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Miss Brill Characterization

            Miss Brill is a complicated person to describe due to the many aspects of her personality that come through in this story. She notices very specific things about people that others would not really care to become aware of. An example of this is when she observes that the conductor is wearing a new coat. She is also aware of the amount of people that come out every Sunday, and the level of effort the band puts into their performances. Miss Brill also has the tendency of placing herself into little groups that she creates in her mind; she refers to the people in the park as a family and places all of the people including her into a play that is being acted out in her mind. She also has a tendency to listen in on other people's conversations, which is her way of getting a sense of companionship. She evidently has no one to really speak with; therefore she listens to other people's conversations for her to feel that she plays an intricate part in the way things are. In the end, her eavesdropping leads to her understanding that she is just like the old people she had noticed in the park earlier. We are not meant to sympathize with Miss Brill as much as we are meant to understand how sad loneliness can be. It is the high level of loneliness that she has experienced that causes her to act the way she does. Even though she tries not to be aware of her state, it eventually catches up with her and leaves her sad yet again.
            


Essays Related to Miss Brill Characterization

1. miss brill

... outsider who possesses such a familiarity with Miss Brill that much of Miss Brill's characterization is presented indirectly. By telling the story this way, Mansfield is able to portray Miss Brill's loneliness, naiveté, and lack of self-awareness fully. The story gives the reader no details of Miss Brill's past, allowing the reader to draw his ... or her own conclusion. At the same time, Mansfield provides insights into Miss Brill's character and lifestyle that expresses the theme of the story. Miss Brill ... Mansfield presents conflicting views of Miss Brill. On one side, Mansfield sy...

  • Word Count: 742
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Use of Symbolism in

... like room and puts her fur away, and thinks that she hears "something crying". Another symbol which plays an important part in Miss Brill's characterization is that of performing. The band is performing better now than they do in the off-season because then "it was like someone ... playing with only the family to listen; it didn't care how it played if there weren't any strangers present." Similarly, Miss Brill enjoys the fantasy that she is actually on the stage, the whole park is a stage, and she has a central part in the play enacted ... here. A stage (as opposed to the seats below i...

  • Word Count: 855
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

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