Miss Brill

Miss Brill is a short story by the New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield. The main character of the novel is Miss Brill, a middle-aged and unmarried woman who is an English teacher and a reader to an old man. Every Sunday she wears her old fur coat and visits the public park of her French town.

She speaks to her fur coat as if speaking to a person. It is an indication of her loneliness. Everything she sees and overhears fascinates her, and she loves to eavesdrop on people without their knowledge.

Miss Brill lives in her own world. At the public park she enjoys the music and imagines that all the people are characters in a play that includes her. She fantasizes about a reality that is different from her own.

She observes the people in the park carefully and hopes to hear interesting conversations. A really young, beautiful couple sit next to her. They seem like the hero and heroine of the performance. The girl refuses the boy's advance and he asks if it is because of the presence of Miss Brill. The boy insults her by calling her stupid and old, and the girl makes fun of her fur coat.

After hearing the unkind words, Miss Brill decides to walk home. She usually buys a slice of cake at the bakery on Sundays, but today she does not. At home, she climbs the stairs to her room and sits on the bed. Then she takes off her fur coat and quickly puts it back in her box. As she closes the lid, she thinks she hears something crying.

The theme of loneliness is present throughout the novel. It is also clear that Miss Brill is delusional. She does not accept her situation or how she appears to others.  Miss Brill does not speak to anyone during the story. Despite her desire to connect with people, she does not greet a single person who sits next to her.

The novel never mentions family or friends. As an English woman in France, she probably does not have any relatives near. Maybe she was also lonely in England and felt no reason to stay there.

The climax of the story is the moment the young couple destroy Miss Brill's perception of herself. She believes she is connected to those around her, but she is not. Through her short story Miss Brill, Katherine Mansfield explores the themes of delusion and loneliness.