Examples Of Insecurities In Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

As Oscar Wilde once said, “it is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly.” Beauty has always been perceived to be a key part of society, which can manifest itself as insecurities. This idea is explored in Katherine Mansfield’s short story, Miss Brill. People are always watching and judging, unintentionally or otherwise. Mansfield demonstrates how insecurities may present itself under the perceived watchful eye of others.

Mansfield portrays Miss Brill’s judgmental nature using her bitterness towards other women. Suggesting that Miss Brill is unimpressed by how “nothing would please [the wife]”. The use of the word “nothing” implies that there is no room for compromise, hastily deciding that the wife is unsatisfiable. In comparison, the husband is “so
Readers witness Brill’s thoughts on the “big old woman” and the “odd, silent, nearly all old” people also at the park. These negative adjectives not only reflect Miss Brill’s personal insecurities, they also reflect the different ways in which she views herself. The adjective “old” is repeated twice and directed towards different characters, hinting at the importance of aging. The author’s use of this word illustrates that Miss Brill believes herself to be old and is projecting her insecurities onto other people. Furthermore, there are many more pleasant ways that Miss Brill could have described the “big old women”, this elucidates that Miss Brill believes herself to be rather plump and chunky. Likewise, throughout the story, Miss Brill is nearly always silent, which in itself is quite odd. Mansfield indirectly presents Miss Brill’s characteristics with her actions and confirms our beliefs with Brills observations. Unable to face reality Brill projects what she perceives as negative qualities onto other people allow us as readers to infer and decipher Miss Brill’s