Miss Brill

Judgment and Otherness in "Miss Brill"

Katherine Mansfield's short story "Miss Brill' appears at first to be a rather simplistic and superficial description of an older woman and her silly infatuation with her fur stole. By the end of the story, however, the reader realizes that there is an irony at work throughout the text on several levels, and the very appearance of superficiality that is so well-crafted early on in the story is revealed to be a misconception contrived equally by the perspective of the story itself and by the reader, who must necessarily employ their standard human perceptions, subjectivities, and judgments in order to engage with the story. Through detailed renderings of character, point-of-view, and setting -- as well as through the rather oblique nature of the story's plot -- Mansfield very poignantly and pointedly explores the theme of "otherness" and the manner in which human...
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