And then, as she lay down, there came that old thought, the cruel thought - ah, if only she had money of her own" (22), and trapped by being forced to live where Stanley dictates the family live and at the same time resigned to the fact of this entrapment: " 'One may as well rot here as anywhere else,' she muttered savagely, digging the stiff brass safety-pins " (31)
The less explicit theme of identity, or more precisely false identity, is also explored. Stanley wishes the world to see him as the successful businessman, the country gentleman and devoted family man. Mansfield portrays him as a narcissistic, over-powering physical being who is so wrapped up in himself that he believes in his own illusion. On his way home from town in the buggy he muses: "Ah, it was splendid to live in the country A bath, a good rub- down, a cigar on the veranda after dinner On Sunday morning they would go to church .he must hire a pew- (36). .
Only Linda recognises Stanley's two real sides. She see him as animalistic and demanding: "If only he wouldn't jump at her so, and bark so loudly, she had always hated things that rush at her,"she hated him" (54). And she also knows of his soft and gentle side and loves him in spite of everything: " For she really was fond of him; she loved and admired and respected him she knew him through and through" (53).
The hidden story in "Prelude", however, is Beryl's avoidance of the conflicting truths by which she lives her life. Not only is she the most trapped character in the story but she is also self-absorbed and lacking self-knowledge. She lives a life where her true self is constantly being overridden by her false self: "Oh, God, there she was, back again, playing the same old game. False - false as ever False even when she was alone with herself- (58). Beryl mistakenly believes that to secure a husband will release her from her entrapment and falseness, but that would only be exchanging one trapped and false life for another.