Katherine Mansfield's short story "Miss Brill" introduces an aging, lonely woman living in Paris during 1922. The fictional character, Miss Brill is depicted as disillusioned and desperately seeking acceptance from society in which she lives. As a solution to escaping her isolation, she repeatedly takes a Sunday afternoon stroll to the Jardins Publiques park where she thinks of herself as an actress performing to an audience. Adorned to her precious fur, she sees herself as an active, important participant, in the world around her. However, her blissful fantasy was shattered when a young couple commented on how stupid and ridiculous she looked. After overhearing the hurtful comment, Miss Brill faced the knowledge that she is actually just
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She then enlightens readers of the protagonist, Miss Brill, who is a lonely, sickly woman in denial. Miss Brill lacks self awareness which is evident to everyone but her. She is quickly aging and her body is slowly deteriorating, although she does not acknowledge it. She feels tingling in her hands and arms but ignores the situation by thinking it supposedly came from walking, line 131. She then expresses her feelings of alienation through her fur coat. Miss Brill treats the coat as her human companion, interrelaying emotions with it. This is evident in the question, "What has been happening to me?", line 131. At this point, Mansfield submerges the point of view into the psyche of Miss Brill. This allows readers to witness her pathetic attempt to create a fantasy world to escape the harsh domains of her …show more content…
The fur that Miss Brill wears in the park in many ways mirrors her own life. It is old, like Miss Brill, and has been taken out of a box, a dark place, which is similar to Miss Brill’s own environment. At the end of the story, the fur is returned to its box like how Miss Brill too returns to her lonely room, the highlight of her isolation from the joys and delights of the world. The fur coat may also be important as it too in some ways mirrors Miss Brill’s life. Mansfield describes the fur as being alone which would mirror Miss Brill’s life. The fact that it is described as yellow and shabby may also be important as Mansfield may be suggesting that it has not only seen better days but it is also old which would mirror Miss Brill’s life. She too is old and may possibly have seen better days before her sickness. Also, when Miss Brill said that she heard something cry, she may have heard herself
She then enlightens readers of the protagonist, Miss Brill, who is a lonely, sickly woman in denial. Miss Brill lacks self awareness which is evident to everyone but her. She is quickly aging and her body is slowly deteriorating, although she does not acknowledge it. She feels tingling in her hands and arms but ignores the situation by thinking it supposedly came from walking, line 131. She then expresses her feelings of alienation through her fur coat. Miss Brill treats the coat as her human companion, interrelaying emotions with it. This is evident in the question, "What has been happening to me?", line 131. At this point, Mansfield submerges the point of view into the psyche of Miss Brill. This allows readers to witness her pathetic attempt to create a fantasy world to escape the harsh domains of her …show more content…
The fur that Miss Brill wears in the park in many ways mirrors her own life. It is old, like Miss Brill, and has been taken out of a box, a dark place, which is similar to Miss Brill’s own environment. At the end of the story, the fur is returned to its box like how Miss Brill too returns to her lonely room, the highlight of her isolation from the joys and delights of the world. The fur coat may also be important as it too in some ways mirrors Miss Brill’s life. Mansfield describes the fur as being alone which would mirror Miss Brill’s life. The fact that it is described as yellow and shabby may also be important as Mansfield may be suggesting that it has not only seen better days but it is also old which would mirror Miss Brill’s life. She too is old and may possibly have seen better days before her sickness. Also, when Miss Brill said that she heard something cry, she may have heard herself