In Miss Brill Katherine Mansfield intricates a fanciful tale of an older woman whose outlook on life is far from what she perceives. Although Miss Brill may fabricate the world around her through her actions and thoughts, it is her single epiphany that unwinds her delicate fantasy to reveal her real life. This epiphany distraughts Miss Brill to the point where she then abandons her usual routine to bury her fantasy and silently cry in honor of her fairytale life.
Miss Brill’s actions convey that she is a carefree woman whose tedious routines exhibit her personality but as the evidence reveals, Miss Brill is actually a hateful woman who repeatedly insults the people around her. Miss Brill walks into the church but is disappointed that the elderly
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Miss Brill is seated on the pew, pretending to sing, when a young couple sit on the opposite end. She describes this couple as “the hero and the heroine” (par. 12) which is ironic because they provide Miss Brill’s crippling realization. Miss Brill is listening in on their conversation when she hears the young man ask, ‘ “why does she come here at all—who wants her?” ’ (par. 14). This remark shatters Miss Brill’s image of her place in the world as an actress who would be missed if she does not make it to church. This proves that Miss Brill’s outlook on the world around her is wrong. The young woman then replies to the man that Miss Brill’s fur looks “exactly like a fried whiting” (par. 15). Not only does the couple shatter Miss Brill’s personal view on the world, they have also destroyed what she admired most, her fur. This leaves Miss Brill despondent to the point where she abandons her usual trip to the bakery and purposely puts the fur back in its box. As she puts on the lid, Miss Brill makes a final feeble attempt to fantasize her world when she hears her fur whimpering. Although Miss Brill attributes this sound to her fur, the audience can infer that Miss Brill is actually projecting her feelings of vulnerability unto the