Summary: Miss Brill

Summary of the short story, Miss Brill

Summary of Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill"

Miss Brill is a solitary woman who spends her Sunday in a park, relating in vivid details the happenings around her. She is dressed in a fox fur, though the weather does not call for it, as she believes it to be representative of her high status. She admires the music around her, thinking it to be reflective of her experiences. An old couple is seated on her bench, and she is dissatisfied that they are not talking since she enjoys eavesdropping on their conversation. Her attention switches to others in the park, the children, a beggar, all who she describes as looking strange. She notices a young girl trying desperately to gain a man's attention but fails. Though the girl seems happy and quickly moves on, Miss Brill instead concentrates on the sad music in the background, which she believes to be more in tune with the girl's emotions.  Miss Brill believes she has an epiphany, that she and everyone one else around her is a part of a production where she is a very important character. She believes herself to be so key to this imaginary production, that her absence would quickly be noticed. The music resumes and she is moved by a change in tune she is not able to comprehend. She is joined by a young couple who she marks as the stars of her production. The young couple speaks ill of her, and Miss Brill of course overhears. She leaves the park, skipping her usual routine of going to the bakery, and instead heads straight home. As she gets in, she puts away her fur, and while doing so she hears crying.