blog #5

Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield

Although Miss Brill is only a five page long story, this short expert is filled with deep symbolism, imagery, and great misunderstanding. Miss Brill feels excitement as she repeats her usual Sunday routine of attending the band concert in the gardens. Miss Brill wears her old fur, a stole that clearly was once a lovely accessory  but has since wore down. I feel that the fur and Miss Brill are one in the same. They both once were of great delicacy and greatness, but there time has now passed. It is clear that Miss Brill is rather lonely, so to consume her time she enjoys listening in on other people's conversation and people watching. She fantasizes that each person is apart of an ongoing play, where all members much be present. Miss Brill believes that attending the band concert each week is equally important to everyone else as it is to her.This is proven wrong though when she over hears a young couple mocking her for both attending and for what she is wearing. She remarks that," odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they'd just come from little dark rooms or even - even cupboards,"(Mansfield. 183). This quote leads me to believe that the people are not staring because they emerged from their dark rooms, but rather because Miss Brill does not fit in here. Miss Brill is mostly likely a strange sight to see, which causes onlookers to stare. After the young couples comment, Miss Brill returns home in a gloom. She throws her stole in the box and says she thought she heard crying. I think the crying she hears is her own. Being at the band concept broke her innocent bubble about what the world is truly like and she now realizes she is not accepted into it.