Birds chirping, the band playing and Miss Brill sitting on her bench, “Miss Brill” is a short story about a lady’s everyday life. “Miss Brill” is by Katherine Mansfield, Mansfield uses the flat characters conversations to build up Miss Brill’s own character. Mansfield uses the conversations and actions to open up Miss Brill’s character. Miss Brill is a lady who has a beloved fur but throughout the story, we get a hint to what state it really is in. Miss Brill follows the same routine every Sunday first she pulls out her fur and “shaken out the moth-powder, given it a good brush, and rubbed the life back into the eyes.” (Mansfield 65) Then she walks to a park where a band plays and she sits on “her “special” seat.” (65) After this, she just
In the Bedford Introduction to Literature, Characterization is defined as "... the process by which a writer makes that character seem real to the reader"(2126). In order to do this a writer has multiple tools at their disposal that add to the depth of a character and simplify roles in a story. This includes the use of Protagonists and Antagonists, static and dynamic characters, showing and telling, and motivated and plausible action, as well as many others. The short story "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield is no exception to this and displays the main character of Miss Brill as the protagonist, who is confronted with the reality of her existence.
She pays attention to the smallest details. "Wasn’t the conductor [of the band in the park] wearing a new coat, too? She was sure it was new. He scraped with his foot and flapped his arms like a rooster about to crow… Now came a little ‘flutey’ bit—very pretty!—a little chain of bright drops. She was sure it would be repeated. It was; she lifted her head and smiled" (98). Even if she’s only an observer, Miss Brill is an involved observer. She draws enjoyment from simply being in the park atmosphere. However, her enjoyment is more than a passing mood. It’s actually an indication of a deeper emotion—a kind of happiness. This becomes clear after Miss Brill has paid close attention to several small exchanges between people at the park. "Oh how fascinating it was! How she enjoyed it! How she loved sitting here, watching it all!" (99). That Miss Brill does not actually participate in anything is clear to the reader, but not to her. Vicarious involvement in other people’s lives seems to be fulfilling for her, even though there is no actual interplay with others. The most telling evidence that Miss Brill is happy (and that her happiness is based on a false impression) is when she comes to the conclusion that she’s somehow needed at the park. "No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there; she was part of the performance after all… Miss Brill nearly laughed out loud" (100). This realization eventually moves Miss Brill to
Another indication that Miss Brill has an epiphany is when Miss Brill puts away her fur. “She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on it she thought she heard something crying” (page 4). This represents her putting away her fantasy world and her fantasies about being an actress. In the beginning of the story, Miss Brill takes her fur out of a box and brushes its coat, polishes its eyes, and talks to the fur as if it’s a living thing. This shows the audience her poor mental state and how lonely she really is. The narrator tells us that Miss Brill liked the way the fur’s eyes looked sad at her and how soft the fur was. By the way that the narrator describes the fur as old and shabby, and the way that Miss Brill cares for the fur we understand that the fur represents Miss Brill and her fantasy world. It is also inferred that the crying sound is Miss Brill herself. Also Miss Brill putting away her fur is representative of her loss of innocence and her gaining insight to what her life is really like.
An introvert is a person who tends to stick to themselves like a loner. In similarity, an outsider is someone who is isolated and not involved in a particular group. These two characteristics come together accordingly because they complement each other. If a person is a loner then ideally, he or she is not associated with a group. This is shown in Katherine Mansfield's short story of Miss Brill. Miss Brill is a lonely person throughout the story, mainly sticking to herself and not associating with others. The character Miss Brill, is an introverted outsider because she talks to her favorite coat, watches other people from a distance and has a soft heart in criticism.
In “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, a young and beautiful girl by the name of Bernice is visiting her cousin Marjorie. Despite her good looks, Bernice is very boring and
In the short story of “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill is a lonely woman. She is an English teacher. She is an elder woman who lives in Paris. The foreshadowing is used as Miss Brill enjoys interacting with her fur. Mansfield writes “Miss Brill was glad that she had decided on her fur” (408).
For example, “ALTHOUGH it was so brilliantly fine–the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques–Miss Brill was glad that she had decided on her fur” (Mansfield 1). Miss Brill is introduced as someone who is excited about her weekly walk in the garden, her positive outlook is reflected in the way she views the sky and the atmosphere around her as she gets dressed for her outing. Moments change the way that people think and their actions. In addition, Katherine Mansfield has previously stated, “Just at that moment a boy and girl came and sat down where the old couple had been. They were beautifully dressed; they were in love.
Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill" is a woman self-contained, not pessimistic but settled, content. She is not a victim of her circumstances, but the satisfied creator of them. You could say she has her ducks lined up the way she wants them. Through the character of Miss Brill, Katherine Mansfield reveals a woman who has the ability to enjoy a simple world of her own elaborate creation.
The details as told, seem to be coming directly from Miss Brill at times. The narrator gets us settled into the park with Miss Brill and tells us that she sees those around her as “odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they’d just come from dark little rooms or even-even cupboards!” This tells me that Miss Brill sees herself differently than she sees others, not odd or funny. She is a part of all this life and activity at the park! An actor in the grand play and “somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there.” She really loved to be out with others and thought that she was very much a part of the world and not apart from it. Don’t we all feel this way? Some people are truly introverted and care little of interacting, but I think the majority of us strive to become part of the world and at times feel like this life is one big drama and we have a big part. Our role might only be important for one scene, but we feel like the leading man or woman at times. The narrator leads us to what appears to be a fitting climax; a crescendo of music and song, with all players involved. Miss Brill’s dreams of this were quickly shattered. The comments by the young people, “Why does she come here at all-who wants her? Why doesn’t she keep her silly mug at home?” leaves Miss Brill with the cold realization that she is in fact like the odd, old people that she watches in the
Miss Brill often finds herself personifying this fox fur, giving it gendered pronouns as opposed to objective pronouns. This indicates how the fur seems to be the only companion or friend that she has, and that she projects her loneliness onto this fox fur. The style of Mansfield’s writing shows that Miss Brill deeply cares about this fur, showing some of Miss Brill’s internal monologue as she takes the fox fur out of its box that afternoon. In the park, Miss Brill finds herself listening in to people’s conversations, as she feels like she can be a part of their lives this way even if it was just for a moment. The deep isolation and loneliness that Miss Brill experiences causes her to long for human connection -- though she never figures out how to achieve it. Also, it is interesting to see how Miss Brill describes the other elderly people in the park around her. She observes that they looked as though they had “just come out from dark little rooms or even — even cupboards!” This is significant because she compares them to her fox fur, which is something that she keeps in a cupboard until she is ready to leave her house again. She makes this comparison between the other elderly people at the park, however she does not make this connection to herself. This could show how Miss Brill separates herself from the other elderly people, because she longs for
If I only had one word to describe Miss Brill in Katherine Mansfield’s short story, I would describe her as lonely. I would describe Miss Brill as lonely for many reasons. The first reason I would describe her as lonely is because of how she only talks to her coat at the beginning of the story. Miss Brill never engages in any conversations with actual people; she only eavesdrops on other conversations. My second reason for describing her as lonely is because of how she visits the park every Sunday.
Katherine Mansfield begins the story with Miss Brill taking out her beloved fur and getting it ready to then make her way to the park. From the beginning, she brings this fur to life and it is evident that it holds great meaning for her. The fur is personified by the author to allow the reader great
In the beginning, she happily unboxes her fur and imagines the ermine asking her “What has been happening to me?” (Mansfield 197) She personifies her fur which assists the reader’s understanding that she is guileless to all but herself. Also, there is an emphasis on how delighted Miss Brill is that she chose to wear her fur today, but the happier she is, the greater her potential to be sadder is. Her positivity for the day is exemplified when “she [breathes], something light and sad--no, not sad, exactly--something gentle [seems] to move in her bosom” (Mansfield 197).
She sits in the park speaking to her coat as if it were a real person. Miss Brill finds her company in her fur coat since she does not feel like part of the world. One day in the park, she is mocked for sitting by two kids with her coat. She is heartbroken and feels that no one in the world will except her existence. She feels that the only way to get away from life troubles is to speak to her fur
She goes about her day, creating extravagant fantasies, until her daydream is shattered by young couple. The couple makes fun of Miss Brill’s fur by comparing it to a “fried whiting”, or a fried fish, and the reader at this point knows that the fur is ugly, dead, similar to fried fish, but Miss Brill still believes in it's worth. Her lifeless fur will remain just that, dead and limp, similar to Miss Brill herself, and when she “rubbed the life back into those dim little eyes” Miss Brill was actually referencing herself; however, she is so invested in her fantasy that only the reader can see the