexual perversion‖ (Meyers

18).

John M. Murry also wrote a poem after Katherine Mansfield‘s death that supports the idea which presents that he does perceive as a little child and the relationship between them as being a relationship between two children, which is quoted in Meyers‘ article:

―For she was lonely; was she not a child

By royalty and wisdom, captive made

Among unlovely men, beating her wild

Impetuous wings in anguish, and dismayed...

A child of other worlds, a perfect thing

Vouchsafed to justify this world‘s imagining?...

A princess manifest, a child withouten stain.‖ (p.18).

The relationship between the two protagonists seems to be very innocent at first, or ‗freshly naive‘ as described by Dowling, who argues that with a close reading of ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ one can discover the darkness of the story as Henry is interested in Edna‘s sexuality more than anything else and he also suggests that he might previously took other girl to see his ‗dream cottage‘ before he went there with Edna (Dowling 45). This is the only fraction of Henry‘s past that is presented in the story and it induces the feature of darkness. The fact that Henry used to go to this place is not as unsettling as the fact, that the woman who remembers him supposes that Edna is his little sister. On the other hand this might also signify that the women considers them too young and innocent to be lovers, however given Henry‘s obsession with

Edna‘s physical features and his repetitive attempts to touch her indicates that the first perception of the scene is more probable:

―You haven‘t been here for a long spell,‖ said the women.

―No – the garden‘s looking wonderful.‖

―Fair,‖ said she. ―Is this young lady your sister?‖Henry nodded Yes, and took

some jam.

―There‘s a likeness,‖ said the woman. She came down into the garden and

picked a head of white jonquils and handed it to Edna (Something Childish, but

Very Natural 154).

Furthermore, the woman approaches Edna and gives her jonquils – flowers which are believed to refer to desire for an affection to be returned, however the meaning of the Latin name ‗juncus‘ means ‗rush‘. Both of these interpretations are in harmony with Edna‘s sudden change concerning the physical contact: „I knew what was the matter and I've tried every way I could to tell you that I wanted you to kiss me—that I'd quite got over the feeling.‖

(156). The darkness of Henry‘s actions was also previously projected in the story by his reaction to Edna‘s request of seeing the programme at the concert.

Henry shows Edna his dominance over her:

―Henry, give me the programme.‖

―Here it is – you can read it with me. I‘ll hold it for you.‖

―No, let me have it.‖

―Well, then, I‘ll read it for you‖ (142).

Henry does not want to give the programme to Edna for her to read and insists on reading it either with her or for her. This suggests that Henry depicts a man with possessive and manipulative tendencies, hidden behind his passion for

Edna. However, his dominance and sexual desire for physical contact with Edna often alternates with submissiveness displayed by Henry‘s desperate feelings of affection for her and willingness to take the blame: ―Edna – stop – it‘s all my fault. I‘m a fool – I‘m a thundering idiot. I‘ve spoiled your afternoon‖ (144).

Henry is obsessed with the idea of Edna and her being by his side that throughout the story the reader finds him at several occasions having thoughts about how he perceives being without her – the emotions which he feels when he is not in Edna‘s presence are described as a time of suffering. This is firstly presented by his answer to the question about Saturday and Sunday which they

19 spent apart: ―But it‘s been agony,‖ he said, smiling brilliantly – ―agony‖ (137).

Furthermore, in the letter to Edna he states: ―I do love you, Edna. But Sundays without you are simply impossible‖ (141). This feeling of possessiveness persists throughout the story till its near end:―The thing is,‖ said Henry, ―how am I going to wait until evening?‖ (156).

At the end of the story, Henry‘s perception of the relationship in the reality is overshadowed by the dreamy fantasy and as Dowling examines: ―He senses the inevitable conflict between the dream and the reality, and, cherishing the dream too well, is paralysed‖ (Dowling 45).

1.3 Perception of the Relationship through the Use of

Symbolism

The story is uplifted by the theme of dreamy atmosphere that is set from the beginning and is continuously projected throughout the story. This is achieved mainly by the symbols and motifs that Mansfield inserted repetitively into the individual passages:

―Sunlight darted through the glass roof of the station in long beams of blue and

gold; a little boy ran up and down carrying a tray of primroses; there was

something about the people – about the women especially – something idle and

yet eager. The most thrilling day of the Year, the first real day of Spring had

unclosed its warm delicious beauty even to London eyes‖ (Something Childish,

but Very Natural 128).

Mansfield used mainly features derived from nature such as flowers and colours atypical for the particular objects, usually connected to light. In the passage

20 above, Mansfield attains the depiction of the dreamy setting by using the colour gold, which then continues to appear later in the story and induces dreams and might give the reader an impression of mystique, by the floral motif of primroses supported by the motive of Spring.

Furthermore, the dreamy atmosphere is evoked by Henry‘s encountering with a poem ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ written by Samuel Taylor

Coleridge (1772 – 1834) who was a member of the group of poets called Lake

Poets and who is connected to the literary movement known as Romanticism:

―Had I but two little wings,

And were a little feathery bird,

To you I'd fly, my dear,

But thoughts like these are idle things,

And I stay here.

But in my sleep to you I fly,

I'm always with you in my sleep,

The world is all one's own,

But then one wakes and where am I?

All, all alone.

Sleep stays not though a monarch bids,

So I love to wake at break of day,

For though my sleep be gone,

Yet while' tis dark one shuts one's lids,

And so, dreams on‖ (129).

―David Dowling notes in his article "Mansfield's SOMETHING CHILDISH BUT

VERY NATURAL.", Explicator 38.3 (1980): ―The question is, then, why did

Mansfield write such an ambiguous story as she did, instead of a strong affirmation of the power of the Romantic imagination?‖ (Dowling 45).

The presence of Coleridge‘s poem supports the dreamy atmosphere of the story. The whole poem is presented in the story and its position is natural and inherent, Mansfield gives the reader an opportunity to see the poem through her own eyes and not to only encounter and perceive the poem through Henry‘s eyes. The introduction of the poem is captivating not only by the meaning of the words but also of the particular sound of them: ―...he turned over the pages until a title struck his eye – Something Childish but very

Natural...‖ (Something Childish, but Very Natural 129). Furthermore, when

Henry is done with the poem, she chooses words with a mellow sound that supports the dreamy tone of the story: ―He could not have done with the little poem‖ (130). It seems, that Mansfield meant for the poem to stand out from the dreamy setting and leave the reader astonished by its story about lovers who cannot be together in reality, but can enjoy each other‘s presence in dreams. The theme of the poem corresponds to the theme of reality and fantasy in the story itself. However, Dowling further argues that:

―By choosing Coleridge‘s poem, Mansfield alerts us to the fact that the story will

be about the romantic impulse. Unexpectedly, it turns out to be a sophisticated

critique of it rather than a demonstration of its value...‖ (Dowling 45).

This critique of the romantic value is indicated by the dark side of Henry and the depiction of the garden, which becomes ‗full of shadows‘ at the end of the story instead of romantic reuniting with his lover.

Additionally, Henry and Edna meet for the first time in a train – an object which is moving through space, just as a relationship between two people moves through time. The significance of the train might lie in the interpretation as a parallel for the relationship between Henry and Edna. As the train slowly starts to move and leaves the train station, the relationship is pursued and while the train continues, Edna and Henry become closer, nevertheless, when the train suddenly enters the dark tunnel, Edna pulls away from Henry.

As Gerardo Rodríguez Salas observes in Community in Twentieth-Century

Fiction (2013), Mansfield‘s characters try to communicate, however, the attempts to do so are not always successful and are therefore often supported by symbolic imagery that are connected to the motif of nature – ‗mainly floral motifs or light effects. This phenomenon is widely spread throughout the story.

Salas then states that the motifs of nature ‗either highlight a secrecy invariably checking communication or a fictitious, transcendental communication in sharp contrast with the faulty reality of lovers‘ (Salas 69). In the story, Mansfield focuses on the emotions of the characters and their gestures; however, she does not delineate the surroundings and only occasionally material items besides the flower symbols are mentioned, usually in a linkup to the gestures.

The selection of the particular flowers and colours is therefore not coincidental. Edna‘s hair is often depicted by the colour of gold, or marigold.

The symbolic meaning of the marigold colour is believed to be linked with grief, cruelty and jealousy. Mansfield uses her hair as a physical feature that attracts

Henry the most, one could say that he is almost obsessed by it and focuses on it his sexual intuition. Since Edna is very self-conscious and does not let Henry

23 touch her nor does willingly present her hair, the colour of her hair as perceived by Henry might imply his inner frame of mind:

―...She sat pressed against the window, her cheek and shoulder half hidden by

a long wave of marigold-coloured hair....‖ (Something Childish, but Very Natural

131).

―He tried to remember what it had felt like without Edna, but he could not get

back to those days. They were hidden by her; Edna, with the marigold hair and

strange, dreamy smile filled him up to the brim. He breathed her; he ate and

drank her‖ (151).

In both situations, where the colour marigold appears in the story, Henry longs for Edna. In the first case, Henry is in Edna‘s presence; however, he seems to be struggling with pursuing a conversation with her. In the following case,

Henry‘s obsession with Edna intensifies, though Henry is alone and therefore the marigold can be again connected to his inner grieving for her.

Further the floral motif includes primroses which are used numerous times and are believed to imply that one cannot live without someone, daisies – flowers of children and innocence, the violet sent by Edna, which might imply her faithfulness, jonquils which means desire for affection and roses. Roses in particular stand for love; however in contrast with the other flowers roses do not imply innocence but passion. Mansfield stressed that out by putting the roses into Edna‘s lap: ―Only two tiny little roses.‖ He laid them in her lap‖. The presence of flowers might be interpreted as a metaphorical connection with the relationship between Henry and Edna and mainly, it seems to support Edna‘s sexual transition in the story.

As opposed to the light Mansfield also uses the motif of darkness when

Edna mentions that she is a ‗fatalist‘ and does not always think that life is wonderful, the train is going through the tunnel and ―They were shattering through the dark‖ and again even the words Mansfield chooses imply an unpleasant feeling. The darkness might be perceived as a back to reality feature as Edna isolates herself from Henry, however when the light appeared again ―she moved towards his end of the carriage‖.

1.4 Narrative Organisation in ‘Something Childish but Very

Natural’

‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ was written by Katherine Mansfield during her stay in Paris in 1914. According to Gerri Kimber, who follows

Katherine Mansfield during her visits to Paris, presents an argument in her book

Katherine Mansfield: The View from France (2008), which observes that Paris influenced Mansfield by its new and fresh surroundings and stimulated her to write more experimentally:

―During this month she wrote the story ‗Something Childish but Very Natural‘,

the first of her stories to be written in France. It was much longer than any

story she had written up to that point and was her first attempt at writing in

‗episodes‘. Her new situation had helped to turn her creative process in a

different direction and made her experimental both in scope and vision (Kimber

61).

Furthermore, as Claire Tomalin points out, a friend of Katherine Mansfield –

Beatrice Campbell describes that Katherine felt ―cheerful‖ when she was in

Paris. Further, she remembers that Katherine would go ―from café to café‖ or would behave courageously like the time mentioned when she took her hat off and put in on the rack next to the men‘s hat, which would astonish the men and made Katherine feel delighted (Tomalin 113). This influence can be observed in the story, as it is compared to the following stories quite playful both in narrative style2 and theme of young naive love. Nevertheless, the story is not set in Paris. Mieke Bal notes:‖events always occur somewhere, be it a place that actually exists or an imaginary place‖ (Bal 7). Mansfield sets the story to an actual place – London, however, except for the Charing Cross Road she does not further specify the places Henry and Edna go to – the concert hall or the village is just a concert hall and a village: ―He looked at all in the Charing

Cross Road during lunch-time and at any odd time in London‖ (Something

Childish, but Very Natural 129). The use of unspecified places underlines the dreamy atmosphere of the story and the tension between what is fantasy and what is reality.

In the opening of the story, the narrator and the protagonist Henry are introduced:‖ Whether he had forgotten what it felt like, or his head had really grown bigger since the summer before, Henry could not decide‖ (128).

Furthermore, Mansfield also addresses the reader directly at the beginning of the story:

2 Mansfield starts to experiment with the free indirect discourse and uses third person narrator as opposed to the I-form in her previous stories: ―He asserted the fact so vehemently that I had not the courage to refute it. All eyes were suddenly turned upon me‖ (Germans at Meat 7). Patrick D. Morrow notes in his book Katherine Mansfield‘s Fiction:‖‘Something Childish but Very Natural‘...is among those stories which mark a drastic change in KM‘s method of fiction. Her works to that point, collected in In a German Pension (1911), are told in the I-form‖ (Morrow 20).

―By his clean neat handling of them and by his nice choice of phrase when

discussing them with one or another bookseller you would have thought that he

had taken his pap with a tome propped before his nurse's bosom. But you

would have been quite wrong‖ (129).

This technique engages the reader into the story and captures his or her attention.

The male protagonist Henry is the focalizor and Edna is the object of focalization. The reader is presented the story through Henry‘s eyes and the inner thoughts of Edna are never present. Henry‘s thoughts are presented in direct thoughts: ――I suppose she goes to some school in London,‖ thought

Henry‖ (131) or free direct thoughts:――She must think I'm mad,‖ he thought,

―dashing into a train without even a hat, and in the evening, too‖‖ (130).

Further, Henry‘s thoughts are predominantly presented in a form of free indirect thought: ―Why did he want to touch her so much and why did she mind?‖ (142). Mansfield shifts between direct and indirect discourse throughout the story as the story is presented by the third person – the narrator and shifts to the direct speech of the protagonists. Bal notes that: ―the focalization has a strongly manipulative effect...the point is to keep sight of the difference between spoken and unspoken words of the characters‖ (Bal 153). Therefore, if

Mansfield used more characters as a focalizor, the reader‘s perception would be more objective, however, since Henry is the only focalizor of the story, the perception the reader gets is highly subjective.

The characters are also given voice through the letters that they send to each other. The whole story is written in a subtle romantic tone, which is set from the beginning by the use of Coleridge‘s romantic poem called ‗Something

Childish, but Very Natural‘, which was mentioned in the thesis earlier. Further, the tone is set by the use of specific words and phrases such as: ‗dreamy smile‘, ‗the sun dance on the ceiling‘, ‗the smile danced in her eyes‘, ‗the words flew‘ or ‗as in a dream he saw the sky‘.

Mansfield ends the story of the description of the background and

Henry‘s reaction to the circumstances: ―The garden became full of shadows— they span a web of darkness over the cottage and the trees and Henry and the telegram. But Henry did not move‖ (Something Childish, but Very Natural 158).

By the use of words ‗darkness‘ and ‗shadows‘ Mansfield creates a negative feeling in contrast to the romantic vibe of the story from the beginning. It possibly indicates the return to the reality as opposed to the dreamy atmosphere. The last sentence where Henry is not moving and is still, is in contrast with the opening, where Henry is in a train, which indicates movement.

The last sentence creates a complete opposite to the beginning of the story and leaves the reader wondering, whether it was all just a dream or reality.

Chapter Two: ‘Bliss’

2.1 Perception of Bertha and Her Relationship with Pearl and Harry

As opposed to ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ Mansfield‘s ‗Bliss‘ follows the female protagonist of the story – Bertha Young. The reader therefore is presented the occurrences through Bertha‘s perception and that is the only way the reader gets observe her husband Harry. Bertha Young is a 30 years old woman, who gives the first impression as a rather light- minded person, who could be even seen as immature for her age as she is described to have tendencies to: ‖run instead of walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement, to bowl a hoop, to throw something up in the air and catch it again, or to stand still and laugh at—nothing—at nothing, simply.?‖ (Bliss 116).

Bertha feels joy – ‗absolute bliss‘, even though she is not sure why she feels that way. The way Bertha perceives the so called bliss might be interpreted as a sudden feeling of sexual energy – she has not only been acting immaturely, but she was not fully aware of her own physicality:

―But in her bosom there was still that bright glowing place—that shower of

little sparks coming from it. It was almost unbearable. She hardly dared to

breathe for fear of fanning it higher, and yet she breathed deeply, deeply.

She....[was] waiting for something . . . divine to happen . . . that she knew

must happen . . . infallibly‖ (117).

Bertha‘s perception of the feeling resembles the feeling of an aroused person – the feeling of ‗glowing space‘ with ‗sparks‘, the feeling that this is ‗almost

29 unbearable‘ yet there is a positive connotation to it. Further, she breaths

‗deeply, deeply‘ and she even has ‗trembling lips‘.

As the story progresses, the reader discovers, that Bertha has a baby called little Bertha. Bertha loves her daughter; nevertheless, it does seem like a rather superficial love triggered primarily by Little Bertha‘s physical appearance and her cuteness:

―"You're nice—you're very nice!" said she, kissing her warm baby."I'm fond of

you. I like you."

And, indeed, she loved Little B so much—her neck as she bent forward, her

exquisite toes as they shone transparent in the firelight‖ (120).

She does not seem to perceive the baby with a strong maternal instinct. She even lets the nurse to have the upper hand and she does not dare to oppose her when she questions the Nanny‘s decisions in her mind. Through this scene the reader may observe that Bertha is a caring person, however, she does not involve deeply in the relationships and she keeps them superficial rather than trying to approach her family closer, almost as she was intentionally keeping distance – which might be either perceived as a result of her immaturity or it might be an intentional way of closing herself from the outside world and the possibility of being hurt. The more blissful Bertha thinks she feels on the inside the more superficial are her relationships (with her own baby, husband and even her friends) on the outside:

―Bertha wanted to ask if it wasn't rather dangerous to let her clutch at a

strange dog's ear. But she did not dare to. She stood watching them, her hands

by her side, like the poor little girl in front of the rich little girl with the doll‖

(119).

Furthermore, her incapability of deep involvement with family – people could presumably be most comfortable around – is depicted by the telephone conversation with her husband Harry, when she is incompetent to engage in a deep conversation to let him know about her feelings: ―What had she to say?

She'd nothing to say. She only wanted to get in touch with him for a moment‖

(120). It seems that Bertha might be trying to mask her insecurity – either voluntarily or by not even realising that she is insecure.

Further, the guests that are expected for the dinner party are introduced in the story including a woman of Bertha‘s interest – Pearl Fulton. Pearl is perceived by Bertha as a very mysterious person and she cannot really figure her out, nor does she even know what she does as opposed to the other guests, who are all presented to the reader on the basis of what they do. ―They had met at the club and Bertha had fallen in love with her, as she always did fall in love with beautiful women who had something strange about them‖

(121). Bertha loves Pearl and is said to have tendencies to fall in love with enigmatic and beautiful woman, yet on the other hand she does not acknowledge passion or desire for her own husband. The lesbian tendency of

Bertha reflects Mansfield‘s own sexual acknowledgement, as she herself is recognised as bisexual, which is observed by Tomalin in Mansfield‘s journal entries:

―If later entry in Katherine‘s journal is to be believed, she had some experience

with Maata [her female classmate] during their schooldays that was sexually

disturbing; it seems to have been more than a matter of a schoolgirl crush, and

it became the germ of her awereness of her own bisexuality‖ (Tomalin 16).

Furthermore, Bertha has not been passionate in her marriage and is described to be ‗so cold‘ towards her husband, which suggests additional comparison to

Mansfield‘s own relationship with Murry, where according to Tomalin:

―whatever sexual attraction there was in the first place seems to have drained away pretty thoroughly, leaving Katherine at any rate, as a being desexed‖

(225).

The reader knows what is happening on the inside of Bertha‘s mind; however, there is no focus on the actions that are concerning the outside.

Bertha seems to admire her husband and perceives him in an innocent way. On the contrary, by the reaction of Harry to Pearl perceived through Bertha‘s naive mind, the reader might suggest that he is cruel and narrow-minded because of his notes on Pearl: ‗dullish‘, with ‗anaemia of the brain‘ or ‗liver frozen‘.

However, even though his constant unpleasant remarks about Pearl might seem dubious to the reader, Bertha does not wonder or hesitate at all, her lightness of mind which often boarders with possible intentional ignorance even causes that she is amused by Harry‘s comments. Patricia L. Moran questions in Word of

Mouth: Body Language in Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf (1996):

―Does she suspect the affair between her husband and Pearl at the beginning

of the story, or does this knowledge take her by surprise at the end? Is her

sexual desire for her husband Harry genuine, or is it a defense against her

homoerotic feelings for Pearl? What does the pear tree represent? And what

exactly is ―bliss?‖‖ (Moran 41).

Bertha finds happiness in the little thing and she enjoys life by simply living it. She does focus on being happy; however, she does not exactly state what it is, that makes her feel this way: ――I‘m too happy – too happy!‖ she

32 murmured‖ (Bliss 123). This might imply that Bertha does choose to feel happy, even though the occurrences might be actually making her sad, because it is nearly impossible to feel too happy, therefore it indicates that there is a hidden aspect of sadness. Bertha feels happiness that stands on the perception of presumable perfection. She feels happy because when she lists all the things that she has, she assumes she must be happy, however, there is no connection between perfection and happiness:

―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...‖ (123).

She states the phenomena that make her happy but she does perceive them as objects, she simply makes a list but does not connect them to the feelings.

Bertha‘s naïveté or possible acknowledgment of her husband´s affair is questioned when he comes home and tells Bertha that he need five minutes.

―Bertha couldn't help smiling; she knew how he loved doing things at high

pressure. What, after all, did an extra five minutes matter? But he would

pretend to himself that they mattered beyond measure. And then he would

make a great point of coming into the drawing-room, extravagantly cool and

collected‖ (126).

What does five minutes matter? It could be perceived as the fact that it is usual to need some time to get ready after involving physically with a person

33 of desire. It might come to one‘s mind that Harry has seen Pearl before the dinner and therefore they both are late and whereas she is still prepping in the taxi, Harry needs the extra five minutes to get ready. The fact that

Bertha ‗couldn‘t stop smiling‘ and that she does not simply state that Harry does that but she states that Bertha knows might sign that she is aware of her husband‘s affair. Patricia L. Moran argues:

―The repetition [of the word ‗strange‘] suggests repudiated knowledge:

Bertha associates the beautiful women with her husband and her bed, an

association she conceals with the ambiguity of ―strange.‖ From this

perspective, it is possible to argue that Bertha stages the very scene of

discovery: she deliberately cultivates a friendship with Pearl Fulton‖ (Moran

42).

Attention is also constantly drawn to the mysteriousness of Pearl and the fact that Bertha cannot figure her out, even though she usually guesses one‘s mood instantly, it is possible to argue that she does not feel comfortable because she attends a dinner party which is hosted by her secret lover‘s wife. Therefore she might be unintentionally giving mixed signals to Bertha. There is a high focus on Bertha‘s perception of Pearl and the attitude Bertha has towards her. Even though she feels attracted to

Pearl, she does not approach her but she waits for a sign from her:

―" I believe this does happen very, very rarely between women. Never

between men," thought Bertha. "But while I am making the coffee in the

drawing-room perhaps she will ' give a sign'

What she meant by that she did not know, and what would happen after

that she could not imagine" (Bliss 130).

Bertha dos not really know what the sign is supposed to be and she is not sure, what she would do if the situation occurred, she questions her own feelings and sexuality and it seems that the desire for Pearl also projects a desire for her husband Harry. When Pearl asks about the garden, Bertha considers it to be the sign she waited for:

――At that moment Miss Fulton" gave the sign."

"Have you a garden?" said the cool, sleepy voice‖ (131).

However, when Bertha and Pearl stay close together looking at the pear tree,

Bertha does not shows her desire or interest, she only focuses on the inner state of her mind. Further, the fact that she later approaches her husband:

――She's wonderful, wonderful. And, besides, how can you feel so differently

about someone who means so much to me. I shall try to tell you when we

are in bed to-night what has been happening. What she and I have shared"‖

(133).

This also displays that the desire for Pearl parallels with her desire for her husband Harry, as she will try to share her feelings and experiences with him and try to get a deeper relationship with him and presumably also strengthen physical relationship: ―For the first time in her life Bertha Young desired her husband‖ (133).

Nevertheless, at the end of the dinner party as Harry helps Pearl with the coat, Bertha happens to see the cruel reality, that her husband is having an affair: ――His lips said:" I adore you," and Miss Fulton laid her moonbeam fingers on his cheeks and smiled her sleepy smile‖ (136). However, Bertha does not externally react, but again keeps the action to her inner mind: ―"

Oh, what is going to happen now?" she cried. But the pear tree was as lovely as ever and as full of flower and as still‖ (136).

The description of the tree in the last sentence of the story can be perceived as a sign that Bertha does not realize the seriousness of the situation and is struck by the moment of Epiphany or that she chooses to live in the state of bliss, which might be regarded as sweet ignorance and not openly deal with her husband‘s disloyalty.

2.2 Symbolism and The Individual Perception of The Main

Characters

As it was in the case of ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘, symbolism in the story ‗Bliss‘ represents a significant manner of comprehension, a certain parallel for the protagonist‘s individual perception. The very first thing that the reader gets to learn about the female protagonist is her name – Bertha Young, whose name might be taken as a literal description of Bertha‘s immaturity:

―Although Bertha Young was thirty she still had moments like when she wanted

to run instead of walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement, to bowl

a hoop, to throw something up in the air and catch it again, or to stand still

laugh at – nothing – at nothing, simply‖ (Bliss 116).

As it is presented by the quote Mansfield emphasises that Bertha Young ‗still‘ behaves immaturely in spite of her age. Further, her behaviour represents certain light-mindedness, which connects Bertha to general lightness of her being. From this perspective running, dancing and throwing things up in the air induce the idea of floating in the air, which is interwoven with the subsequent

36 symbol, which might be also reflecting Bertha – the bowl of fruit:―...She stood away from the table to get the effect—and it really was most curious. For the dark table seemed to melt into the dusky light and the glass dish and the blue bowl to float in the air‖ (118). The bowl is full of colourful fruits and is described as floating in the air, which corresponds to Bertha‘s characteristic as depicted earlier. She is just like the bowl surrounded by the darkness of civilization, which she herself considers ‗idiotic‘ for setting for people right and wrong. From another point of view, the darkness surrounding the bowl might be interpreted as the dark truth that Bertha does not see or does not want to admit. Furthermore, the bowl of fruit contains mixture of fruits, which can be related to Bertha‘s individual features. There are ‗tangerines and apples‘, which might be seen as a symbol for Bertha‘s passion and sparks she feels, ‗yellow pears‘3, which might represent her feminine side or her attraction to other women, ‗white grapes‘ might be seen as a reflection of her lightness and innocence. The grapes are described as having ‗silver bloom‘ which is connected to mysteriousness and last but not least, there are grapes of purple colour, which is connected to individualism and extravagance, mystery and excitement. All of those features mentioned above can be seen as a parallel to

Bertha, who herself is a combination of the individual phenomena. Bertha also wears: ―a white dress, a string of jade beads, green shoes and stockings‖

(124). This again emphasises the white innocence, which in this case might be seen in connection to naïveté and the green seems to connect to the visualisation of Bertha as the pear tree:

3 The significance of the symbol of pears is closely connected to the pear tree, the relevance of the pear tree will be further analysed in more detail

―At the far end, against the wall, there was a tall, slender pear tree in fullest,

richest bloom; it stood perfect, as though becalmed against the jade-green sky‖

(122). ―And she seemed to see on her eyelids the lovely pear tree with its wide

open blossoms as a symbol of her own life. Really—really—she had everything―

(123).

Bertha does see a parallel for her life in the green pear tree. The tree is in its best condition with freshly grown petals, which as Bertha realizes, represents her own life. The pear tree it is presumably because the shape of pear is a symbol for typically feminine shape of body. Moran connects the imagery of the pear tree to the Garden of Eden – the pear here not only substitutes for the apple as a symbol of knowledge and evil but also appends the symbol of femininity:

―That the fruit is a pear rather than an apple underscores the connection

between the quest for knowledge and the question of the female sexuality: not

only is the shape of pear evocative of female body, but the word ―pear‖ visually

recalls ―Pearl,‖ who, as Judith Neaman observes, plays the part of serpent with

her heavy-lidded eyes, cool skin and silvery dress‖ (Moran 41).

Further, throughout the story, there are several symbols that reflect desire and passion Bertha feels. There is a connection between literal fire and fire that

Bertha feels inside:

‖ She went into the drawing-room and lighted the fire; then, picking up the

cushions...That made all the difference; the room came alive at once. As she

was about to throw the last one she surprised herself by suddenly hugging it to

her, passionately, passionately. But it did not put out the fire in her bosom. Oh,

on the contrary!‖ (Bliss 122).

In this paragraph, Mansfield draws attention to the contrast between literal fire, which can be easily extinguished if it is desired, and the metaphorical fire, which is uncontrollable for Bertha and instead of softening, can be only intensified. Berta‘s passion and state of bliss also seems to be depicted by the tulips in her garden:

―Down below, in the garden beds, the red and yellow tulips, heavy with flowers,

seemed to lean upon the dusk. A grey cat, dragging its belly, crept across the

lawn, and a black one, its shadow, trailed after. The sight of them, so intent

and so quick, gave Bertha a curious shiver‖ (122).

The red tulips are considered a symbol representing ‗perfect love‘ and the yellow tulips are connected to sunshine, which again induces the fire and passion. Nevertheless, the grey cat and black cat intervene and disturb the vibe of positive colours depicting love and ardency. The grey cat could be seen as of the same colour as moon, therefore representing Pearl4 and the black cat might symbolize the darkness of the truth about her unfaithful husband.

Furthermore, there is the mysteriousness of Pearl Fulton, which is drawn attention to several times throughout the story. The first time Pearl Fulton is introduced she is forthwith connected with being an enigma as every other guest but Pearl Fulton is represented by what he or she does. Besides the substantial connotations between Pearl and moon such as the silver colour, and her fingers described as moonbeams, Neaman also draws attention to the complexion of details, that support the close connection between the symbol of

4 ―And then Miss Fulton, all in silver, with a silver fillet binding her pale blond hair, came in smiling, her head a little on one side‖ (Bliss 127). Pearl Fulton is closely connected to the mysterious silver colour.

39 moon and Pearl, in her article ‗Allusion, Image, and Associative Pattern: The

Answers in Mansfield's "Bliss"‘(1986):

―However, Mansfield‘s descriptions of Pearl emphasize not only Pearl‘s lunar

qualities (she is dressed ―all in silver with a silver filler binding her head‖ and

her fingers, ―like moonbeams, are so slender that a pale light seemed to come

from them‖) but also focus on the reader‘s attention on her cool arm,‖ ―heavy

eyelids‖ and ―[mysterious] half smile.‖‖ (Neaman 244).

The symbol of moon representing Pearl is used by Mansfield several times to refer to the desire that Bertha feels for Pearl:

―And still, in the back of her mind, there was the pear tree. It would be silver

now, in the light of poor dear Eddie's moon, silver as Miss Fulton, who sat there

turning a tangerine in her slender fingers that were so pale a light seemed to

come from them‖ (Bliss 130).

In this paragraph Mansfield uses the imagery of the tree and the moon as a parallel to Bertha‘s lust for Pearl. The fact, that the pearl tree would be silver, might represent that Bertha imagines the physical engagement with Pearl.

Furthermore, the tangerine Miss Fulton holds possibly indicates, that she is the one who triggers the desire in Bertha, as the orange tangerine could be comprehended as Bertha‘s lust that is in her hands just like the tangerine.

―And the two women stood side by side looking at the slender, flowering tree...almost to touch the rim of the round, silver moon‖ (131). As Bertha and

Pearl stand close to each other, for Bertha it feels like she almost touches the moon. Bertha and Pearl do not touch nor does the moon touch the tree, though it intensifies the desire.

2.3 Narrative Organization in ‘Bliss’

In the story ‗Bliss‘ Mansfield opens the story in the middle of the action, which immediately draws the attention of the reader:

―Although Bertha Young was thirty she still had moments like this when she

wanted to run instead of walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement,

to bowl a hoop, to throw something up in the air and catch it again, or to stand

still and laugh at—nothing—at nothing, simply. What can you do if you are

thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly,

by a feeling of bliss—absolute bliss!‖ (Bliss 116).

The reader is informed about the name and the age of the protagonist, however, there are no further details about her traits, appearance or why she feels the bliss – the reader is presented the emotions she feels, which is connected to the mysteriousness of its reason. Wallace Martin in his book

Recent Theories of Narrative also comments on the mysteriousness of the name of the story ‗Bliss‘: ―Though titles may prove to be apt summaries of the stories after we have read them, they usually appear enigmatic when we begin. ―Bliss‖

– who feels it, in what circumstances, and with what results?‖ (Martin 163). The name Mansfield chose, evokes curiosity and makes the reader wonder what caused it. Further, Masnfield addresses the reader at the beginning of the story:

―What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street,

you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss—absolute bliss !— as though

you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it

burned in your bosom…― (Bliss 116).

This engages the reader into thinking about the concept of bliss even more. It makes him or her question, what is appropriate for a thirty years old woman to do and feel.

Furthermore, Mansfield uses symbols associated with the feeling of bliss and lightness of Bertha. The symbols emphasize the warm atmosphere of the bliss, when there is the description of Bertha‘s bosom as ‗bright glowing place‘ and association with ‗shower of little sparks‘ and Bertha‘s naivety and lightness with the use of symbol of bowl which ‗float in the air‘ (Bliss 116).

Mansfield uses third-person limited point of view. The narrator presents the perception of only one of the characters and does not incorporate observations of any other characters. In Bliss, Mansfield uses the narrative techniques to present the limitedness of human mind and its perception.

Mansfield uses terms such as: ‗it seemed‘, ‗as it were‘ throughout the story which show that Bertha is not sure about her own perception – whether she imagines it (was it just a dream) or if it really is reality. The events are therefore presented as Bertha thinks that they are. Mieke Bal presents characterizes fabula as ―a series of logically and chronologically related events that are caused or experienced by the actors‖ (Bal 5). The reader perceives this logic of events, as it is presented in the story and as the actors of the story experience the events. The fabula determines which event the reader encounters in which specific order. In ‗Bliss‘ Mansfield lets the reader find out about the affair in the very end of the story, even though there are certain hints, which were analysed before, that might indicate that Bertha surmised

42 that from the beginning. Mansfield, however, presents the fabula in this particular order, so that the reader finds out in the end.

Chapter Three: ‘A Cup of Tea’

3.1 Perception of Rosemary and of the Relationship with

Philip

Katherine Mansfield‘s story ‗A Cup of Tea‘ follows predominantly female protagonist – similarly to the previous story ‗Bliss‘ – a married rich woman

Rosemary Fell:

―She was young, brilliant and extremely modern, exquisitely well dressed,

amazingly well read in the newest of the new books, and her parties were the

most delicious mixture of the really important people and... artists—quaint

creatures, discoveries of hers, some of them too terrifying for words, but others

quite presentable and amusing‖ (A Cup of Tea 24).

The protagonists Rosemary Fell and her husband Philip might be based on

Mansfield‘s own family experience and her perception of her parents in the childhood, as her family was wealthy. It is probable, that Mansfield in this story the reader is presented a satirical parallel to a life of her parents and the life, which her father wanted for Katherine Mansfield herself. It is notable that the description of Rosemary Fell is very similar to the one of Mansfield‘s family in

Katherine Mansfield: A Secret Life:

―Katherine‘s childhood was never penurious, and her father made money fast

and in large quantities from 1890 onwards...All this had a decisive effect on his

attitude towards his own wife and daughters. They were shaped, deliberately

and determinedly, into a mould of Victorian ladies whose activities are confined

to giving orders to servants, flower-arranging, party-giving, travel, tennis, a

little music, a little reading, a little French and German, a little hypochondria

and much choosing hats and camisole ribbons‖ (Tomalin 8,9).

The similarity is supported by the social class Mansfield‘s family belonged to.

Mansfield was used to having servants around and was not limited by money.5

Her mother could host dinner parties, buy flowers to decorate the house – just like Rosemary Fell. Further, the Mansfield women were able to spend time enjoying a novel, which is also what Rosemary does in the story, because she compares her experience to a novel: ―It was like something out of a novel by

Dostoevsky‖ (28).

The character of Rosemary Fell is introduced by the narrator at the very beginning of the story to the reader rather unconventionally: ―Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No, you couldn't have called her beautiful. Pretty?

Well, if you took her to pieces. .. But why be so cruel as to take anyone to pieces?‖ (24). Timothy Sexton argues in his article ‗Irony in Katherine

Mansfield's A Cup of Tea‘ that the very first description of Rosemary states the presence of irony in the story: ―The opening passage in Katherine Mansfield's short story "A Cup of Tea" introduces the protagonist in a manner that will serve to underscore the importance of irony to the tale‖ (Sexton).

―Rosemary has been married two years...And her husband absolutely adored her‖ (A Cup of Tea 24). The first depiction of the relationship between

Rosemary and her husband is connected with a positive connotation. From this description the reader could assume that in this relationship between the wife and her husband there is no need for the insecurities.

5 The influence by her parents and her childhood is apparent also in other stories such as ‗Garden party‘, where the protagonist also comes from a high class society. Mansfield depicts the family in a similarly but an interestingly different way, as the protagonist – as opposed to not so conscious Rosemary – truly sympathizes with the poor: ―Again, how curious, she seemed to be different from them all. To take scraps from their party. Would the poor woman really like that?‖ (Garden Party 87).

Though Rosemary is presented in a sympathetic way to the reader, she has a high social status and is depicted as a profligate person, who is fond of beautiful vain things and spends large amounts of money on flowers and objects she is mesmerized by: ―I want those and those and those. Give me four bunches of those. And that jar of roses. Yes, I'll have all the roses in the jar.

No, no lilac. I hate lilac. It's got no shape." (25). Sexton examines in his article

‗Katherine Mansfield and Modernism in the Short Story‘:

―It is not the fact that a character can easily afford an entire jar of roses that

has significance; it is that lilacs she rejects are a less impressive symbol of

status and bearing. Then there is the aesthetic quality associated with roses

and lilacs and those qualities are consistent with the deeply ironic tone the

story takes from the beginning. Roses are beautiful; lilacs at best merely

pretty.‖ (Sexton)

The significance of Rosemary‘s choice of flowers as noted by Sexton indicates, that Rosemary belongs to a certain social class and the influence it has on her can be observed through the flowers she chooses. Rosemary lives in a certain bubble of her own carefree life and does not realize that somebody might not even have enough money to buy something to eat. Further, when Rosemary encounters a poor girl in the street, who asks her for ―price of cup of tea‖, she wonders, whether she does not have any money as if it was something unbelievable and out of this world – the fact, that there are also people are not in the same financial sphere and social class. Rosemary reacts naively and in a slightly arrogant way:

―How extraordinary! Rosemary peered through the dusk, and the girl gazed

back at her. How more than extraordinary! And suddenly it seemed to

Rosemary such an adventure. It was like something out of a novel by

Dostoevsky, this meeting in the dusk. Supposing she took the girl home?

Supposing she did do one of those things she was always reading about or

seeing on the stage, what would happen? It would be thrilling‖ (A Cup of Tea

28).

The fact that she invites a girl of a different status could be perceived as a pure act of kindness, on the other hand, it might also by just from a whimsy, as she goes on to compare this ‗adventure‘ – which is a real misfortune for the poor girl without money – to the adventures she reads about in the books. She does not even consider the aspect of simply doing a good deed. Rosemary decides to take the girl home, which eventually becomes the phenomenon that causes the change in Rosemary‘s perception of herself in the relationship with her husband.

Rosemary‘s husband Philip is depicted through the conversation with

Rosemary which begins by his reaction to her guest. Philip does not tolerate the girl – introduced as Miss Smith in the house. He shows his dominance over

Rosemary, he does not allow her to have a cup of tea with Miss Smith. He does not leave a space for negotiating: "But what on earth are you going to do with her?" cried Philip... ―My darling girl,‖ said Philip ―you‘re quite mad, you know. It simply can't be done‖ (35). Philip, opposes: ―‖But," said Philip slowly, and he cut the end of a cigar, "she's so astonishingly pretty."‖ (35).

Shaghayegh Ghandehari in his article ‗A Psychoanalysis and Reader-

Response Study of ―A Cup of Tea‖‘ observes:

―One of the key words of the story proves to be "pretty" as it is repeated a few

times; changing the path of events; revealing how a women might feel jealous

and insecure, and in what manners this issue becomes important for the very

first time; even though it had not been thought or noticed before. Actually the

word ‗pretty‘ is used for the first time by Rosemary herself; though there is a

deep difference; she uses the word without particularly meaning it or thinking

about its significance‖ (Ghandehari 394).

Rosemary now perceives the girl as an object of her husband‘s desire and therefore decides to satisfy her husband‘s wish: ―I only wanted to tell you," said she, and she leaned against the door again and looked at him with her dazzled exotic gaze, "Miss Smith won't dine with us to-night" (A Cup of Tea 36). Even though Rosemary wanted to help the poor girl, she gives preference to maintain a harmonic relationship with her husband Philip and her preceding good intention does not matter to her anymore. As a result of feeling insecure and presumably jealous Rosemary reacts by enhancing her beauty with make- up, she even wears pearls, though it is not a special occasion and she manifestly tries to look her best: ―Rosemary had just done her hair, darkened her eyes a little, and put on her pearls. She put up her hands and touched

Philip's cheeks‖ (36). She does seek comfort from her husband and reassurance that Philip indeed likes her. Rosemary represents an idea of how an average woman is perceived – as someone who is concerned about her appearance and beauty and someone who needs to be constantly admired and reassured of the feelings of affection of the significant other. Rosemary therefore asks her husband: ―Do you like me?‖ (36). Nevertheless, even though

Philip answers that he likes her ―awfully‖ and leans for a kiss; in her mind she is not reassured and she continues to ask Philip: ―am I pretty?‖ (36).

3.2 Narrative Organisation in ‘A Cup of Tea’

As it was in the case of the previous stories Mansfield opens the story by introducing both the narrator and the female protagonist:

„Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No, you couldn‘t have called her

beautiful. Pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces… But why be so cruel as to

take anyone to pieces? She was young, brilliant, extremely modern, exquisitely

well dressed (A Cup of Tea 24).

Mansfield again uses third-person limited point of view - this time it is through the observations of Rosemary Fell. Rosemary is the focalizor and through her eye the reader perceives the objects of focalization, however, she is also the object of focalization as Mansfield focuses on Rosemary‘s change of perception of herself in the story. Mansfield manages to engage the reader to the story at the very beginning by the use of ‗you‘ as if the reader was a part of it: ―But if

Rosemary wanted to shop she would go to Paris as you and I would go to Bond

Street‖ (24). She also uses the shifts in narration that evokes the feeling that it is the thoughts of the narrator that the reader encounters, even though they are the thoughts of the protagonist - the focalizator:

―"Come, come upstairs," said Rosemary, longing to begin to be generous."

Come up to my room." And, besides, she wanted to spare this poor little thing

from being stared at by the servants; she decided as they mounted the stairs

she would not even ring for Jeanne, but take off her things by herself. The

great thing was to be natural!‖ (30).

Through the focalization the reader is provided the insight into Rosemary‘s perception and opinions and therefore her personality. The events are presented in a chronological order. In the case of ‗A Cup of Tea‘ the story takes

49 place first at the Curzon Street, which is fundamental for the story, as this is the place where Rosemary meets the poor girl, who plays a significant role in influencing Rosemary‘s perception. Masnfield also sets the atmosphere of sad rainy London: ―Rain was falling, and with the rain it seemed the dark came too, spinning down like ashes. There was a cold bitter taste in the air, and the new- lighted lamps looked sad‖ (A Cup of Tea 27). This detailed description of the background also serves as a parallel to the Rosemary‘s encounter with the sad reality when she sees a poor girl asking for money. The story then moves to a different place – Rosemary‘s house, which is where the climax of the story occurs, when Rosemary‘s previous actions are followed by its consequences – the attitude of Rosemary‘s husband.

Mansfield further uses the language to represent Rosemary‘s social class and her personality as opposed to the poor girl, whose use of double negative is characteristic of dialects, such as London Cockney. This emphasizes the distinction between the two characters. In contrary to the previous stories in ‗A

Cup of Tea‘ there is no imagining or fantasy present.

Mansfield ends the story with Rosemary‘s question for Philip: "Philip," she whispered, and she pressed his head against her bosom, "am I pretty ?"

(36). By ending with the question, she emphasizes Rosemary‘s insecurity and makes the reader contemplate about Philip‘s intentions and Rosemary‘s change of perception.

Conclusion

Each of the stories analysed above provides a different perception on personal relationships and each story enables the reader to follow the story from a perspective of the protagonist – either from a male perspective (Henry) or from a perspective of a female (Bertha, Rosemary). Mansfield‘s unique use of free indirect discourse truly engages the reader into the story and provides the feeling of being part of the story.

In the first chapter (‗Something Childish, but Very Natural) the perception of both Henry and Edna was analysed and the development of their relationship was thoroughly studied. Firstly, Edna‘s point of view is analysed, then the research moves on to Henry‘s perception and further, the symbolism in connection to the depiction of the relationship is examined. Edna is depicted as an innocent young girl who becomes an object of Henry‘s desire. Edna is still just a child and is not completely sure of what she expects and desires in the relationship. She is not ready to pursue the physical relationship with Henry at first, however, later in the story a transition of Edna can be observed as she eventually allows Henry to touch her. On the other hand, Henry, who at first also seems as an innocent child, tries to pursue a physical relationship with

Edna and is rather obsessed with her physical features rather than her character. Furthermore, in the subchapter dedicated to symbolism it is observed that it represents an important part in connection to the transition of Edna. The focus is predominantly on the use of flowers, which Mansfield uses in the story to symbolize Edna‘s current attitude towards Henry and the use of colours as symbols is also considered.

In the second chapter (‗Bliss‘), Bertha‘s perception and her relationship with Pearl and Harry are studied. Mansfield draws attention to Bertha‘s lesbian sexual tendencies. It can be observed, that Bertha struggles to acknowledge her sexual attraction to women, as she addresses her sexual desire triggered by

Pearl Fulton to her husband, whom she has been cold to during their marriage.

Further, Bertha‘s perception of happiness or so called ‗bliss‘ is examined.

Mansfield presents the ambiguity of the true happiness, as it might lay in the sweet ignorance or on the contrary could be found in one‘s naivety and gullibility.

The third chapter is dedicated to the analysis of a story ‗A Cup of Tea‘ with the main focus on how the female protagonist‘s perception of herself changes because of her husband. Rosemary is a married wealthy woman, who has everything that she needs. The research follows her perception of herself and of her relationship with her husband Harry. It is observed in the story that

Rosemary, who has no reason to doubt herself at the beginning of the story, is made feel insecure by her husband, which results in Rosemary questioning her husband‘s interest in her and his perception of her. Mansfield also depicts the dominance of the male character – Harry over the female character –

Rosemary.

Further, a certain development of Mansfield‘s approach to the perception of relationship in the three stories can be observed. The first story called

‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ was written in 1914 and an influence of her relationship with John Middleton Murry can be observed. The theme of the story is based on the concept of innocence in love and first physical contact. It

52 follows two children who fall in love for the first time and their development into adolescence. As it was observed in the first chapter, Murry and Mansfield looked at their own relationship as on a relationship of two children. ‗Bliss‘ is a story written in 1918 – the same year that Mansfield married Murry. In this story Mansfield provides an insight into a marriage, which is functional and perspective, however, there is no passion between the wife and husband and moreover, the theme of sexual ambiguity is presented in the story. This indicates the change in Mansfield‘s perception of a relationship with her husband. As it is noted in the second chapter, Mansfield also lost her desire for

Murry and had lesbian tendencies which seem to influence the theme of the story ‗Bliss‘. Furthermore, ‗A Cup of Tea‘ is the latest form the stories analysed in the thesis. The story was written in 1922, at that times Mansfield was already terminally ill. The characters in the story seem to be based on Mansfield‘s childhood experience and her perception of her parents. The reason might be her consciousness about her illness, which seems to result in turning back to her childhood memories and reminiscing6.

Katharine Mansfield is besides Virginia Woolf one of the most recognized authors of the modernist literature. Mansfield‘s greatness goes hand in hand with her constant dissatisfaction with her writing, which drove her to endeavour to improve. Her own criticism is depicted in Margaret Willy‘s Three Women

Diarists (1964), where Willy notes Mansfield‘s approach to her work through her own diaries:

6 This phenomenon is also observed by Meyers in Katherine Mansfield: A Darker View, where she comments on her life in 1919-1921:‖Katherine‘s themes, which evolved directly from her personal experience, are those of a lonely, frightened and sensitive invalid who wants to escape from oppressions of adult reality into the memories of childhood...‖ (Meyers 217).

―Katherine Mansfield‘s verdicts on her own work were quite uncompromising.

Her Journal reveals her as her own severest critic...Her ruthlessness about her

failures to achieve her intention, and her shrewd awareness of such faults as ‗a

pretty bad habit of spreading myself at times – of over-writing and

understating‘, made her repeatedly wish to destroy all ‗false starts‘ and begin

fresh. Single-minded in dedication to her art, she aspired not towards success

or fame but to ‗write better, more deeply, more largely‘‖ (Willy 37).

However, even though she was often discontent with her writings, she was an incredible inspiration to the great Virginia Woolf. Panthea Reid quotes in her book Art and Affection: A Life of Virginia Woolf Woolf‘s diary:

―When I began to write, it seemed to me there was no point in writing.

Katherine won‘t read it. Katherine‘s my rival no longer...And I was jealous of

her writing – the only writing I have ever been jealous of. (Reid 263).

That is only one of many proofs of how incredibly talented author Katherine

Mansfield was.

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Résumé

The aim of the thesis is to analyse the depiction of personal relationships and individual perception in three stories by Katherine Mansfield – a New

Zealand modernist author. Further, it shall consider the autobiographical features present in the story and the narrative techniques used by Mansfield.

The first chapter focuses on the story ‗Something Childish, but Very

Natural‘. The relationship of the two characters – Henry and Edna shall be analysed with the emphasis on the perception of Henry and on the development of Edna in relation to the relationship she pursues with Henry.

Further, the development of Edna in connection to the use of symbolism in the story is researched.

The second chapter deals with the perception of the protagonist Bertha

Young in the story ‗Bliss‘. The series of events and the relationship with her husband Harry and Pearl as perceived by Bertha are analysed. Furthermore, similarly as in ‗Something Childish, but Very Natural‘ the way Mansfield uses imagery in connection to Bertha‘s perception shall be explored.

The third chapter is dedicated to the story ‗A Cup of Tea‘. The research is focused on how the protagonist Rosemary Fell changes her perception of because of her relationship and the attitude of the male character Philip towards his wife Rosemary.

Resumé

Bakalářská práce se zabývá vyobrazením osobních vztahů a způsobem vnímání jednotlivých postav v povídkách od Katherine Mansfieldové – představitelky modernismu pocházející z Nového Zélandu. Dále práce analyzuje autobiografické prvky objevující se v povídkách a literární techniky, které

Katherine Mansfieldová používá.

První kapitola se zaměřuje na povídku ‚Trochu dětinské, ale zcela přirozené‗. Mansfieldová popisuje milostný vztah dvou postav – Henryho a

Edny, který je analyzován s důrazem na Henryho pohled a vnímání vztahu, a na vývoj Edny ve vztahu s Henrym. Mansfieldová ve svých povídkách často používá symbolismus – převážně v podobě světla nebo květin. Práce tedy zkoumá vývoj

Edny ve spojitosti se symbolismem vyobrazeným v této povídce.

Druhá kapitola zkoumá úhel pohledu protagonistky Berthy Young v povídce ‚Blaho‗. Mansfieldová v povídce vyobrazuje, jak Rosemary Fell vnímá jednotlivé události večera, jaký má postoj k manželovi Harrymu a nové známosti Pearl. Podobně jako povídka ‚ Trochu dětinské, ale zcela přirozené‗, je i povídka ‚Blaho‗ protkaná bohatým symbolismem, který úzce souvisí se způsobem, jakým Bertha okolní svět vnímá.

Třetí kapitola je věnována povídce ‚Šálek čaje‗, kde je zkoumáno, jakým způsobem se mění pohled hlavní hrdinky Berthy Fell, a vnímání sebe sama v návaznosti na vztah s jejím manželem a jeho přístup k ní.