Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield (Book Review Sample)

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"Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield
Nothing could be more embarrassing than being taunted at the point when one feels good about themselves. Well, this happens to many people, and it happened to Miss Brill too. To those who are unaware of who Miss Brill is, she is the main character in a story authored by Katherine Mansfield. She works as an English teacher at a school in France and enjoys going to the theater every Sunday. Although there are many highlights in the short story, the interplay between the character of Miss Brill and the overall effect and meaning of the short story is something of interest to literary enthusiasts who read the story. Taking everything into account, Miss Brill’s eccentric and escapist character plays an important role in developing the plot and in bringing out the themes discussed in the short story.
As a person, Miss Brill is eccentric. From her choice of clothes to her choice of leisure, Miss Brill appears different. For example, the author has this to say about the fur that she chose to wear on this particular Sunday: "Miss Brill put up her hand and touched her fur. Dear little thing! It was nice to feel it again. She had taken it out of its box that afternoon, shaken out the moth-powder, given it a good brush, and rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes" (Mansfield Para. 1). The oddity of this little gesture is magnified by the admiration that Miss Brill seems to express for the piece of cloth.
Her keen attention to detail is also another thing that sets her apart. She takes time to observe the fur that she was wearing, the sky and the theater. She also takes note of the little details about the people that she meets. For instance, she remembers the conversation that she eavesdropped during the last Sunday and overheard a lady saying "they’ll always be sliding down my nose" (Mansfield Para. 4). In addition, Miss Brill takes note of the songs that the band plays each of the Sundays she goes to the theater as well as the mood of the crowd.
Miss Brill’s eccentric character becomes important in the analysis of the short story; her eccentric character brings out the contrasts that the author intended to articulate in the story. For example, her eccentric nature brings out the fact that she is a master of self-deceit. Throughout the short story, Miss Brill plays a somewhat "bizarre" role whereby she ridicules people living a life that mirrors her own. Without realizing it, she makes fun of the "odd" and boring people attending the theater she goes to every SundayCITATION Jul90 \p 120 \l 1033 (Gunsteren 120). For example, she says that the old people "sat on the bench, still as statues" (Mansfield Para. 5). She singles out one couple and says "…he was wearing a dreadful Panama hat, and she button boots" (Mansfield Para. 4). Miss Brill sees nothing good in the people that she interacts with every Sunday.
However, the irony of the story is that she goes to the theater to escape the loneliness that confronts her every day. The people in the theater do not pay close attention to her, although she wishes that somebody would talk to her and make her feel a part of this foreign community where she lives. When no one does so, she resorts to the use of imagination to create a fantasy world where she is also starring. The use of imagination is an attempt to recreate her life instead of accepting life as it is.
The truth dawns on her when a young couple makes fun of her. In their words, she is a "stupid, old, lonely lady that nobody wants" (Mansfield Para. 13). The words from the young couple hurt Miss Brill because she is just that- an old lady with no friends in a foreign city that nobody in the neighborhood associates with. Miss Brill is not the character that she pretends to be. She holds herself in high regard even though her life is one of loneliness and self-deceit. Without using Miss Brill’s eccentric character, the author would be in great difficulty trying to bring out the irony of the story.
Through Miss Brill, Katherine Mansfield achieves two key objectives: she develops the plot of the story and builds on the major themes. For example, as the main character, Miss Brill portrays a character that contradicts the reality of the life that she lives. That contrast develops the plot of the story and facilitates the analysis of the themes that the author wants to convey in the story. Additionally, the contradicting character of Miss Brill enables the reader to understand the literary devices used in the story.
Apart from being eccentric, Miss Brill is also escapist. She does not want to face the reality of her life. The theater is one of the places whereby she attempts to escape to. She comes to the theater every Sunday, even though the theater is not an interesting placeCITATION She09 \p 118 \l 1033 (Song 118). This becomes evident when the author reveals "Last Sunday, too, hadn't been as interesting as usual" (Mansfield Para. 3).
In fact, she comes to the theater wishing to connect with the people, observe their mannerisms and eavesdrop on their conversations. However, even though she thinks that the people had come "from their dark little rooms or even – even cupboards," (Mansfield Para. 10) she does not realize that she is sailing in the same boat with them; she is just trying to come out of her own little dark room of loneliness and self-deceit. On this Sunday, when no one engages in a conversation, she gets lost into a sea of imagination and tries to c...