Setting

The short story “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield was published in 1920, and the setting is probably meant to be read as contemporary to the time of publishing. This is suggested by details such as the Englishman’s Panama hat and his wife’s button boots (ll. 47-48), both of which were in fashion in the 1920s.

Physical setting

The events take place during one afternoon in an unnamed town in France – this is suggested by the name Jardins Publiques (meaning public gardens in French) (l. 3) and the phrase used by the boy: “ma petite chere” (l. 168).

The “slender trees with yellow leaves” (l. 74) and the “brilliantly fine” (l. 1) day suggest that it is a warm autumn day.

At the beginning of the story, Miss Brill is presumably sitting in her room. The room is not described – instead, the narrator references the red eiderdown (l. 13) (a quilt filled with the soft feathers of the eider duck) that most likely covers her bed. 

Miss Brill’s room is described at the end of the story and compared with a cupboard, showing either that it is a small room or that it is perceived as such my Miss Brill: “the little dark room – her room like a cupboard” (l. 179). This description recalls Miss Brill’s earlier description of the older people in the park who look like “they'd just come from dark little rooms or even–even cupboards!” (ll. 72-73) This suggests that Miss Brill is just like them, but she had never realised it.

The events unfold in the Jardins Publiques, where a band is playing (l. 25). There are several references to the physical setting of the park. For example, the band is playing in a rotunda (a circular building, usually with a dome) (l. 58). People are walking “in front of the flower beds” (ll. 57-58), and they buy flowers from an “old beggar ...