Paper Summary:

The writer discusses sexual symbolism, human behavior and foreshadowing in these short stories. The paper explores the impact sexuality had on society, and the ways in which society affected women in relation to sexuality.

From the Paper:

"Almost to the end of the text her mysterious feeling of Bliss, for which she finds no outlet, drives Bertha. Mansfield explains this Bliss to the reader through the nature of Berthas actions, Bertha transfers her energy from arranging fruit, to tending her daughter but neither creative nor motherly actions can relieve her. Her duties as mother, housewife and decorator are not enough to fulfill her. Signs of sexuality materialize in this scene. The bowl of fruit sits full and ripe, "stained" with pink as a symbol of fertility as well as temptation. The grapes still covered in bloom remain untouched, as Bertha is sexually unawakened. Bertha looses herself within the image of the fruit and its sensual nature, yet jerks herself back into reality. She contradicts the earlier sensual imagery with a superficial comment on the carpet. This pattern of indulging in her sexuality and then recovering herself is repeated throughout the text. She turns away from the two stray cats courting and is more likely to accept pictures of beauty such as the Pear Tree, or Pearl as sexual before she does the more animalistic images of sex."

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