Miss Brill

                In my own personal opinion, Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” best epitomizes the reality of alienation more vividly than any other story in the unit. The reader quickly begins to understand the extent of Miss Brill’s isolation with the phrase “she had become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn’t listen, at sitting in other people’s lives just for a minute while they talked around her” (Mansfield, 183). The unfortunate reality is that, rather than acknowledging her extreme isolation, Miss Brill actually fins enjoyment in observing others as thought they were in a play and does not realize the fact that she is merely a spectator. This idea best embodies the separation with reality which those who are entirely isolated may be likely to experience. For those who have no true friends or companions with which to share the adventures of life, they are left with no option but to live vicariously through the joys and struggles of others. While the people Miss Brill observes are in fact living their actual lives, Miss Brill feels as though they are merely actors because she has placed herself in a permanent role of spectatorship. While acting as a bystander throughout her life may seem to bring her happiness, the illusion of her inclusion in this role-playing is shattered when the woman in the ermine toque ridicules her fur. Ultimately, the theme of the novel is revealed in the symbolism of the fur that Miss Brill proudly adorns her shoulders with. By wearing such a fur, it is as though Miss Brill is putting on a costume in order to play the same character that she has always played in the scene involving the park every Sunday. However, at the very end of the story, “She unclasped the necklet quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside” (Mansfield, 186). By removing this vital piece of her costume, Miss Brill seems to be coming to the understanding that, if she truly wishes to find happiness in life and overcome the horrid loneliness which accompanies alienation, she must forsake the notion that she is merely a character in a frequently performed scene and begin writing her own story. Therefore, by employment of the symbolism of the fur as her costume, the theme of alienation is exemplified in “Miss Brill.”