Discuss how Mansfield presents her views on marriage in the stories you have studied.
The ideas of marriage are explored by Katherine Mansfield in ‘Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding’, ‘Bliss’ and ‘The Woman at the Store’. In these two stories Mansfield conveys the destructive nature of men and how women are manipulated and exploited by their husbands within their marriages. A sense of overwhelming male dominance is created through Mansfield’s descriptions of the authority and power which the men have over the women.
Mansfield explores the self-centredness of man and the lack of affection they have for their wife in ‘Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding’ through the characterisation of Herr Brechenmacher and the objectifying view in which he has towards his wife. Herr Brechenmacher’s self centeredness is highlighted by Mansfield very early in the story when he just arrives home. He commands of ‘where are my clothes?’ and sarcasm tone of ‘nothing ready, of course’ conveys the lack of appreciation he has towards his wife’s efforts. The commanding tone of ‘where are my clothes?’ along with the use of the pronoun ‘my’ conveys to the reader the dominance of the husband and his lack of affection towards his wife and children. His dialogue of ‘there isn’t room to turn. I want the light. You go and dress in the passage.’ Further emphasizes on his self centeredness as well as highlighting his lack of affection for his wife as he does not consider the wife’s feelings. The ‘light’ is symbolic of spot light therefore Mansfield portrays to the reader the arrogance inside of Herr Brechenmacher as he wants to get all the attention proving again his self-centredness. The animated object of the button ‘shining with enthusiasm’ symbolises His excitement and enthusiastic feeling towards the wedding. Mansfield uses Herr Brechenmacher’s actions ‘he took a piece of the crumb…held it up to her mouth.’ To convey the lack of respect he has towards his wife and evokes anger inside the reader. The ‘crumb’ is symbolic of leftovers which show the lack of consideration Herr has towards his wife as he does not consider her welfare by giving her what he could not finish. The action ‘held it up to her mouth’ highlights how Herr is infantilising his wife by treating her like a child this links to Mansfield’s earlier description of the wife as ‘little Frau’. This shows the dominance and authority which Herr has over his wife by bossing her around and making he take up things which he ‘discarded’. The food is also symbolic of appetite therefore when Herr has satisfied his physical need he ‘he looked up at her, grinning’ the verb ‘grinning’ suggests that he is now wanting to satisfy his sexual appetite. Therefore Mansfield uses his treatment of his wife to convey to the reader how man objectifies their wife and only sees them as objects to satisfy their sexual desires. Mansfield through Herr Brechenmacher presents to the reader her negative views on marriage and conveys the ways which wives are manipulated by their husbands. The typical example of Herr highlights the ignorance and self-centeredness of a husband and the lack of consideration and affection they have towards their wife. The reader feels repelled from Herr Brechenmacher and is angry at his unequal treatment of his wife. A sense of a loveless marriage is created by Mansfield almost to the extent that they are only together because of society regulations and not because of love.
