Essay about Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

In the short story “Miss Brill” the protagonist, Miss Brill, is a lonely and isolated woman who likes to spend her Sunday afternoon’s in the park observing everyone around her and listening to their conversations without them knowing. We can infer that Miss Brill has created her own fantasy world to escape the harsh reality of her own life. At the end of the story the audience can come to the conclusion that Miss Brill experienced an epiphany that will change her life.

In order to bring us closer to Miss Brill, Mansfield uses the technique of showing, by

When the narrator first encounters the girl, his friend's older sister, he can only see her silhouette in the “light from the half-opened door”. This is the beginning of his infatuation with the girl. After his discovery, he is plagued by thoughts of the girl which make his daily obligations seem like “ugly, monotonous, child's play”. He has become blinded by the light. The narrator not only fails to learn the name of his “girl”, he does not realize that his infatuation with a woman considerably older than himself is not appropriate. He relishes in his infatuation, feeling “thankful [he] could see so little” while he thinks of the distant “lamp or lighted window” that represents his girl. The narrator is engulfed by the false light that is his futile love.

Miss Brill alters her perception of reality to avoid facing unpleasant aspects of her life. Therefore, she lives her life in an illusion that she is an actress and the director of a play. “Yes, have been an actress for a long time”(4), from this passage an individual could evidently suggest that Miss Brill sees herself as an actress. However, in reality, she’s not

Tone of Miss Brill Reading through the story of Miss Brill you see a glimpse into Miss Brill life, in that short glimpse you learn a lot about Miss Brill as a character. You see how she views the world and see the way she looks at life. The way the author portrayed this character sets the tone to the whole story, if I had to say what that tone is, I would describe it as loneliness. In this essay I will explain more on the details on how I came to this conclusion.

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.

This quote shows Miss Brill’s loneliness. Rather than conversing with the people around her, she decides to have a conversation with her fur coat, an inanimate object. This contributes to the meaning of the book because this detail helps establish how the story will continue and dictate how she and others will act, which serves as the basis for the story’s meaning.

One example of this is Scott’s detailing of the dynamic between Miss Louisa Mancel and Mr. Hintman. Mancel, who is repeatedly described as a “most beautiful child” (Scott 78), is coveted by the much older Hintman – who is also her guardian; Mr. Hintman’s “fondness” for Mancel increases as Mancel’s beauty does, Scott explains, “but the caresses which suited her earlier years were now become

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

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

The narrator in the story “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, is telling us this story in the third person singular perspective. Our narrator is a non-participant and we learn no details about this person, from a physical sense. Nothing to tell us whether it is a friend of Miss Brill, a relative, or just someone watching. Katherine Mansfield’s Miss Brill comes alive from the descriptions we get from this anonymous person. The narrator uses limited omniscience while telling us about this beautiful Sunday afternoon. By this I mean the narrator has a great insight into Miss Brill’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and into her world as a whole, but no real insight into any of the other characters in this story. By using this point of view,

Therefore in the concise nature of the form, any conversational element must have a significant role within the text. Within Mansfield’s Miss Brill, the contrast in the unreliable narration and dialogue in conversation, are employed to highlight the stories main theme of reality versus fantasy. The stories detached narrative style provides a convincing platform for Miss Brill's facade, creating the initial impression that Miss Brill's life is flawless. In the stories inception, the narration establishes Miss Brill's delusional fantasy, through the weather much like The Garden Party which begins on a perfect day. In Miss Brill, the blue sky which is ‘powdered with gold and great spots of light’ shines down.

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.

This quote leads you to the imagining Miss Brill goes through. I just picture her putting on this fur, playing dress up and becoming part of this whole other life every Sunday.

Mansfield’s use of third-person omniscient point of view is unique in that “while the narrator speaks in third person, detached, and with objectivity, it is still possible to see inside the mind of Miss Brill and learn everything that she is going through” (Ossa). Mansfield also uses third-person dramatic point of view towards the very end of the story to illustrate Miss Brill’s emotions after leaving the park: “...when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying” (865). Mansfield’s use of third-person omniscient and dramatic provides an expansive analysis on the thought and feelings