"Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield

“Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield



The short story “Miss Brill” tells of an older widowed woman who takes strolls to the park on Sundays. On her weekly outings to the park Miss Brill enjoys sitting in her “special seat” while listening to others and observing what they are doing. To her this is entertainment, she compares herself and everyone else in the park to a play where everyone has their own part. She takes great pride in getting dressed up to go for her afternoon out. The picture shows my local park where I have seen many people just enjoying an afternoon, or visiting with others on these benches. The setting of the story mainly takes place on a bench I imagine like these.




In getting ready to go to the park Miss Brill takes great pride in putting on her fur necklet. This foxlike accessory is very important to Miss Brill, she even gives it human characteristics. The picture of the puppy is here because in the beginning when she puts on her fur she seems to be playing with it like a pet, but in the end it becomes more like a person to her. She is so proud of her piece that when a young woman makes fun of it she is deeply hurt and seems to imagine it crying. The necklace pictured above is my mom’s she thinks it is pretty neat. I, on the other hand, think it is really outdated and old looking which reminds me of the scenario in the story.



One of the themes of the story is how different generations see situations. As I mentioned before the younger woman makes fun of Miss Brill’s fur. To Miss Brill the fur meant the world and made her feel special. Another thing the younger woman doesn’t understand is why Miss Brill likes to sit in the park. How different age groups and people in general see things are very different. The picture of myself, my mother, and my grandmother represent that. My grandmother and mother may not understand or approve of what I wear or how I act. It was just the different ways we were all raised. My grandmother was raised in a very strict household while she raised my mother a little more leniently and I was raised even more loosely.



This next picture is of me with my boyfriend Josh I chose this picture to represent the characters of the young man and woman Miss Brill encounters while she is sitting on the bench. When Miss Brill first sees them, she casts them as the hero and heroine of the play. As she starts to listen to their conversation though and hears the hurtful things they say about her she is deeply insulted, and her mood goes quickly downhill. If you were to just look at the picture above you would think we were a happy couple, but you never know how characters can change.