Isolation In Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

“Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield is a story about a woman who is emotionally and socially isolated, and is desperate to be a part of the world around her. Miss Brill, for some reason, cannot seem to connect with people in the real world. She lives in a fantasy world she has created where she is an important part of society. When the fantasy is destroyed by a young couple making fun of her, she realizes just how solitary and empty her life is. Mansfield’s central idea is that when people become isolated from the world around them, it can lead to a life of delusion and loneliness. The protagonist of the story, Miss Brill, helps readers to understand the central idea through her lack of communication with anyone in the park and her belief in a whole different reality. Mansfield uses indirect characterization by writing, “She had become really quite the expert…at sitting in other people’s lives just for a minute while they talked round her” (835). This shows that …show more content…
The couple helps to prove the central idea by insulting Miss Brill which ultimately makes her realize her delusions. Mansfield uses indirect characterization to label the couple as ill-mannered and arrogant by having them say, “…that stupid old thing…why doesn’t she keep her silly old mug at home?” (837). By having the couple insult her, it makes Miss Brill see that no one really cares about her. The couple makes Miss Brill recognize her loneliness and unimportance. Mansfield also uses direct characterization to present the couple as young, by saying, “Just at that moment a boy and a girl came and sat down where the old couple had been” (837). Miss Brill is obviously an older lady and her dream includes her obtaining a young persona. However, when this young boy and girl begin insulting her, she realizes she is not young, and her fantasy is officially