Commentary and Analysis of Katherine Mansfield’s Story: Miss Brill

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In Katherine Mansfield’s story “Miss Brill,” the main character, Miss Brill, escapes to the park every Sunday afternoon to take her place in the ongoing performance. She spends her time eavesdropping and fantasizing about her surroundings. The park symbolizes a place of purpose, individuality significance, and community for the protagonist.

For some people the park is a meeting place or even a place to goof off; however, for Miss Brill the sole purpose of the park was for her personal entertainment. She went on Sunday afternoons routinely to listen in on others’ conversations. Miss Brill thought of herself as an “expert…at listening as though she didn’t listen” (par.3). While listening to the others around her, it allowed her to escape her loneliness and step into their lives. Not only was she listening, she was judging their appearances while making up scenarios in her head of what their life is like outside of the park. Referring to the regular type of people who came Sunday after Sunday, Miss Brill pointed out that “[t]hey were odd… [and] looked as though they’d com...

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