1、1On Symbolism inMansfields Bliss（Tianjin University of Finance & Economics， Pearl River College） 【Abstract】Bliss is one of the masterpieces of Katherine Mansfield， the famous feminist writer. The striking feature of her writing technique is skillfully used symbolism. This paper will illustrate how t
2、he symbolism is skillfullyused by Mansfield， which selects several typical symbols to illustrate the her point， including the protagonistsnames， the house， the mirror， the fiddle， thefire， the moon and the cats，by which the feminist theme is conveyed to readers. 【Key words】Bliss symbol symbolism Man
3、sfield1 IntroductionKatherine Mansfield（1888-1923） ， the creative modernist and honoredwith “the master of short stories”， is one of the most famous short storyfemale writers of New Zealand. Mansfields writingyears were burdened with loneliness， illness， jealousy， alienation-all thesereflected in he
4、r workswith the bitter depiction of marital and family relationships of her middle-class characters. Her short stories are also notable for theuse of images and symbols based on the 2rich imagination in order to create a specific kind of atmosphereand arouse readersemotions resonance. Blissexposes t
5、he relationship between sex and marriage through vivid and exquisite description of women. The plot that protagonist Bertha entertainsguests is organized as the main conflict， and narrates how Bertha decorates the house for the party with the feeling of bliss inthat afternoon， how she prepares for a
6、nd has dinner together with guests in the evening. In this process， the author suggestsfrom time to timethe protagonistBerthas indifference for her husband and homosexual tendency. While her homosexual tendency is forced to get rid of by Bertha and an impulse to love herhusband comes over her， she i
7、nadvertently witnesses her husband Henrys close relationshipwith hergirlfriend. Her feeling of bliss vanishes immediately which disillusions her a lot. This short storyreveals herinner world through her surroundings from the point of view of Bertha. One of the major artistic characteristics of Bliss
8、 is implicitdescription through symbolism. Blisscan be considered as the combination of images， symbols and metaphors， which is seemingly simple but filled withhidden mystery. It also makes the reader half-comprehensive and drop into deep thought. 2 Symbolism in 3BlissAccording to the Wikipedia， “Sy
9、mbolism is the systematic or creative use of arbitrary symbols as abstracted representations of concepts or objects and the distinct relationships in between， as they define both context and the narrower definition of terms. In a narrow context， symbolism is the applied use of any iconic representat
10、ions which carry particular conventional meanings.“ Symbolism as a modernism literary school rose in l9 century in France. According to the “correspondence“ theory proposed by the French writer Baudelaire， the pioneer of symbolism， everything can be mutually inductive on the basis of subjective refl
11、ection. Everything can reflect peoples feelings， such as landscape， plants， and animals and so on. That is to say， external things can be the sense objects of a mans inner heart. Mansfield is influenced by several symbolists， such as Wilde， Simon and so on. It makes Mansfield realize that “in litera
12、ture， the abstract feel of mind should not be conveyed through descriptive analysis but communicated by specific images or symbols. And in order to achieve the organic unity of artistic work， every sentence even every word must serve the theme of short story“， which is skillfully reflected in her sh
13、ort story “Bliss“.In the following part， this paper will 4illustrate how the symbolism is skillfully used by Mansfield. This paper only selects several typical symbols to illustrate the authors point， including the protagonists names， the house， the mirror， the fiddle， the fire， the moon and the cat
14、s. 2.1 The protagonists namesBerthas home illustrates the capitalist society in microcosm. Her husband Henry symbolizes the male rule of the patriarchal world while Bertha stands for the millions of unequally treated middle-class women. In addition， Nanny represents the working class while the guest
15、s invited stand for the various people among bourgeoisie. Mansfield conveys her deep intention by choosing the two protagonists names. In English， “Henry“ is the nickname of “Harry“， which originates Germanic and means “home and power“. Here， it obviously implies the family ruler. That is to say， He
16、nry symbolizes the unshakable authority and predominance in his family. The name “Bertha“ means beautiful， bright and gorgeous. Here Mansfield implies that Berthas brightness and smartness is only superficial， just like a canary confined in a beautiful cage without freedom and only a part of males t
17、reasure. Bible reads “And the rib， which the LORD God had taken from man， made he a woman， and brought her unto the man. And Adam said， this is now bone of my bones， and flesh of my 5flesh： she shall be called Woman， because she was taken out of Man.“ Therefore， in western countries， it is acknowled
18、ged that women are destined to be a part of men， so men have absolute right to control women and women must completely obey their husbands.2.2 The houseThe handsome house with beautiful garden is the symbol of treasure and social status， and it is also the origin of middle-class womens bitterness. T
19、he house has been the site for women to be enslaved by their husbands. The family can be regarded as the end-result as well as the cage of women， which confine women to be separated from the external world. Every woman almost experiences the same fate： the narrow space， the confined desire， the forc
20、ed silence and the choking soul. Faced with her beloved daughter， Bertha “stood watching them， her hands by her side， like the poor little girl in front of the rich girl with the doll“. She has no choice but to do this. She tries her best to leave her and her precious “Little B“ alone and enjoys the
21、 close kinship； however， Nanny immediately tells her to answer the phone， “coming back in triumph and seizing her Little B“. Thus， it can be concluded that Bertha is only a hostess with no authority and right. And in traditional marriage in England， women are nothing but the dependency and foil of m
22、en； women 6are at the edge of patriarchal society； they cant go for their own dominating social status. From this sense， it is not strange that Nanny shows difference and no respect to Bertha. 2.3 The mirrorIn Bliss， there is a plot that Bertha looks herself in the “cold mirror“. Actually， the “cold
23、 mirror“ is the requirement to women in the patriarchal society. The bliss of women only can leech on to the marriage， which is the only end-result of women at the time. The mirror symbolizes the scope of womens activities： women are confined in the house. The image of women is stereotyped as the “a
24、ngel of the family“-wife， mother， hostess with no initiative rights. The idea that women are inferior to men is intuitively and naturally accepted by women. Thus， with money， house and friends， Bertha satisfies herself with her life and she is “overcome， suddenly by a feeling of bliss - absolute bli
25、ss“ from time to time. In fact， Mansfield satires the middle-class women with hollow mind through ironic tone. They dont realize their true status not only in family but also in society at all. They only seize the superficial happiness-house， money， husband， party and so on. They cant see the essenc
26、e under such bliss， namely， their confinement caused by the marriage. However， Bertha is not as hollow as other middle-class women. Sometimes 7feminism sparks on her. “She hardly dared to look into the cold mirror.“ Why？ Because living in such a house， she feels horrible with no feeling of security
27、although she has husband and her beloved kid. “but she did look， and it gave her back a woman， radiant， with smiling， trembling lips， with big， dark eyes and an air of listening， waiting for something .“ The cold mirror reflects the unreal and hypocritical world covered by Berthas warm and happy app
28、earance. 2.4 The fiddleAt the beginning part of the short story， Mansfield describes Berthas mood as “drunk and disorderly“. “Why be given a body if you have to keep it shut up in a case like a rare， rare fiddle？“ In her eyes， “that about the fiddle is not quite what I mean“. The “fiddle“ at least r
29、eflects Berthas mentality-reluctant to be sealed off. In her opinion， the fiddle can only plays its role in musical performance. She wants the fiddle to be used for performance. Furthermore， the idea that the fiddle should be used for a performance becomes stronger and stronger. When Nanny doesnt le
30、t her give Little B supper， she thinks “How absurd it was. Why have a baby if it has to be kept - not in a case like a rare， rare fiddle - but in another womans arms？“ Nanny completely deprives of her right for getting close to her kid， that is to say， Bertha 8loses her enjoyment to give her kid sup
31、per， which causes her resentment. Actually， Bertha only wants to take care of the kid when she feels it necessary， just as the fiddle is taken out when it is used for performance. On other occasion， Nanny looks after the kid because thats her responsibility. The fiddle reflected Berthas mentality th
32、at not wanting to be alone. Therefore， the fiddle symbolizes Berthas mentality： not wanting to be sealed off and the desire to get freedom.2.5 FireMansfield mentions fire in the short story for six times. Fire symbolizes the passion of Bertha. In the beginning part of the story， Mansfield mentions，
33、“you are overcome， suddenly by a feeling of bliss - absolute bliss！ - as though youd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom， sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle， into every finger and toe？ .“ The word “fire“ is not clearly put f
34、orward， but from “burned“， “spark“， it can be known that the author here describes fire. At this moment， she was filled with the feeling of absolute bliss， which shows her enthusiastic attitude towards life. When she enters the dining room， “She hardly dared to breathe for fear of fanning it higher“
35、.“She hardly dared to look into the cold mirror - but she did look， 9and it gave her back a woman， radiant， with smiling， trembling lips， with big， dark eyes and an air of listening， waiting for something .“ The above sentences implies her very slight homosexual tendency. Maybe Bertha herself doesnt
36、 know her real sexual preference at this time. When Bertha finishes giving her kid supper and watches her kid， the feeling of bliss comes back again and overwhelms her. She realizes that the kid is the crystallization of her love between her and Henry. “She went into the drawing-room and lighted the
37、 fire“， she holds the cushion in her arms. “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.“ The fire here shows her love to her husband Henry. However， “she took her arm and they mo
38、ved into the dining-room.“ The “touch of that cool arm“ can “fan - start blazing - the fire of bliss that Bertha did not know what to do with“. The fire here symbolizes her homosexual tendency， and she is completely at a loss because the heterosexuality dominates the social reality. When the party i
39、s over， Henry and Miss Fulton go back to the drawing room， the fire has been out， which foreshadows Berthas passion is put out and implies the tragedy of Bertha.2.6 The moonThe moon or moonlight appears 10five times in the short story. In the eyes of Mansfield， the moon symbolizes justice. In the sh
40、adow of moonlight， any secret cannot be hidden. In the short story， when Edie comes to enjoy the party， he comes across a horrible driver. “And in the moonlight this bizarre figure with the flattened head crouching over the little wheel .“ In the moonlight， the drivers cattiness is exposed. “Bertha
41、noticed that his socks were white， too - most charming.“ In the moonlight， the white socks seem more eye-catching. Traditionally， the English gentlemen dont wear white socks. Here Edies stupidity and striking a pose stand out， which satires these middle-class people are too arty and hypocritical. An
42、d in the last part of the short story， moonlight is mentioned again. Bertha accidentally sees that “Miss Fulton laid her moonbeam fingers on his cheeks and smiled her sleepy smile.“ Miss Fultons close touch on Henrys cheek jumps into Bertha eyes， which gives her a heavy slap： she is betrayed by both
43、 of her beloved husband and her close girlfriend. Either homosexuality or heterosexuality， she completely fails. Her feeling of bliss is destroyed immediately.2.7 Cat“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
