Topic > Portrayal of Optimism and Sadness: Character Analysis of “Miss Brill”

Most people try to disguise themselves under a false personality when dealing with the world. Criticism and truth are often too harsh for people to face and instead create false narratives about their lives in search of comfort. Katherine Mansfield presents her character "Miss Brill" in her essay as a woman forced to confront these realities. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay From talking to her fur coat as if it were her "rogue" companion to creating an imaginary life in her imagination, Miss Brill seems to the reader as if she were written as a delusional character. In reality, Miss Brill is a victim of her own charade and uses it as a mask. In the short story "Miss Brill", by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill is established as an optimistic, caring and solitary character through the author's use of narration, dialogue and actions. Mansfield begins by indirectly characterizing Miss Brill by the way she interacts with her fur. The coat itself was worn and shabby, but in Miss Brill's eyes it still had youth and vibrancy. This fur that is presented to the reader at the beginning of the story ultimately signifies Miss Brill herself. Katherine Mansfield explains that, like Fur, Miss Brill is also past her prime and instead of living as young people do, she is simply existing. The fox fur that Brill takes out of the dark box at the beginning of the story is then placed back in the same box towards the end of the story. This shows a direct parallel to Miss Brill herself who leaves her apartment to try to separate from something bigger than herself and returns to her apartment to find herself alone. As Miss Brill's curiosity grows, she continues to observe the world around her. Pay attention to how people interact with each other. Comparing the people sitting in the stands and those on the field, he points out their drastic differences. On the one hand, people on the field seem full of energy and life while people in the stands tend to be more extroverted. Although Miss Brill is able to make these observations, she wants to reflect on the fact that she too is sitting among the people in the stands. Likewise, when she makes keen observations about a woman's social status based on her hat, Miss Brill is once again unable to recognize how she herself might appear to others. Miss Brill continues in the story with what appears to be a revelation about humanity. He sees the world he lives in as a stage and all the people he meets as his actors. A boy and a girl replace the older couple at the parade. He immediately romanticizes them and adds them as heroes to his work. This is where Katherine Mansfield ultimately created the climax of the story, showing her audience Miss Brill's rationality and understanding of the world. A fight starts between the two and they immediately begin to project their anger towards Miss Brill. The specialness that Miss Brill felt about her life was damaged by the comment made by the boy and girl about Miss Brill's appearance and her "fried whiting" coat. After this meeting with the young couple, Miss Brill finally begins to observe herself and how others see her. Instead of continuing to wait for the little surprise of finding an almond in her occasional honey cake, she now sees herself as the girl and boy saw each other, which is "weird and quiet and old." The world she felt so included in has now pushed her away from her own.