Summary : Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov has been hanging out for about two weeks in Yalta, on

the coast of the Black Sea, when he hears of the arrival of a new vacationer, known only as
"the lady with the dog." Gurov is 40, married, and has kids. He dislikes his wife and women in
general, and has no qualms about having affairs. He is troubled only when his lover forms
some sort of emotional attachment to him. The lady with the dog soon becomes his next
conquest.
Her name is Anna Sergeyevna, and she, too, is married, though her husband is absent. She
and Gurov quickly become friends and then lovers. Afterwards, Anna considers herself a
fallen woman, and with shame assumes that Gurov will never respect her again. Gurov finds
himself bored by her concerns. The affair continues, but ends abruptly when Anna is
summoned back home by her husband.
Gurov returns to his home and family in Moscow and embraces his old life, hoping and
assuming that he will forget all about Anna. But this is not the case. Consumed with thoughts
of her, confused by his feelings, and suspecting love, he travels to Anna's house and seeks
her out one night at an opera while her husband is outside smoking. Anna is horrified by his
arrival and terrified that someone will see, but she admits that she hasn't been able to stop
thinking about him since she left Yalta. She begs Gurov to leave before someone grows the
wiser, and leaves him with the promise that she'll come to see him in Moscow.
Gurov returns home, and Anna follows through on her promise. She begins visiting Moscow
semi-regularly, where she stays in a hotel and carries on her affair, if intermittently, with
Gurov. Visiting her in the hotel one day, Gurov realizes that he is in love with her, and that
this is the first time he's ever been in love. He has two lives, he concludes, one secret and
valuable, the other public and worthless.
Anna is in tears as they both lament their plight: in love with each other but married to other
people. They discuss and debate, trying to find a way to be together despite the
circumstance. They know there is a long road ahead, and that the most difficult part is just
beginning.
Themes :
Love : From reading "The Lady with the Dog," it would seem that love is involuntary. People
are made victims of it – often in the worst times, places, and circumstances – beyond their
control. Love has the power to fundamentally change people, transforming their character
and mindset completely. It is often painful, inconvenient, and difficult. And yet, there is
something touching and beautiful about the love in this story that overshadows all the pain,
the inconvenience, the difficulty. Love brings with it a hope and a promise for something
better.
Dissatisfaction : In this story, dissatisfaction – with, marriage, family, work, and life in
general – is a big motivating factor for action. Two adulterous lovers find themselves in each
other's arms largely as the result of their own dissatisfied lives. Such unhappiness, however,
is not so easily cured. Can sex satisfy a restless heart? Can love? What are the consequences
of such decisions? "The Lady with the Dog" explores many such questions.
Isolation : "The Lady with the Dog" explores many different kinds of isolation. First there is
the isolation from the rest of the world that two secret lovers feel when together. Despite
this closeness, the two lovers are separated even from each other, due to an inability to
understand the world from the others' perspective. In its final pages, the story suggests that
in fact every man is isolated from all other men, since that which is most valuable is always
kept secret from the rest of the world.
Reputation : "The Lady with the Dog" reminds us that the threat of scandal always looms.
For two adulterous lovers, reputation is forever at risk, as are their marriages and lifestyles.
The story also focuses on the idea of social status and class. For one very class-conscious
protagonist, only the truest of love can cross class-defined social barriers.
Fate and Free Will : In "The Lady with the Dog," two lovers – both married to other people –
lament their predicament and what they consider a shared ill-fate. But should fate be
blamed for these unfortunate circumstances? How much personal responsibility lies with the
two lovers to begin with? Chekhov's tale deals realistically, not romantically, with the
consequences and difficulty of such a "fate."

Characters Analysis:
Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov : Lessons Learned
In "What's Up With the Ending?", we talk about "The Lady with the Dog" raising more
questions than it answers. This is also the case for Dmitri Gurov. The poor guy is confused –
all the time – about himself, about women, about love, and in particular about Anna. When
he returns to Moscow after the start of their affair, he wonders, "Had he been in love, then?
Had there been anything beautiful, poetical, or edifying or simply interesting in his relations
with Anna Sergeyevna?" (3.4) Shortly after, he sets off to the town of S. – "what for? He did
not very well know himself" (3.14).
Fortunately, Gurov learns from his time with Anna. The confusion and defensive chauvinism
of Section I are replaced with the mature understanding of Section IV, which allows our
protagonist to draw conclusions not only about Anna, but about all of the women he slept
with before her. Look at the following passages, taken from the beginning, middle, and end
of "Lady with the Dog." They effectively trace Gurov's increasing awareness of himself and of
women:
In his appearance, in his character, in his whole nature, there was something attractive and
elusive which allured women and disposed them in his favour; he knew that, and some force
seemed to draw him, too, to them. (1.5)
All the time she had called him kind, exceptional, lofty; obviously he had seemed to her
different from what he really was, so he had unintentionally deceived her. . . . (2.40)
He always seemed to women different from what he was, and they loved in him not himself,
but the man created by their imagination, whom they had been eagerly seeking all their
lives; and afterwards, when they noticed their mistake, they loved him all the same. And not
one of them had been happy with him. Time passed, he had made their acquaintance, got on
with them, parted, but he had never once loved; it was anything you like, but not love. (4.15)
Gurov goes on to conclude that with Anna it is different, that this really is love for the first
time. Which means that "kind, exceptional, lofty" man she thought he was is the man he has
become.
Mid-Life Crisis?
Age is an issue from the get-go; Gurov reflects that "his wife seemed half as old again as he."
Is it a coincidence that he next falls for a woman little more than half his age? (Anna is 22 in
Yalta; Gurov is almost 40. The age difference doesn't escape him, as he makes a point of
noting the gap after she departs on the train.) Perhaps he's trying to recapture his youth.
And in case you missed it the first two times around, Chekhov returns to the idea of age at
the story's conclusion, when Gurov catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror:
His hair was already beginning to turn grey. And it seemed strange to him that he had grown
so much older, so much plainer during the last few years. The shoulders on which his hands
rested were warm and quivering. He felt compassion for this life, still so warm and lovely,
but probably already not far from beginning to fade and wither like his own. (4.15)
If, at the story's start, Anna was to Gurov merely a fresh, young face, she isn't any longer. He
recognizes that she's aging (or will be shortly), and goes on to conclude that he loves her
deeply, anyway. Yet another layer in our transformation cake.
Mr. Judgmental
With his classification of women as "the lower race" to his over-developed class-
consciousness, Gurov can occasionally come off as pretty judgmental. Consider the way he
views his wife: "She read a great deal, used phonetic spelling, called her husband, not Gurov,
but Dimitri, and he secretly considered her unintelligent, narrow, inelegant" (1.5). Later, at
the theatre, he notes that "as in all provincial theatres, there was a fog above the chandelier,
the gallery was noisy and restless; in the front row the local dandies were standing up before
the beginning of the performance, with their hands behind them" (3.25).
So…what's the point? As with many Gurov characteristics, this, too, is changed by Anna. For
despite her "provincial" environment, Gurov loves her nonetheless:
When Gurov looked at her his heart contracted, and he understood clearly that for him
there was in the whole world no creature so near, so precious, and so important to him; she,
this little woman, in no way remarkable, lost in a provincial crowd, with a vulgar lorgnette in
her hand, filled his whole life now, was his sorrow and his joy, the one happiness that he
now desired for himself, and to the sounds of the inferior orchestra, of the wretched
provincial violins, he thought how lovely she was. (3.26)
Anna Sergeyevna Von Diderits : We spend less time with Anna than we do with Gurov, so
it's a bit harder to discuss her character than his. What we do know about her is that she's
22 years old, was married at twenty, considers her husband "a flunkey," feels stifled by her
life, and has a very guilty conscience about having an affair. Just look at her reaction after
the first time she has sex with Gurov:
Forgiven? No. I am a bad, low woman; I despise myself and don't attempt to justify myself.
It's not my husband but myself I have deceived. And not only just now; I have been deceiving
myself for a long time. […] and now I have become a vulgar, contemptible woman whom any
one may despise. (2.17)
What's particularly sad about this scene is the fact that Anna is suffering from the same
dilemma that Gurov is: dissatisfaction with her own, stifled life. Remember that Gurov
studied the arts and even trained as an opera singer…and now he works at a bank. He
despises his wife. Similarly, Anna is trapped by her marriage and her role in life. We learned
earlier in the story that Gurov was "eager for life" (1.6). So, too, is Anna. "I have been
tormented by curiosity," she says; "I wanted something better. 'There must be a different
sort of life,' I said to myself. I wanted to live! To live, to live! . . . I was fired by curiosity . . .
you don't understand it" (2.17).
And his response? "Gurov felt bored already, listening to her. He was irritated by the naïve
tone." (2.18)
These two have so much in common. And yet, neither of them recognizes these
commonalities. They're completely isolated from each other because of their inability to
effectively communicate.
This sense of solitude – of not being understood – probably goes a long way in explaining
Anna's incurable melancholy. In case you didn't pick up on her sorrow implicitly, we have:
The solitary candle burning on the table threw a faint light on her face, yet it was clear that
she was very unhappy. (1.13)
This young woman whom he would never meet again had not been happy with him. (2.40)
"I am so unhappy." (3.37)
"I have never been happy; I am miserable now, and I never, never shall be happy, never!"
(3.41)
And, of course:
From her eyes he could see that she really was unhappy. (3.42)
Anna's melancholy reminds us that this is no storybook tale; it is, however, a realistic one.
(Very much like the ending…) If you buy into the whole "fate" thing, or even the "love hurts"
thing, you'll likely take away from this story a few lessons, the first being: we don't get to
choose whom we love. Anna may be unhappy with Gurov, but she can't simply stop loving
him and be done with it. She tried, after Yalta, and to no avail. When you look at it this way,
it's amazing that the story's conclusion is as optimistic as it seems – that is, if you consider
the ending and its promise of a "new and splendid life" to be optimistic…

Setting : Yalta in the Southern Ukraine; Moscow and S., Russia. Late Nineteenth Century
The dual setting of "Lady with the Dog" is very important to the story. When Gurov and Anna
leave Yalta, it signals a shift in atmosphere and mood. To start, think about Yalta and the
way it is treated in this story. First of all, it's a vacation spot. Gurov well knows of "the stories
of immorality" in this seaside vacation town, "tales of easy conquests, of trips to the
mountains," and, despite knowing better, is intrigued by the thought of "the tempting
thought of a swift, fleeting love affair, a romance with an unknown woman, whose name he
did not know" (1.7).
On top of that, there's not really much to do in Yalta. When the story begins, Gurov has
already "been a fortnight in Yalta" and so has "begun taking an interest in new arrivals" (1.2).
When he first sees Anna, he knows she is already "dull" (a.k.a. bored) (1.7). As Chekhov
writes, "one did not know what to do with oneself" (2.1).
Then there's the romance of the place – "the chirrup of the grasshoppers," "the heat," "the
smell of the sea," etc. When Anna and Gurov stroll about, "the scenery invariably
impresse[s] them as grand and beautiful" (2.33). "They walked and talked of the strange light
on the sea: the water was of a soft warm lilac hue, and there was a golden streak from the
moon upon it. They talked of how sultry it was after a hot day" (1.17). Everywhere are the
colors, scents, and sounds of love. These details are packed into the romantic scenes
between the two lovers. Just before Gurov kisses Anna, she "sniff[s] she flowers," and when
he kisses her, he breathe[s] in the fragrance and moisture of the flowers" (2.4, 2.7). Even
Anna's room is suffused with the sultry scent "she had bought at the Japanese shop" (2.9).
It's no wonder the two lovers fall into bed.
It's fitting, then, that as soon as Anna departs, Gurov doesn't feel at home in Yalta anymore.
"Here at the station was already a scent of autumn," he notes; "it was a cold evening" (2.41).
Gurov quickly decides, "It's time for me to go north. […] High time!" (2.42).
And then we move into the second half of the story – a very different setting indeed:
At home in Moscow everything was in its winter routine; the stoves were heated, and in the
morning it was still dark when the children were having breakfast and getting ready for
school, and the nurse would light the lamp for a short time. The frosts had begun already.
(3.1)
In Moscow, Gurov is lonely and cold and isolated. He longs for Anna and finds himself
dissatisfied with the life he's living. Again, the setting compliments the atmosphere of the
narrative and the mood of its characters.
Narrator Point of View : Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more
importantly, can we trust her or him?
Third Person (Omniscient)
While the story does focus largely on Gurov, his perspective, his thoughts, and his story, the
narrative voice of "Lady with the Dog" is allowed total omniscience. Check out the story's
final scene. First, we're given access to Anna's thoughts: "She was crying from emotion, from
the miserable consciousness that their life was so hard for them; they could only meet in
secret, hiding themselves from people, like thieves! Was not their life shattered?" (4.11).
Then, we jump back to Gurov's perspective: "It was evident to him that this love of theirs
would not soon be over, that he could not see the end of it" (4.13).
There are also moments in the narrative when we seem to get commentary from this
formless third person narrator, outside of both characters. Consider this somewhat
perplexing passage:
The leaves did not stir on the trees, grasshoppers chirruped, and the monotonous hollow
sound of the sea rising up from below, spoke of the peace, of the eternal sleep awaiting us.
So it must have sounded when there was no Yalta, no Oreanda here; so it sounds now, and it
will sound as indifferently and monotonously when we are all no more. And in this
constancy, in this complete indifference to the life and death of each of us, there lies hid,
perhaps, a pledge of our eternal salvation, of the unceasing movement of life upon earth, of
unceasing progress towards perfection. (2.28)
Is this the commentary of the narrator, or are we slipping into Gurov's mind here? It's not
exactly clear. Check out the context – the lines before and after this passage – and see what
you think.

Tone : Objective
Remarkably, this story of two adulterous lovers contains neither a moral nor a moral
judgment. The narrator is simply objective. He tells it like it is: this is what Anna thinks, this is
what Gurov thinks, and this is what they do. Even in the story's introduction, when Gurov is
introduced in all his chauvinistic glory, the attitude is devoid of condemnation:
He had begun being unfaithful to her long ago – had been unfaithful to her often, and,
probably on that account, almost always spoke ill of women, and when they were talked
about in his presence, used to call them "the lower race." (1.4)
Sure, we might feel like condemning him, but the point is that the narrator doesn't.
Writing style : Economical, Measured
The prose in "The Lady with the Dog" is powerful stuff. Chekhov says what he wants to say
exactly how he wants to say it, and he generally gets it done without wasting words or time.
Think how much we know about Gurov from a short paragraph like this one:
Experience often repeated, truly bitter experience, had taught him long ago that with decent
people, especially Moscow people – always slow to move and irresolute – every intimacy,
which at first so agreeably diversifies life and appears a light and charming adventure,
inevitably grows into a regular problem of extreme intricacy, and in the long run the
situation becomes unbearable. But at every fresh meeting with an interesting woman this
experience seemed to slip out of his memory, and he was eager for life, and everything
seemed simple and amusing. (1.6)
We learn about his past, we're in tune with his psychological motivations for pursuing an
affair in the first place, and we foresee a problem arising with Anna. We don't know about
you, but that probably would have taken us 2-3 pages to explain.
Because so much of "The Lady with the Dog" is straightforward, you want to keep an eye out
for those slightly more lyrical passages. There are only a few, so they tend to jump off the
page. Consider passages 2.28 and 4.5. What do these add to the story? Are they warranted,
given the context?

Plot analysis :
"The Lady with the Dog" is famous for breaking the rules of what a short story should be. As
author Vladimir Nabokov said of this work in his Lectures on Russian Literature, "There is no
problem, no regular climax, no point at the end. And it is one of the greatest stories ever
written."
Consider the story's conclusion: "It was clear to both of them that they had still a long, long
road before them, and that the most complicated and difficult part of it was only just
beginning." The last word is "beginning." Chekhov isn't wrapping this up with a bow; he's
essentially leaving it unfinished. Part of this has to do with Chekhov's own ideas about what
a story should do, namely ask questions instead of answering them. We talk about this a lot
more in "What's Up With the Ending?", so be sure to check that out
Summary : Thirty-year old Bertha Young is overcome by a feeling of excitement, or “bliss,”
while preparing to throw a dinner party for a group of her friends. Returning home in the
afternoon before the party, Bertha thinks that, although she is an adult woman, she still has
moments where she wants to “run instead of walk” or “take dancing steps” to express the
great sense of joy that she is feeling. Bertha realizes that there is “no way” she can behave
like this without being seen as “drunk and disorderly” and feels frustrated by this. Entering
her house, Bertha asks her maid if the fruit she has ordered for the party has arrived on
time. The maid tells her that it has, and Bertha says that she will go and arrange it before the
guests arrive.
Once in the dining room, Bertha throws off her coat and looks at herself in the mirror,
realizing that the feeling of “bliss” is still there and that it is growing stronger as the evening
approaches. She feels as though she is waiting for something “divine” to happen. Bertha
arranges the fruit on the dining room table, thinking about how she has chosen certain fruits
in certain colors to match the décor of the room. Although she thinks this is “rather absurd,”
she notes that it made sense to her earlier in the day, when she was picking out the fruit,
and that the end result is “incredibly beautiful.” Beginning to laugh, she feels that she is
growing “hysterical” and rushes upstairs to the nursery, where her daughter, Little B, is
being cared for by her Nurse. Nurse tells Bertha what she and Little B have been doing all
day and, although Bertha disapproves of the Nurse letting Little B play with a strange dog,
she is too timid to complain to her about it. Bertha asks Nurse if she can finish giving Little B
her supper. Nurse reluctantly agrees, and Bertha enjoys feeding her daughter, which fills her
with the same feeling of “bliss” that she experiences when she thinks about the upcoming
dinner party.
After feeding her daughter, Bertha thinks about the guests that she has invited to her party.
She has invited Mr. Knight and Mrs. Knight, who are interested in theatre and interior
design, a fashionable writer called Eddie Warren, and a “find” of Bertha’s called Pearl Fulton,
whom Bertha has “fallen in love with, as she always did fall in love with beautiful women
who had something strange about them.” Bertha thinks that she would like to get to know
Pearl, but that Pearl is reserved and will not let people in beyond a certain point. Bertha
wonders if there is anything more to Pearl’s character. Her husband Harry has said that he
does not think so and has joked that there is nothing but “a good stomach” behind Pearl’s
mysterious façade. Bertha likes Harry’s jokes and thinks fondly about how she admires this
quality in her husband. While Bertha is putting the finishing touches to the drawing room,
she is surprised to find herself passionately hugging one of the sofa cushions that she is
arranging.
Bertha looks out of the window at her garden and admires the pear tree, which is glowing
white under the moon. She thinks that the beautiful tree is a “symbol of her own life” and
notes that the colors of the sky and tree match her outfit for the evening, even though she
hasn’t planned this. She turns away from the window when she sees two cats crossing the
lawn and the sight of them give her a shudder. She is almost overcome by happiness thinking
about her life and is only roused from this state by the arrival of the Knights. Mrs. Knight tells
Bertha that her colorful dress made people stare at her on the train. Eddie Warren then
arrives and complains that his taxi driver was “most sinister” and that, in the moonlight, this
driver seemed to have something “timeless” about him. Harry arrives late, and Bertha is so
delighted with her guests that she almost forgets that Pearl Fulton has not yet arrived.
Finally, Pearl arrives, and the guests sit down to eat. Over dinner they discuss the theatre, as
Eddie Warren and Norman Knight intend to write a play. Bertha thinks what a “decorative
group” her guests make and feels almost overcome with tenderness for them. She is still
thinking about the pear tree, which she thinks will have turned silver in the moonlight, like
Pearl, who is dressed completely in silver. Looking at Pearl, Bertha feels that she knows
exactly what Pearl is feeling and that the two of them have formed an unspoken connection,
which sometimes happens between women but never between men. After dinner, Pearl
asks Bertha if she has a garden and Bertha takes this as a “sign” of their connection. She
takes Pearl to the window and shows her the pear tree. The two women look out over the
garden and Bertha feels that she and Pearl understand each other perfectly.
Bertha and Pearl rejoin the others for coffee. Harry offers Pearl a cigar and Bertha thinks
that his manner indicates that he really dislikes Pearl. Bertha has a moment of panic when
she remembers that her guests will leave soon and she will be left alone with her husband,
with whom she does not have a sexual relationship. She has “desired” him for the first time
in her life that evening, however, and this slightly allays her fear. The guests begin to get
ready to leave and, as Pearl goes into the hall to get her coat, Harry follows her. Bertha
thinks gratefully that Harry is doing this to make amends for being rude to Pearl. She goes to
get a book for Eddie Warren to borrow and, on her way past the hall, looks up and sees
Harry with his arms around Pearl. They are smiling and whispering to each other about
arranging a time to meet. Bertha goes back into the living room and gives the book to Eddie.
Pearl and Eddie make to leave and, as Pearl is saying goodbye to Bertha she whispers, “Your
lovely pear tree.” After they leave Harry goes to lock up and Bertha rushes to the window
overlooking the garden, wondering what is going to happen next.

Themes :
Sexuality and Desire : Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Bliss” chronicles a day in the life of
thirty-year-old Bertha Young. Bertha’s feeling of “bliss” in the story comes from her
attraction to Pearl Fulton, a woman she has recently become friends with. Although Bertha
is married, she comes across as sexually naïve and has never “desired” her husband. Not
coincidentally, she feels sexually attracted to him “for the first time in her life” on the night
of the dinner party when Pearl is present and when Bertha is in the throes of “bliss.” Due to
the conventions of the early twentieth century, in which homosexuality was neither legal nor
socially acceptable and was rarely discussed in polite society, Bertha’s sexual desire towards
Pearl is depicted ambiguously and in terms of forbidden desire. This reflects the repressive
nature of propriety in this period and Mansfield’s criticism of a society in which people are
forced to conceal feelings of love and desire for the sake of social convention.
Bertha’s attraction to Pearl is not explicitly referenced in sexual terms. However, Bertha’s
homosexuality is implied by the fact that she does not feel sexual attraction towards her
husband, Harry, and the fact that her attraction to Pearl induces such a physical response.
Bertha feels a “little air of proprietorship” toward Pearl “that she always assumed with her
women finds,” suggesting that she is possessive of Pearl in the way one might be over a
lover. Bertha’s excitement about the dinner party is also explicitly linked to Pearl’s
attendance: she feels that she has “fallen in love with” Pearl, “as she always did” with
“beautiful women,” and the “fire of bliss” that Bertha feels all day leading up to the party is
increased by physical contact with Pearl. When Pearl takes Bertha’s arm, Bertha wonders,
“what there was in the touch of that cool arm that could fan—fan—start blazing—blazing—
the fire of bliss that Bertha did not know what to do with?” This physical sensation is
contrasted with Bertha’s coldness towards Harry, which is evidently something they have
already accepted as part of their marriage. Bertha even becomes panicked by the idea of
being left alone with her husband and the thought the of “the dark room” and “the warm
bed.” This suggests that Bertha avoids having a sexual relationship with Harry—a sharp
contrast from the glut of warm feelings and excitement she feels in Pearl’s presence,
underscoring Bertha’s carefully concealed homosexuality. Indeed, she notably feels the first
pangs of desire towards her husband only while she is immersed in the “bliss” brought on by
Pearl’s presence, suggesting this sudden desire for Harry is really just displaced longing for
Pearl.
The story, in turn, is implicitly critical of a society that represses these relationships and
desires. Mansfield herself had relationships with women throughout her life and wrote
about her female lovers. It is likely that Bertha reflects Mansfield’s own struggles as a
homosexual woman in Edwardian society, who would have been forced to hide her
relationships with women. Mansfield’s belief that homosexuality is natural and beautiful is
reflected by Bertha’s feelings of “bliss” and by Pearl’s association with natural, beautiful
things like the moon. The moon is associated with femininity in mythology, and silvery
moonlight infuses the night outside the dinner party—making Eddie Warren’s socks appear
whiter and seeming to transform his taxi driver into something otherworldly, just as Pearl’s
presence transforms the world for Bertha by intensifying her emotional response to ordinary
things and suffusing everything with a sense of “bliss.”
Pearl is also associated with the “silver” pear tree in Bertha’s garden, which the two women
gaze at in the moonlight and which Bertha views as a “symbol of her own life” with its “wide
open blossoms.” This suggests that Bertha is open to new possibilities—that is,
homosexuality—in a way that “idiotic civilisation” is not. The fact that she and Pearl seem to
share a moment of mutual understanding, “caught in the circle of unearthly light” of the
moon shining on the pear tree, suggests the potential reciprocation of Bertha’s feelings and
supports the idea that the two women belong to a different world, separate from that of the
heterosexual domesticity that so limits their sexual desires.
Of course, given that homosexuality was not openly acknowledged in society in the
Edwardian period and homosexual relationships often existed on the fringes of mainstream
culture, Bertha has no frame of reference in which to think about her desire for Pearl, other
than as something which must be concealed or expressed in an ambiguous way. The image
of the pear tree is thus further symbolic of forbidden desire as it relates to the biblical story
of the Garden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating fruit from the
Tree of Life (but sinfully did so anyway). Although Bertha’s life is very free in some ways
because of her upper-middle class status and material wealth, the pear tree symbolizes the
limitations in her life; the tree itself remains out of reach beyond the window, reflecting the
social difficulty that Bertha would face being openly gay in this period and society.
Even if Bertha did openly recognize her desire for Pearl as sexual, this is not something that
would be accepted in Edwardian society. The fact that Bertha’s desires remain mysterious
and unexplained, even to herself, suggest the total repression and denial of homosexual
desire by British society. Bertha’s frustration with her situation is suggested by the story’s
ending. While Bertha is desperate for some progression in her relationship with Pearl, the
story’s ending is anti-climactic, and Bertha’s desire remains unfulfilled. The still, untouched
quality of the pear tree outside and Bertha’s unanswered question of “what is going to
happen now?” underscore Bertha’s lingering lack of fulfillment. Rather than reaching a
climax, Bertha’s bliss remains unreciprocated and unexpressed, and the story suggests that
this will continue as long as society represses certain sexual desires and emotional states.
Women’s Roles and Social Constraint : A large part of the narrative tension in “Bliss” derives
from the fact that Bertha Young, the thirty-year-old protagonist, feels a great sense of joy
that she wishes to express. However, the constraints of the society in which she lives, and
the rigid constraints placed on women in this society in particular, prevent Bertha from
expressing her titular “bliss.” Mansfield extends her argument against the repression of
homosexuality to show how Betha’s entire life is strictly organized according to the rules of
propriety, which defined social convention during Britain’s Edwardian period. Despite
Bertha’s best efforts to surround herself with unconventional people and a spirit of
individualism, social convention is too large and powerful to topple, and her life is rigidly
structured around the conventions of middle-class womanhood.
Bertha’s antagonism towards the constraints of polite society is evident early in the story, as
these constraints prevent her from expressing the strong emotion that she feels. Bertha
feels that “although” she is thirty, she still has moments when she wants to “run instead of
walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement […] or to stand still and laugh at—
nothing—at nothing, simply.” The use of the word “although” suggests that these
expressions of joy are inappropriate for an adult woman and go against the grain of
expected behavior. Bertha thus feels a sense of constraint because she cannot freely express
herself and her own sense of joy. She is disdainful of social convention and thinks “how
idiotic civilisation is” as it places restrictions on emotional freedom. Bertha feels this
constraint so strongly that is manifests physically: she cannot “bear the tight clasp of” her
coat and wonders “what is the point of having a body” if it is to be kept like a “rare, rare
fiddle […] locked in a case.” This suggests that social constraints infringe on Bertha’s freedom
and prevent her from doing what she wants with her own body.
Although Bertha’s life is very privileged in some ways, she is barred from fully experiencing
certain parts of life because of social attitudes toward women in this period. Women of
Bertha’s class were viewed as physically and mentally fragile and discouraged from partaking
in strenuous activities or from engaging with serious social or emotional questions. Bertha’s
comparison of herself with a rare instrument in a case reflects the idea that she needs to be
physically protected from the world.
This notion is further developed when Bertha goes to see her child, Little B, who is taken
care of by Nurse. Although this arrangement was common in this period—most wealthy
households employed a nurse or nanny so that rich ladies would not have to undergo the
physical aspects of childcare—Bertha feels cut off from the experience of raising her child
and questions societal conventions when she wonders, “why have a baby if it has to be
kept—not in a case like a rare, rare fiddle‚ but in another woman’s arms?” Bertha loves the
physical sensation of caring for her daughter, and it fills her with “bliss” to see the baby’s
“exquisite toes as they shone transparent in the firelight.”
Despite this, Bertha is too timid to challenge the nurse. She hardly dares to ask if she can
feed Little B and fails to criticize the nurse for introducing Little B to a strange dog. This
demonstrates that Bertha has little sense of her own authority or responsibility for her child,
and by extension has little authority in or control over her own life. Instead she feels like a
“poor little girl,” particularly when she sees the nurse caring for Little B and is envious of her
because of the nurse’s connection with the baby. She is only given access to a superficial side
of motherhood and this makes her feel like a child playing with toys, or like a toy herself,
“kept in a case.” This emphasizes how women of Bertha’s class were viewed as childlike and
fragile, and that physical processes like nursing and childcare were viewed as jobs for lower-
class women.
The fact that women in the story are frequently compared with inanimate objects further
underscores the objectification of women’s bodies in the period and the tendency to view
upper class women as beautiful or decorative rather than as full human beings. Although
Bertha wants to rebel against this objectification, she is not quite brave enough to openly
break with the constraints placed on women in the period. Bertha and Pearl are in a similar
position in that both are objectified throughout the story. The use of the name “Pearl” itself
suggests that women are like precious jewels—decorative and rare, to be guarded or “kept
in a case.” Yet Bertha seeks a tangible connection with Pearl because she is desperate to see
beyond Pearl’s decorative surface, which she believes “has something behind it.” This
reflects Bertha’s desire to understand Pearl in more than just a superficial or idealized way.
Bertha also demonstrates her desire to rebel against gender roles in society through her
choice of unconventional friends, like Mrs. Knight. Mrs. Knight demonstrates her
unconventionality through her fashion sense—drawing attention to herself by wearing a
bright orange coat decorated with monkeys, which makes people stare on the train. Bertha,
however, is not depicted as a bold character and, instead, only internally wishes to disrupt
conventions. This is evident in her timidity in front of the nurse and the fact that, even
though she “wishes to run instead of walk,” she refrains from doing so. However strong her
moments of bliss, at the end of the story she remains prisoner to the expectations placed on
all women at the time.
Aesthetics, Appearance, and Performance : “Bliss” is written in a Modernist style, reflected
in the focus on aesthetics throughout the story. Bertha herself is preoccupied with external
appearances. Although this may come across as shallow, Bertha’s desire to make things
beautiful is an attempt to express her feeling of “bliss.” Bertha is also interested in
interpreting the appearance of others; as she watches guests interact at her dinner party,
Bertha makes assumptions about their internal states based on their outward appearances.
She assumes that, because she tries to communicate her feelings through her appearance,
others are doing the same. However, events in the story contradict this assumption and
Bertha is proved wrong about the motives of Pearl and Harry, whom she has assumed are
loyal and innocent but who are really having an affair. Instead of trying to communicate their
internal states, Pearl and Harry are in fact trying to disguise them through their outward
performance. Combined with the discussion of aesthetics, theatre, and performance at the
party, “Bliss” gives the reader the feeling that nothing is quite as it appears.
Bertha tries to use both her external appearance and the presentation of her home to
communicate her feelings and personality to the people around her. For example, she has
paid special attention to the appearance of her living room in preparation for the dinner
party and has even ordered certain types of fruit to match the room’s décor. Although
Bertha herself acknowledges that this does “sound rather far-fetched and absurd,” her
attention to detail is in keeping with her interest in modernity and current artistic
movements, which someone like Bertha, who has “modern, thrilling friends,” would likely be
aware of. She is “in her present mood” of almost delirious bliss when she buys the fruit, and
this suggests that Bertha is trying to communicate her internal state through her
surroundings; indeed, since she has no other way to communicate her feelings of joy and
beauty to others because of social constraints placed on her ability to openly express her
emotions.
When Bertha sees the pear tree, which is white under the moon, “becalmed against the
jade-green sky,” she thinks that this matches her outfit—“a white dress” and “a string of
jade beads.” She notes that this “wasn’t intentional” but feels it is fitting because she views
the pear tree “as a symbol of her own life.” This further suggests a correspondence between
Bertha’s internal emotional state and her external appearance and presentation.
Although appearances initially seem to reflect reality, Mansfield complicates the concept of
appearances at Bertha’s dinner party. There, Bertha misinterprets her guests’ behavior,
emphasizing that not everything is what it seems. Throughout the evening, Bertha makes
several assumptions about what Pearl is feeling based on the way Pearl presents herself.
Interpreting the “strange smile” that Pearl gives Bertha across the table, Bertha decides that
“the longest, most intimate look had passed between them,” and that Pearl “was feeling just
what she was feeling.” Bertha also feels that she can read Harry’s moods based on his
actions. When he offers Pearl a cigar, Bertha interprets from his manner that he is “bored”
by Pearl and that he “really disliked her.” Similarly, when Harry goes to help Pearl with her
coat, Bertha believes that Harry is “repenting his rudeness” towards Pearl and Bertha thinks
affectionately how “simple” Harry is in some ways, like “a boy.”
Bertha’s assumptions about Harry and Pearl are wrong, however, and they are presenting
themselves in this way—Harry as innocent and Pearl as friendly—with an ulterior motive.
Pearl’s friendship with Bertha is possibly an attempt to get close to Harry, with whom she is
having an affair, rather than a “sign” that she is in love with Bertha. This revelation highlights
the idea that appearances can be deceptive and as well as Bertha’s naivety in assuming that
everyone around her is attempting to be as honest and transparent as she wishes that she
herself could be.
Ultimately, all the characters in the story—even Bertha—are merely putting on
performances, as their appearances don’t reflect their inner states. Although Bertha
describes her guests as “modern, thrilling” people, who are interested in “social questions,”
they give little indication of this during the dinner, suggesting that this is merely a
performance in keeping with fashion rather than a true reflection of their interests. During
the party, Bertha describes her guests as a “decorative group” suggesting their superficiality
and their lack of substance.
Much of the conversation at the party also notably revolves around theatre and
performance—reflecting both Pearl and Harry’s performance (as a loyal friend and a loyal
husband) to mask their infidelity. The idea of performance also corresponds with Bertha’s
performance as a woman who is happy in her life. Although Bertha does feel a genuine sense
of bliss, there are indications throughout the story that her happiness verges on desperation
and hysteria. Indeed, her frequent repetition of how happy she is gives the impression that
she is trying to convince herself that there is nothing wrong with her life, despite the
repression of her desires and the problems in her marriage, which become obvious as the
story progresses. The revelation of Harry’s infidelity with Pearl throws into doubt all of
Bertha’s, and the reader’s, certainty about how the other characters feel and draws
attention to the fact that, while Bertha wishes to be a frank, honest person, her own true
desires are hidden beneath a veneer of respectability and her performance as a
conventionally happy woman.

Characters :
Bertha Young : The protagonist of the story, Bertha Young is a wealthy, middle class woman
who is married to Harry and has a young daughter, Little B. Bertha is a sociable woman who
seems to feel things very strongly and who wishes to be open about her emotions. She is
prevented from approaching life in this frank way, however, because of the rules of
propriety governing British society of the period. She does not have a bold or daring
personality and, for this reason, has trouble questioning the authority of people around her
or being honest about her own wishes. Nevertheless, Bertha tries hard to communicate with
the people around her and expresses her internal desires through her external appearance
as well as through the thoughtful way that she decorates her house. Bertha, who is also
interested in modern social questions and contemporary artistic movements, attempts
surround herself with interesting and informed companions. Although Bertha is extremely
excited by her feelings for Pearl Fulton, a friend whom she has invited to her dinner party,
Bertha comes across as sexually naïve and seemingly does not recognize her attraction to
Pearl as romantic. Bertha’s sexual naivety, and potential homosexuality, also affects her
relationship with her husband, with whom she avoids having a sexual relationship. Although
Bertha is a grateful woman who works hard to be content with her life, she is burdened by
the restrictive social conditions of the period she lives in and is often not able to recognize
the true nature of her emotions.
Pearl Fulton : Pearl Fulton is a friend of Bertha Young’s, whom Bertha has invited to her
dinner party and who is secretly engaged in an affair with Bertha’s husband, Harry. Pearl is a
mysterious and reserved woman who is depicted ambiguously throughout the story. The
reader does not receive much insight into Pearl’s internal state, and most of the information
the reader receives about Pearl is either about her external appearance or comes from
Bertha’s perception of her friend. Pearl is associated with beauty throughout the story.
Named for a precious object, she is dressed in a silver outfit reflective of her name, and this
silver outfit is further connected to the symbols of the pear tree and the moonlight in the
story. Bertha describes Pearl as reserved and notes that there is a point of familiarity that
Pearl will not go past with her. Bertha interprets this reserve as mysterious and believes that
it implies that Pearl is feeling the same attraction to Bertha that Bertha feels for her. This is
not confirmed by the events in the story however, and the revelation of Pearl’s affair with
Harry suggests instead that Pearl is a dishonest person who uses her friendship with Bertha,
and Bertha’s obvious admiration of her, to get close to Bertha’s husband.
Harry Young : Harry, Bertha Young’s husband, is having an affair with Pearl Fulton, with
whom Bertha is also seemingly in love. Harry appears, on the surface, to be a frank, daring
person who does not care about propriety and pushes the boundaries of social decorum
through his controversial sense of humor. Bertha admires this quality in Harry, particularly
when he makes irreverent jokes about Pearl that undercut Bertha’s idealized image of her
friend. Rather than being enamored with Pearl, as Bertha is, Harry claims that Pearl’s beauty
and mystery have nothing behind them but “a good stomach” or “pure flatulence,” and
Bertha admires such irreverence. Harry also seems to be a good husband and a sympathetic
person because he has accepted the fact that Bertha is not sexually attracted to him and
that they are merely “good pals” instead of lovers. However, Harry’s openness and
amiability are called into question by the story’s ending, in which Bertha discovers that he is
having an affair with Pearl. It then becomes apparent that much of Harry’s behavior has
been a façade to hide his real emotions, such as when he offers Pearl a cigar and appears to
“really dislike her.” This suggests that Harry is a manipulative person who understands how
to construct his external appearance and manner so that Bertha will not suspect his
infidelity.
Eddie Warren : Eddie Warren is a neurotic and fashionable writer whom Bertha Young has
invited to her dinner party. Eddie Warren comes across as imaginative and easily alarmed, as
exemplified in his interaction with a taxi driver whom he imagines has been transformed by
the moonlight into a sinister, supernatural being. Eddie does not seem comfortable
interacting socially and maintains both an expression of “anguish” and a nervous manner
throughout the party. A playwright, his neuroses are comically exaggerated by Mansfield to
suggest his artistic and highly-strung character. Although Eddie is famous within artistic
circles, his artistic talent and depth of perception are called into question at the end of the
story when he tells Bertha that he thinks the most profound sentence ever written is: “Why
must it always be tomato soup?” Although Eddie feels that there is something “eternal”
about this sentence, it is clear to the reader that it is a banal and meaningless phrase. This
causes the reader to suspect that the attention given to Eddie Warren by the fashionable,
London public has given the illusion that he is a brilliant playwright, when in fact he is quite
an ordinary one, just as the taxi driver he is so afraid of is just an ordinary taxi driver who
looks strange in the light from the moon.
Mrs. Knight : Mrs. Knight is the wife of Mr. Norman Knight and one of Bertha Young’s guests
at her dinner party. She presents herself as a bold, unconventional woman, making an
entrance to the dinner party by complaining that “the middle-class is so stodgy” and “utterly
without a sense of humor.” She tells Bertha that she caused a scene on the train on the way
to the party by wearing an orange coat decorated with monkeys. Instead of becoming
embarrassed by the fact that people were staring at her, Mrs. Knight tells Bertha that she
asked one woman if she’d “never seen a monkey before,” drawing more attention to herself
and her outfit. That she tells this story as a humorous anecdote implies that Mrs. Knight
takes pride in her role as an unconventional, slightly shocking person and sees herself as
more enlightened or original than others of her station. Mrs. Knight’s behavior reflects
Bertha’s choice of “modern, thrilling friends,” as well as Mansfield’s own personal
experience with bohemian socialites in London. However, although Bertha claims that her
friends are interested in “social questions,” Mrs. Knight gives little evidence of this
throughout the evening and, instead, is associated with aesthetics and external decoration:
she is interested in “interior design” and her unconventionality is a facet of her outfit rather
than her behavior.
Mr. Norman Knight : Mr. Norman Knight is one of Bertha Young’s guests at her dinner party
and is the husband of Mrs. Knight. Mr. Knight comes across as a man who lives a
conventional life but who is ironic and self-aware about the clichés that he embodies. Mr.
Knight makes several ironic references to the middle-class conventions he follows—such as
having nothing to do with his daughter until she has a suitor that he can object to—and
seems to satirize himself and the society to which all the characters belong in a good-
natured and undisruptive way. Like the other guests, who are described as “modern and
thrilling” but who give little actual evidence of being so, Mr. Knight makes no reference to
“social questions” throughout the evening. The only physical detail offered about Mr. Knight
is the fact that he wears a monocle that keeps one of his eyes behind glass. This suggests
that Mr. Knight is a detached personality who does not become emotionally involved in
causes and who, in contrast to Bertha, does not have a strong emotional response to other
people.
Nurse : Nurse is an employee of Bertha Young and cares for Bertha and Harry’s young
daughter, Little B. Nurse seems to have a very close bond with Little B, even though she is
Bertha’s daughter and not her own, and is resentful of Bertha’s attempts to spend time with
the baby. Although Bertha’s wish to bond with her daughter is genuine, Nurse views her
desire to feed her daughter as interference and this type of interaction, between an upper-
class woman and her child, as unconventional and improper.