Miss Brill or The Grave - Essay Example

Analysis of “Miss Brill.” Katherine Mansfield’s short story, “Miss Brill,” is a very touching portrayal of an elderly spinster, who tries to make a life for herself. The narrative describes the protagonist’s outing to a park on a Sunday afternoon, where she remains seated on a bench watching the scene which unfolds before her. Within this narrow framework, Mansfield weaves a powerful tale of loneliness. As the story unfolds, the reader is filled with intense sympathy for Miss Brill, who bravely attempts to hide the loneliness of her life.

Mansfield effectively uses characterization, conflict, setting and various literary devices to convey the loneliness of her protagonist. Miss Brill’s character clearly demonstrates her solitary nature. She is a foreigner in Paris, living by herself in a “little dark room” (Mansfield, V-8). She lives a life of unvaried, dull routine, visiting the park “at just the same time each week” (Mansfield, IV-1). She is obviously of modest means - her stole is shabby and a slice of honey cake is her Sunday treat.

She is a teacher who is introverted even with her pupils and has “quite a queer, shy feeling at telling her English pupils how she spent her Sunday afternoons” (Mansfield, IV-1). The invalid gentleman she visits, sleeps through her newspaper readings and does not interact with her. Miss Brill is so isolated that she develops the habit of eavesdropping: “She had become really quite expert, --- at listening” to other peoples’ conversations (Mansfield, II-1). Miss Brill is portrayed as a lonely, friendless character whose self-perception is in conflict with reality.

Miss Brill sets up a conflict within herself by taking a romanticized point of view towards her life. She imagines all the people in the park as actors in a play and gives herself an indispensable role: “No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadnt been there; she was part of the performance after all” (Mansfield, IV-1). She asserts that she is not merely an onlooker but is an active participant in the drama of life. This version comes into conflict with the reality as represented by the setting of the story.

Miss Brill is not a part of the cheerful, noisy crowd of pleasure seekers who throng the park. On the other hand, she belongs to “the old people (who) sat on the bench, still as statues” (Mansfield, II-3). Miss Brill’s clinging to fantasy, and her refusal to accept the reality of her situation, only emphasize her loneliness. Miss Brill’s loneliness is further highlighted by the author’s use of literary devices. Miss Brill, as the narrator, assumes a tone of cheerfulness, using phrases like “brilliantly fine,” “louder and gayer” and “Tum-tum-tum tiddle-um!

” This tone contrasts with the reality of her loneliness and only serves to highlight it. Miss Brill indulges in the personification of objects: the shabby old stole becomes the “Little rogue biting its tail just by her left ear” (Mansfield, I-1). It is very pathetic to see the old spinster compensate for her lack of companions by giving the stole the character of a living friend. Again, the band is personified to be “like someone playing” (Mansfield, I-2). In a skillful example of irony, Miss Brill describes the other people seated on the park benches as “odd, silent, nearly all old,--- (looking) as though theyd just come from dark little rooms” (Mansfield, II-3).

It is evident to the reader that the lonely Miss Brill herself belongs to that group and comes from her own little dark room. “Miss Brill” is a poignant tale of loneliness. The old lady is friendless and lives a solitary, monotonous life. She adopts a gay tone and an attitude of imaginary importance which is in conflict with the reality of her lonely life. Mansfield uses literary devices to further emphasize Miss Brill’s loneliness. The old spinster’s brave façade is destroyed by the young couple who categorically assert the fact of her loneliness and rejection by society.

Miss Brill is forced to accept that she is only a bystander in the drama of life. However, she is not completely alone: the reader is filled with sympathy for the brave old lady. Works Cited.Mansfield, Katherine. “Miss Brill.” Title of Collection. Ed. Editors Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Print.