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Miss Brill Analysis Essay

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History of Miss Brill
In this portion of my research, I will be talking about the history of Miss Brill. Miss Brill is a short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published on November 26, 1920, and later reprinted in The Garden Party and Other Stories.
After the First World War in the 1920s, Europe was trying to rebuild. During this time, cultural diversity and wealth grew around many European countries, especially France. France became a place where artists and writers can live comfortable.
Miss Brill is an English teacher who lives near the public gardens in a French town. The narrator follows her around on a regular Sunday afternoon, which she spends walking around and sitting at the park.
The story opens up with Miss …show more content…

As she returns her fur coat to its box, Miss Brill, Zweig (2012) stated “thought she heard something crying” (p. 221).
Literary Analysis In this portion of my research, I will be conducting a literary analysis on Miss Brill. Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield was taken from her The Garden Party and Other Stories collection and is narrated in a third person by an unknown narrator. By telling the story through the eyes of the protagonist, Mansfield is able to convey to the reader the protagonist’s loneliness and lacks self-awareness. Mansfield offers no explanation as to Miss Brill’s past, leaving it to the readers to draw their own conclusions.
In this portion of my research, I will be talking about the theme of Miss Brill. The theme of the short story is the contrast of illusion and reality. As you read the story, the reader gets to explore the theme of loneliness. At first, you can tell Miss Brill might be lonely as the way she describes her pulling out her fur stole out of the box, Zweig (2012) stated “rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes” (p. 219) meaning she gives her fur stole a voice and emotions, when in reality, it’s just materialistic. She continues to stroke it and carries it with her throughout the story, which Mansfield uses to reveal that she does not have any other friends or family to socialize with. Miss Brill lacks movement in her life as she describes, Zweig (2012) stated “the air was motionless” (p. 218). Miss Brill goes to

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