Critique Of “Miss Brill” By Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Murry was a well-known New Zealand Modernist short story author who used the pseudonym Katherine Mansfield. Miss Brill is a 1920’s publication that takes place in post-1914 France. Katherine Mansfield writes “Miss Brill” and introduces readers a reserved, solitary woman. She likes to hear the conversations of strangers. She loves fur coats and often imagines herself an actor.
Miss Brill’s story is about how loneliness can make it difficult to see the truth. This is evident in Miss Brill’s positive, playful way of seeing the world. The narrative begins with Miss Brill picking up a fur to “rub the life back in the dim little eyes”. This fur is Miss Brill’s way of putting excitement back into her day and starting it off positively. So, she begins her walk to the gardens and engages with everything in it, even seemingly insignificant details. This view of Sundays is her favorite and she loves to make up stories about anyone who passes her. It is evident that Miss Brill manipulates what she sees. This mentality can easily be explained as a result the woman’s loneliness. The action picks up when the young girl refuses do something for Miss Brill’s lover. The story’s climax comes when Miss Brill is able to hear the young couple discuss Miss Brill wanting to leave. After learning this, Miss Brill runs back to her “cupboard”, a darkened area. Miss Brill ends up putting the fur into the box. One can clearly see that Miss Brill is feeling depressed and lonely due to her misperceptions of reality. It’s possible that Miss Brill was rejected more than once before. This is what has led her to be reserved. Miss Brill’s physical environment is France in the 1920s. The story is set at a popular park that hosts a Sunday concert. The story’s emotional setting is centered around judgment and loneliness. Miss Brill plays the role of protagonist in this story. The story is about her weekly park visit. The conflict is caused by the young couple, who are shown as antagonists. Minor characters include the couple sitting on the bench, young women, soldiers and little children running around.
Katherine Mansfield writes her story from Third Person Limited Omniscient Point of View. This perspective allows readers to enter Miss Brill’s head and is the best choice to communicate Mansfield’s message. Without being able to see and hear Miss Brill’s thoughts as well as her feelings and thoughts, it would be difficult to communicate the same details. The author created a fake world by knowing only Miss Brill’s thoughts. This helped her to understand her loneliness and her inability to distinguish reality from perception. This was an essential part of the story.
Mansfield employs a few symbols in her story, “Miss Brill”. One is that Miss Brill was moved by the music and orchestra playing in the park. When Miss Brill is able to see and feel happy people in the parks, she states that the band performed “more quickly, less gaily than ever.” This helps Miss Brill to show her inner thoughts. This story shows Miss Brill’s deeper and more emotional side through symbolism.
This story demonstrated how perceptions can differ from realities and could make people feel lonely and rejected. You can see that people can misunderstand reality and how it affects them. This story also reveals the hard truth that society isn’t always as kind and compassionate as we would like. There are many Miss Brits in the world. While they need to learn to see the truth, those outside of the circle must understand that everyone is different. Individuals must be open-minded to others, no matter their background. This story has a deeper message: Our inner battles are the hardest.
It is impossible to be happy with oneself if you aren’t content with yourself. This will eventually lead one to be unable to tell the difference between reality and perception.
