Point of View: Miss Brill

Through the eyes of an elderly woman, Katherine Mansfield confirms that when one lives their life in disillusion, only a rude awaking awaits them. To the effect that would turn ones optimism of society skeptical.

Outings are such an immense deal for people in general; and ones appearance is especially important. Miss Brill, the woman that she is, is prepared to go out and has even brought her fur out she, “had taken it out that afternoon, shaken out the moth-powder, given it a good brush, and rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes”(Mansfield 33). Furs have always been a sign of good taste, especially for women and the fur in the short story is a symbol of the extravagance Miss Brill is trying to display while she is out. However, Mansfield adds, “that afternoon, [she had] shaken out the moth-powder, given it a good brush and rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes” (Mansfield 33). Miss Brill’s actions point out that she doesn’t go out often. She uses the moth-powder, to keep moths away but also she “[shakes] the life back into the dim little eyes” of the fur; although the fur itself is an inanimate object, it has been in a box for so long that it perished and now she must resurrect it. The bringing out of the fur implies that this outing must be special and means a great deal to her.

While sitting alone, Miss Brill slowly starts to notice the intricacies of interaction the people in the park are having with one another. In one particular occurrence, “a beautiful woman came along and dropped her bunch of violets, and a little boy ran after to hand them to her, she took them and threw them away as if they’d been poisoned” (Mansfield 35). The scene starts off picturesque enough; a woman conveying beauty, a little boy, the embodiment of innocence. But the scene is turns unpleasant as the woman throws those flowers away, “as if they were poisoned” and Miss Brill “didn’t know whether to admire that or not!” (Mansfield 35). The exclamation Miss Brill has conveys both shock and surprise and is a representation of the slow decay of her disillusion.

Plays are lovely and pleasant to watch and Miss Brill’s experience so far in the park has been both enjoyable and unanticipated, just as a play is with its many plot twists. She says, “It was like a play. It was exactly like a play. Even she had a part…. [She] nearly burst out laughing” (Mansfield 35). Content fills her mind and during that instant, “the hero and heroine of course just arrived. Miss Brill prepared to listen…” (Mansfield 36). In anticipation of what the young couple has to say, Miss Brill listens intently, but her anticipation is shattered as the boy jeers at her; calling her “stupid and old” and the girl includes, “it’s her fur which is so funny.” Miss Brill expected lovely words coming out of the boy’s lips and vice versa but instead she is mocked and heckled at, contradictory to her expectations.

“Miss Brill” conveys irony because Miss Brill is in a position of limited omniscience and doesn’t know what will happen next. And her treatment is also ironic to the effect that, the harsh treatment she receives throws her world upside-down and her inanimate fur must weep for her because she refuses to accept that the world isn’t as pristine as it once was back in her youth.