Miss Brill

A detailed Summary of Miss Brill

Miss Brill is a short story about an old lonely woman, but instead of being depressed she creates a world of her own in which she is important and valued. She enjoys going to the park on Sunday, but an unkind couple she overhears will change the way she sees herself.

As the story begins, she is preparing for her first Sunday trip of the new season. In honor of this special day she decides to wear her favorite fur scarf. Miss Brill feels good and thought she looked elegant in this fur. She believed that this would impress the people at the park. Before she puts the fur on, Miss Brill begins to talk to this fur and pet it like it was alive. The fur even talks back to her, saying, "What has been happening to me?" , of course the fur is not really talking, but the words Miss Brill hears are only in her mind. At this point in the story, Miss Brill seems a little out of touch with reality, but she could be happy and pretending the fur was talking because she had not seen it in along time.

This Sunday she sits at her special seat, the seat she occupies every Sunday. Miss Brill glances around and sees some old people sitting on their benches, very silent and odd looking. She decided that they ha

At the end of the story a young couple sits near Miss Brill taking her old benchmate's spot. So, of course, Miss Brill prepares to listen in on their conversation. What she hears unravels her own little world and throws her into the real one. The boy calls Miss Brill a "stupid old thing" that should stay home while the girl makes fun of her beloved fur calling it a "fried whiting". Miss Brill's view of herself was shattered by this young couple's words.

Miss Brill believed everything going on in the park was a play and she was not only part of the audience but an actress as well. She had no doubt that someone would notice if she was not there, believing she had an important role in this play. In reality most people do not even notice she is there. This shows how lost from reality she really is. Instead of seeing herself as an odd, old woman sitting in the park all alone, she makes herself feel better by making up an imaginary world, where she is an important actress in a play, which is life.

d just come from dark little rooms where they hide from the rest of the world. She of course does not realize that she just described herself as others see her. Watching everyone going about his or her lives fascinates Miss Brill. She even credits herself with being an expert at listening while appearing not to. Her desire to secretly listen to the conversations of others indicates she is living vicariously though other people. At this point

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 980
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels