Hello, my name is Andrea Elise and I live in Amarillo, Texas.
I just finished reading the excellent short story “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, published in the author’s 1922 collection of stories called The Garden Party.
In “Miss Brill,” the title character is a middle-aged unmarried English woman who lives alone in a small apartment in France. She teaches English to students and reads the paper to an elderly man a few times a week.
On Sundays, she loves to sit on a bench at the park, to eavesdrop on conversations and to talk to people.
Since the day the story takes place is chilly, Miss Brill decides to wear her fur stole, which was in high fashion in her time. She loves her stole and believes she looks sophisticated, desirable and approachable at the same time.
Things start to go wrong when she notices that the people on the benches beside her are “odd, silent and old.” She is appalled to see an “older woman” wearing a fur hat and an older man blowing smoke in the woman’s face.
Since she goes to the park each Sunday, Miss Brill is convinced that people would miss her if she were not there. In her mind, she plays a critical role in this important drama.
As she is reveling in that fantasy, a young couple, well-dressed and seemingly in love, sit within earshot of Miss Brill. She hears the young woman make fun of her beloved fur collar. Even worse, the young man comments: “Why does she come here at all; who wants her?”
I imagine any of us would feel crest-fallen if we heard such unkind comments, especially on days we are feeling good about ourselves and our role in the world.
Ms. Brill’s feelings are not outwardly revealed, but the story ends with her character foregoing her usual stop at the bakery on the way home and, instead, sitting silently in a dark room for a long time. She then takes off her beloved fur stole and places it back into its box, where she thinks she hears it crying.
Miss Brill herself has moved from feeling lively, happy and thrilled about a crisp day in the park, only to return to her “room like a cupboard.”
The story had a profound impact on me because of the huge difference between appearances and reality. Miss Brill does not realize that she herself is one of the “odd” people in the park, the same as the older woman wearing a fur hat. She believes she is different after all, isn’t she?
The reality to follow is nothing short of crushing. Miss Brill is just like the fur stole: she isn’t appealing; she isn’t young. Instead, she is out of fashion and can contribute nothing but cry as she puts the fur (and herself) away in a box.
This is Andrea Elise for the High Plains Public Radio Readers Book Club.
