Structure

The structure of the short story “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield includes traditional narrative techniques like backstory and foreshadowing…

...

...

Beginning

In the opening of the short story, the narrator describes the setting: “the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques” (ll. 1-3). The air is “motionless, but when you opened your mouth there was a faint chill” (ll. 4-5). The chill is a foreshadowing element, symbolic for the fact that Miss Brill will experience the “coldness” of the world during this day.  

In the exposition, readers are also introduced to Miss Brill’s character, who is glad to have taken her fur out of its box, even though it was warm outside. We learn that Miss Brill is very attached to her fur – she calls it “Dear little thing!” (l. 8) and “Little rogue!” (l. 17) while she cleans it. She is happy to see it again: “Oh, how sweet it was to see them snap at her again from the red eiderdown! . . .” Here, we also encounter ellipsis, which is meant to convey Miss Brill’s nostalgia.

Miss Brill seems to project her emotional detachment and need for connection onto the fur. The fur has “sad little eyes” (l. 12) that seem to ask Miss Brill: “ ‘What has been happening to me?’ ” (ll. 11-12). Also, …

...

Middle 

The middle of the story develops the rising action when Miss Brill begins to imagine that all the people in the park are actors in a play: “It was like a play. It was exactly like a play.” (ll. 114-115); “They were all on stage (…) they were acting.” (ll. 119-121)

Even Miss Brill has a part in it, and she fantasizes about how people notice her presence: “No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there; she was part of the performance after all.” (ll. 121-123). This is another tension point in the story, as readers notice that, in reality, things are quite the opposite. It is also a foreshadowing element for the moment when a boy will suggest that Miss Brill should stay at home because no one wants her there.

A backstory about Miss Brill’s occupation is provided as she uses the story about the play to explain her “queer, shy feeling at telling her English pupils how she spent her…

...

Ending

In the falling action, we encounter another backstory: every Sunday, on her way home, Miss Brill buys a slice of honeycake from the baker’s. Sometimes, she finds an almond in her slice – this is a special treat, which makes her rush home and put on the kettle. This backstory alludes to Miss Brill’s uninteresting life, where finding an almond in a slice of cake becomes an important event. Today, however, she doesn’t buy the cake.

The resolution shows Miss Brill…