The early 20th century was a time of experimentation in language and literary form, writers concentrated on the interior feelings and emotions of their characters.
They moved away from standard writing styles with beginnings, middles and happy endings, to short stories. Many of these began in medias res and followed a stream of consciousness which incorporated the authors personal experiences and insights gained from other authors works. The work of the modernist woman often contains a visceral reaction to Victorian culture and a desire for equality with men. To gain an insight into the life of a middle class wife and mother Mansfield creates an image of a happy, beautiful woman who is healthy and rich. To highlight the Parallel to this image seen by the nation is the constant battle continuing inside Bertha’s head which is shown Pathetic fallacy in lines “swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun” whilst she is suddenly “overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss” (Mansfiled, p174), the weather is mirroring her feelings of happiness. She uses a mixture of first and third person narrative in Bliss to convey Bertha’s conflicting emotions throughout. Bertha’s personal conflicting thoughts are portrayed cleverly by using
