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Who Is Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill?

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Katherine Mansfield was born in New Zealand in 1888 and went to school in England. After she had finished her studies in England she returned home but was displeased with how she was living in New Zealand so she returned to England. Between the years of 1911 – 1915 she wrote many short stories and book reviews in magazines, most notably the “Blue Review.” That is how she met her second husband John Murry; they married in 1918. She passed away in 1923 due to complications with tuberculosis. Katherine Mansfield is considered an important figure in her genre of literature because of how unique her short stories are. It almost isn’t much of a story in a sense. Take for example in “Miss Brill” it is a story about how an English teacher tries to make fantasies in her mind to be …show more content…

It’s a story about one person and their mind observing the world around her and her inability to see things for what they really are. One critic even says, “Her stories are literature because they produce effects which can be easily attained by no other art.” (Votteler 274) I feel that this is in reference to the fact that in the story “Miss Brill” it feels as though the story is about her character development and less about the plot of the story, as if the character was the sole focus. It allows me to really invest in the character and understand him/her better. Miriam B. Mandel is an individual who has written a review on Katherine Mansfield, more specifically her short story “Miss Brill.” In her review, she states that “But even these admiring critics have failed to notice its most impressive technical achievement: a highly functional application of figurative language which enables the reader to understand and evaluate the character.” (Mandel 1) I agree with Ms. Mandels’ statement because if one was to read the story “Miss Brill” one would notice the great lengths that Katherine

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Mandel, Miriam B. "Reductive Imagery in 'Miss Brill.' " Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 26, no. 4, Fall 1989, pp. 473-477. EBSCOhost, aclibproxy.actx.edu. Accessed 14 Feb. 2018. “Reductive Imagery in ‘Miss Brill’” attempts to explain that “Miss Brill” contains more figurative language rather than actions.

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The author’s craft used in the story is imagery. Liliana Heker’s writing style helped me connect with the characters in the story. For example, our the summer, my sister, aunt and I visited a particular pool in Essex County and we were not welcomed and looked down upon because we were the only black visitors. That experience made me feel uncomfortable.

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Miss Brill, written by Katherine Mansfield, was written about and elderly lady that would put on her best fur and go out to the park on Sundays. She would end up watching the people that fluttered through the park and make up stories about their lives in her head. A young couple sat on the end of Miss Brill’s bench and they were clearly in love. The girl made a comment that she could not be affectionate due to the “stupid old thing at the end” (158). Miss Brill is an older French woman and her clothing and word choice definitely show her age.

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The story was written in 1930. It is a story about the mysterious life of Miss. Emily Grierson. It reveals the effect of social change on the individual. This story is largely accepted as a masterpiece.

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It demonstrates that many of our daily problems are simply insignificant, and we should not focus on them as though they are everything to us. Though it was displayed in only one event in the novel, the theme of insignificance is definitely a strong one to keep in

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Katherine Mansfield wrote about an aged woman, Miss Brill who is isolated from the real world. Miss Brill attempts to build a fantasy life to protect herself from the harsh facts of her existence. The short story “Miss Brill” is very descriptive and has decent examples of imagery to help readers better understand and see what is happening. Robert Peltier mentioned that “Miss Brill” has a rise and fall in each paragraph, so in his overview of “Miss Brill”, he also “chose the rise and fall of every paragraph to fit her, and fit her on that day at that moment” (Peltier), to help readers picture what is happening. The character Miss Brill does not look past what is present, which causes her to be narrow minded and not understand why things happen

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Lots of humans during the day have a tendency to drift off into the state of fantasy, because one’s life’s struggles are difficult. According to Katherine Mansfield in “Miss Brill” the protagonist, who is Miss Brill, is teaching in France and decides to go to the park for a concert, to notice the surroundings. In the brief story, the author uses a natural integral setting, with a third person limited omniscient, an external conflict and imagery/personification language to suggest a central idea that when a person who fantasizes on events going on in reality causes life to seem more enjoyable then life actually turns out to be. Firstly, the author uses a nature integral setting to show how lonely the protagonist is in France.

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