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Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

501 Words3 Pages

Discuss the idea(s) developed by the text creator in your chosen text about the role self-perception plays when individuals seek to reconcile the conflict between illusion and reality? An individual’s view on the world can be set by reality or one’s own imagination, to find a sense of fondness to fill a void caused by loneliness and is faced with self-deception “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield. Miss Brill is an old woman, who goes to the Jardins Publiques a park in France to watch people and the band play. Miss Brill places herself into the lives of others and makes up her own scenarios involving the individuals, calling herself an actress. However, Miss Brill faces the cruel reality of society when two individuals pester her and her appearance. …show more content…

Initially Miss Brill goes to the park to feel less lonely and more inclusive with people, by altering her reality. A series of events causes Miss Brill to feel lonelier and shatters the illusions she creates, inevitably facing her self-deception. As she was watching individuals at the park, one woman wearing a fur coat comes across and meets a man smoking a cigarette. He does acknowledge her presences or of what she is saying as stated “he shook his head, lighted a cigarette, slowly breathed a great deep puff into her face, and, even while she was still talking and laughing, flicked the match away and walked on” (p.59). Furthermore she states that the elderly people at the park are “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 cupboards” (p. 59) though Miss Brill does not realize that she is also speaking for herself. A young couple takes a seat beside her and teases Miss Brill, stating that she is a “stupid old thing” (p.61) and that her fur coat, something she cherished, is “fried whiting” (p.61). These remarks make Miss Brill realize that she is nothing, and not an actress but rather an old woman who comes to the park to feel some sort of reliance and dependence by the people around her. Miss Brill is negatively affected and is forced to comprehend that she is neither integral nor important. She is nothing to

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She judges other people to make herself feel more superior and normal and to hide her true character. Later on as Miss Brill observes a young couple, “the hero and heroine, of course, just arrived from his father’s yacht” (p.188), she comes to the realization of who she truthfully is. This wholly destroys Miss Brill, causing her to change her typical plans and go home in grief, “But to-day she passed the baker’s by, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room-her room like a cupboard… she unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying” (Mansfield 189). Terry White sums up the story of “Miss Brill” by writing, “Like the insidious illness that seems to be creeping to life inside her, Miss Brill is abruptly forced to confront the reality that her imagination seeks to escape”(White)

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When Miss Brill arrives at the concert she begins people watching. As she curiously looks around she spots a “beautiful woman” carrying a bunch of violets that she drops (836). A young boy quickly picks up the violets for the lady and runs “to hand them to her” she took the violets and “threw them away as if they’d been poisoned” (836). Furthermore, Miss Brill witnesses a young lady “pleased to see” even “delighted” a gentlemen in grey (836). The young lady describes where she was on the “charming day” she went “everywhere, here, there, along by the sea” and the gentlemen responded with cruelty (836).

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Miss Brill, a lovely respectable women who lives in a perfect world or so we thought. Miss Brill seemed to be a happy being, who as though was a cheerful optimist, didn 't see the sadness of herself but she did of others. In the text ‘Miss Brill’ written by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill feels as if she appears to be wanted by others, but only plays a part in a fantasy world. The reality is, she is not wanted and is just a lonely old women. The author shows the difference between appearance and reality by using a range of language features to show that Miss Brill has her idea of herself as a fantasy and the way that near the end, reality hits her.

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Story: “Miss Brill,” 1922 Author: Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) Central Character: The central character of the story is that of Miss. Brill. She is an older woman who often sits in park benches admiring the people in front of her. Other Characters: The other characters in the story are more of minor characters. They do play in a role in affecting the way that Miss Brill feels about herself. Through their dialogue we read just exactly what they think of Miss. Brill, “Why does she come here at all – who wants her?”

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It felt like the author might have been on to something to twist the path of the reader. Miss Brill has been recognizing all these positives human interactions she’s been seeing around her, however, in this scene, she notices quite opposite. Mansfield projects a boy that picked up fallen flowers from a lady, for those same flowers to be thrown away. She also depicts a man nearly falling over. Not everyone she see is so glamorous and while she is good at observing others, she lacks in understanding how others might think of her.

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