ESSAY SHORT STORIES NOTES

C) constraint and social expectations (comparing “Bliss”, “The Sisters”, “Kew Gardens”)

INFO “BLISS”
- Angel in the house

Sexuality

Her life (apparently perfect but not for her)

Angel in the house: Victorian hera wemen rolles were very strict (house, your own feeling not
important, making sacri ces for others…)

Is bertha angel in house?

Yes- until that moment of bliss that she thinks about herself (epiphany)

No- thinking about herself and her feeling

Is she satis ed? All time narrator giving us clues IMPORTANT.

.Theme:sexuality

- (1) : why are you given a body if you arent able to touche it - basically she wants to have sex.

- (2) . She’s not satis ed she wants to be played (piano use your ngers,, sexual connection.

.Theme: Motherhood

- little B (has notreally name). Nany didnt belief in betha like a little mother. Bertha herself thinks
it,

- She is like a doll. They were rich so expected to take care of bby and house but im middle class
or uper class, and she is suposed to give it to nannys. “Another wrong moment” like she
doensnt dare to ask. Has no desition on how to educate. Compared to the dle (why to be kept
in other women house?.

- With ddle:is making a connection. Bertha dehumanising the baby in a way, she doeesnt know
how to take care of here and for that reason it is seen as a doll.

- Harry - you need an angel in house but also petriarc (harry) child is just an utility, until is not
adult and whith a man she is not useful (heritance, money..).

/Bertha doesnt want to be a mum when she realizes that she is alive/(at the end)

- I’m too happy-too happy (4): try to convince herself that her live is perfect. Why so obssesed to
tell you are happy? ‘Couse she needs to repited it ro believed it. She gives us this list about
idilic live, reasons why she has to be happy. Friends described as keen of social questions, but
after we see them and it isnt like that, they are like “postureo”. Just the kind of friends they
wanted - others, not her.

Title (Bliss): words associated to bertha’s feeling of bliss. What do this words has in common?

It is always associated whiith re, as in this examle: rst time appears is sun and burn. Fire
associated to desire. Really is sexual desire but she doesnt know how to express it. Some quotes
in pwp. She doesnt know what to do whith it becouse she is supposed to be innocent, she is
supposed to be happy. In those times sex was a tabu. Has to do with the morals of the times.
May be ‘couse it is the rst time she experiences it.

INFO “THE SISTERS”

The boy feels relieved when father ynn dies. He’s supposed to feel bad about death but not.
There’s some reason behind it but it isnt speci ed.

Hipotesis: Father ynn wants the boy to become a priest. For that reason he’s teaching him and
the boy doesn’t want to be a priest so he feels relieved when father ynn dies and with him his
pressure to become a priest.

Father ynn hides something that isn’t said directly in the text. The boy, just as the readers, is
confused. We hear all this things uncompleated (a lot of elipsis to keep the doubt and ambiguity).

The dreams are important too, the boy can’t remember the end of the dream, that is caused by a
trauma, his brain tries to forget it. In my opinion father ynn

Father ynn may be was teached that way, and for that reason teaches the boy just as he was
teached. I think he manipulates the boy. He teaches him to become a priest but also sexualy
abuses from him. When father ynn dies, the boy realizes that he didn’t want that, he had been
manipulated, for that reason he feels bad for feeling relieved instead of sad (as he should).

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INFO KEW GARDENS

Simon and Eleanor -> angel in the house. The woman is supposed to take care of the kids, the
man talks about one old love he had and she just has to keep quiet and listen to him.

Last partner -> girl wants to express her feelings but the boy doesn’t get it. She is constantly
saying thing with doubble meaning. It is like a partner is expected to be. The boy pays the meal.

Older man -> Mental illness - seen as a taboo and didn’t recive as much attention as other
physical illnesses. Mmono