Bliss+Plot+Summary

Bertha Young is a very youthful thirty. She feels like running instead of walking, like dancing, and like laughing at nothing. She has feelings of bliss, and they fill her with satisfaction. Why, she reasons, should one keep such feelings bottled up? She returns to her home and finds that she has forgotten her key, a common occurrence for her, and must be let in by the housekeeper, Mary. She asks about the baby's nurse and inquires as to whether the fruit has come. She asks Mary to bring the fruit to the dining room so she can arrange it before she goes upstairs. She takes off her coat in the chilly dining room so she will not feel at all restrained, and looks at herself in a mirror and sees a radiant woman full of excitement, waiting for something wonderful to happen. Mary brings in the fruit and bowls for the arrangement, and Bertha admires their beauty. The beautiful fruit, some of which she has chosen to match the dining room carpet, fills her with joy. She arranges it and stands back to admire the effect. She feels that it seems to float in the air. She cautions herself that she is becoming hysterical and grabs her bag and coat and runs upstairs. The nurse is feeding the baby when she gets upstairs. The baby, in a white flannel gown and blue woolen jacket, begins to jump when she sees her mother, but the nurse does not approve. Although the nanny objects to it, Bertha finishes feeding the baby. Bertha feels that she must beg permission to mother the child. The nurse gives directions for how she should restrain herself lest she excite the child. Nevertheless, she leaves the child with its mother, who is delighted. She loves her baby so much and again she has the feeling of bliss that she does not know how to express. Nurse returns triumphantly, taking the baby from her mother and announcing that she is wanted on the telephone. It is her husband, Harry, telling her that he will be late and asking her to delay dinner for about ten minutes. She tries to express to him her feelings of happiness yet is unable to do so and abandons the effort. Guests are coming to dinner—the Norman Knights—he is owner of a theater, she an interior decorator. There is Eddie Warren, a recently published poet, now a very popular dinner guest. In addition, there is Pearl Fulton, whom Bertha has met at the club, likes, and has invited to dinner. Bertha likes Pearl although she does not entirely understand her frank yet distant manner. Harry does not like Pearl, saying that she is cold and anemic in the brain. However, Bertha feels that there is more to her than that and is determined to understand her better. Harry tends to put Bertha's ideas and feelings down, but she seems to enjoy it. It is one of his traits that she most admires. She goes into the drawing room and lights the fire, rearranging the cushions that had been so carefully placed by the housekeeper. She grabs a cushion and holds it to her chest, again feeling the glow of total happiness that has stayed with her during the day. She looks out the window at the garden, and a perfect pear tree reinforces her feelings of perfection and satisfaction until she sees a cat crouching on the lawn being followed by a black one, and she feels a shiver of apprehension. The smell of the jonquils in the room is so strong that she is almost overcome. "I'm too happy—too happy!" she murmurs. She feels that the pear tree with its wide-open blossoms is a symbol of her life. She has everything, she feels. She is young; she and her husband are in love and compatible. They have plenty of money, a wonderful home and interesting and exciting friends. They have books and music, and she has a wonderful dressmaker. They will be going abroad in the summer, and they have an extraordinary cook. She goes upstairs to put on a white dress, jade beads, green shoes and stockings. The Knights arrive with an amusing story about Mrs. Knight's unusual coat. Then Eddie Warren blows in and tells an over-dramatized tale about his taxi ride. Then Harry gets home, dashing upstairs to change. Bertha relishes his doing things at high pressure. She also ruminates on his competitiveness and his tendency to see everything as a test of his power and courage. Pearl Fulton's taxi finally arrives. Bertha has a feeling of proprietorship about her since she is one of her "finds." Harry rings the bell for dinner; Bertha takes Pearl's arm and suddenly feels that the other woman has the same feelings that she, herself, is experiencing. Dinner is accompanied by gossip and small talk, and Bertha is sure that they do not share her mood, her feelings. Harry praises the food and compliments Bertha on the soufflé, which fills her with delight. She marvels that Pearl's mood is such a match for her own, thinking that it happens rarely between women and never between men. Dinner is over, and Bertha invites everyone to come and see her new coffee machine. Pearl asks to see the garden. An understanding seems to flow between them as they look at the pear tree. When asked about their baby, Harry declares that he never sees her and does not intend to take an interest in her until she has a lover. The two men react with displeasure at this statement, but Mrs. Norman, the interior decorator, simply declares that she is going to decorate a room for the Jacob Nathans. A moment passes between Harry and Pearl that indicates that they do not like each other, which distresses Bertha, and she intends to confront Harry later about his attitude toward her friends. She has a moment of terror when she realizes that soon everyone will be gone and she will be alone with Harry. She realizes that for the first time, she is feeling amorous about Harry. We find that she has been cold and unresponsive up to now, but she has felt that it was not a problem since they were such good friends. Nevertheless, this sudden feeling of ardor leads her to feel that this is what her feeling of bliss has been about. The Knights take their leave. Pearl and Eddie are planning to share a taxi. While Bertha and Eddie are talking in the drawing room about a writer, Harry quickly goes into the hall to help Pearl with her coat. Bertha moves quietly toward the door and sees Pearl and Harry embracing and planning a meeting on the following day. Pearl says goodbye to Bertha, murmuring, "Your lovely pear tree!" Eddie follows Pearl, and Bertha is reminded of the two cats she has seen in the garden. She goes over to the window wondering what is going to happen now. The pear tree is as lovely and as still and full of flowers as ever.
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