سید شهاب الدین ساداتی

Literary Fiction: In “Miss Brill” the relatively plotless quality of the narrative reflects the uneventful nature of Miss Brill’s life. Page 372

Conflicts: emotional & mental

Suspense & Dilemma = ... 

Ending: sad ending

Characters

Miss Brill: round & dynamic. She is the protagonist, a simple-minded woman, a convincing character who evokes our sympathy. Miss Brill copes with her isolation by completely deluding herself and ignoring that she is isolated. She is completely unaware of how others view her until she has an epiphany at the end of the story. She is more of an observer, a voyeur, and not an active participant in life. In spite of her newly found self-awareness, Miss Brill still denies some of her own emotions when “she thought she heard something crying” at the very end of the story. The tears are obviously her own

Point of View: third-person limited omniscient

Theme

Lack of communication and lack of understanding lead to pain of loneliness

Life is like a play

Symbols

Fur: the fur is clearly a symbol for Miss Brill herself

Irony

Verbal Irony: Miss Brill = lonely spinster, unmarried, friendless

Dramatic Irony: is essential to our understanding of Miss Brill’s character, Page 335

Irony of Situation: we do not expect to witness crying at the end