Katherine Mansfield, who revolutionised the English short stories of the 20th century, explores the opposition of human nature and conventions through many of her prose. In 'Bliss', this idea is mainly navigated through the experiences of the main character Bertha. The conventions of the Britain intelligentsia confined and controlled Bertha in all aspects of her life, restricting her from behaving the way she would like to during her bliss and bringing up her baby. The …showed first 75 words of 1227 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1227 total…doing nothing to change her situation. Even worse, she convinced herself that her conventional life is a perfect one despite feeling none of the pleasures of a good life; her marriage and friendships are idealized although the relationships are far from being perfect. Katherine Mansfield's writing skillfully mocks the British intelligentsia and its conventions, and the realistic depiction of the story successfully captures the struggles between one's nature and the pressures of the society's conventions.