FREE ESSAY ON MISS BRILL

MISS BRILL

Miss Brill: Point of View
The narrator in the story "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield, is telling us this story
in the third person singular perspective. Our narrator is a non-participant and we learn
no details about this person, from a physical sense. Nothing to tell us whether it is a
friend of Miss Brill, a relative, or just someone watching. Katherine Mansfield's Miss
Brill comes alive from the descriptions we get from this anonymous person. The narrator
uses limited omniscience while telling us about this beautiful Sunday afternoon. By this
I mean the narrator has a great insight into Miss Brill's perceptions, thoughts,
feelings, and into her world as a whole, but no real insight into any of the other
characters in this story. By using this point of view, we see the world through the eyes
of Miss Brill, and feel her emotions, even though this third party is telling us the
story. 
This beautiful fall afternoon in France unfolds before our eyes because of the
pain-staking details given to us by the narrator. We aren't told many things straight
out, but the details are such that we can feel the chill coming into the air and see the
leaves of fall drifting to the earth. The figurative language that is used is superb from
beginning to end. The imagination and detail made me see what was happening and hear the
band play. The characters in the park are observed through the eyes of Miss Brill, and we
learn bits of information of those who catch her eye. The detail of the observations that
Miss Brill makes can be fully realized by turning to anywhere in this story and starting
to read. As a reader, you get caught up in the story and lose the fact that there is a
narrator. The details as told, seem to be coming directly from Miss Brill at times.
The narrator gets us settled into the park with Miss Brill and tells us that she sees
those around her as "odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they
looked as though they'd just come from dark little rooms or even-even cupboards!" This
tells me that Miss Brill sees herself differently than she sees others, not odd or funny.
She is a part of all this life and activity at the park! An actor in the grand play and
"somebody would have noticed if she hadn't been there." She really loved to be out with
others and thought that she was very much a part of the world and not apart from it.
Don't we all feel this way? Some people are truly introverted and care little of
interacting, but I think the majority of us strive to become part of the world and at
times feel like this life is one big drama and we have a big part. Our role might only be
important for one scene, but we feel like the leading man or woman at times. 
The narrator leads us to what appears to be a fitting climax; a crescendo of music and
song, with all players involved. Miss Brill's dreams of this were quickly shattered. The
comments by the young people, "Why does she come here at all-who wants her? Why doesn't
she keep her silly mug at home?" leaves Miss Brill with the cold realization that she is
in fact like the odd, old people that she watches in the park. She hurries home, not even
stopping at the bakery, which was part of her usual Sunday ritual. She retreats to her
"little dark room-her room like a cupboard", as she had described earlier as where these
odd folks probably lived. She was now faced with the grim fact that she wasn't a grand
player at all. She would not be missed if she didn't show up. She really is one of those
people on the bench watching the world go by. As she puts her fur away and the narrator
tells us "when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying", I feel like
life will never be the same for Miss Brill. The fur knows it might not be going out for a
very long time. I'm not sure if she'll ever go back to the park. If she does, it will not
be the same. She will have a whole new perspective. An outcast, a lonely spectator
watching life pass by, the thrill and excitement, even joy of being an actor is gone.
Katherine Mansfield's use of this point of view was perfect for Miss Brill. We feel her
pain as she is faced with the sudden reality of the emptiness of her life. We hope we
aren't faced with the same reality of being a watcher, apart from others, and not a part
of it all. 
Gary L. Gerhart 1 May 2001
Bibliography
Mansfield, Katherine. "Miss Brill." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and
Drama. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Diana Gioia. 7th ed. New York:1999. 49-53