Katherine Mansfield's Miss Brill

In Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill”, the story takes place in a town in France, where the protagonist – an older woman by the name of Miss Brill, lives near the “Jardins Publiques”; which means “Public Gardens.” Miss Brill is an English teacher that listens in on conversations to fill the emptiness and loneliness that she experiences in her own life. She especially enjoys going to the gardens on Sundays because there is a live band that plays and there are typically many more people present. This particular Sunday she was greatly enjoying herself because it was busier than usual. “There were a number of people out this afternoon, far more than last Sunday. And the band sounded louder and gayer. That was because the Season had begun. For although the band played all year round on Sundays, out of season it was never the same” (135).
“The day was so charming – didn’t he agree? And wouldn’t he, perhaps?...But he shook his head, lighted a cigarette, slowly breathed a great deep puff into her face, and, even while she was still talking and laughing, flicked the match away and walked on” (136). Though she did not fully understand the meaning of this “performance”, I believe that she sympathized with the woman in the ermine