"Miss Brill": Overall Analysis

      In the short story, Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield, an elderly woman beholds comfort in the wearing of her fur as she goes about her day.  I truly pity the lonely life led by that of Miss Brill.  To start, I predict this companion-less woman's fur represents her confidence and emotional state.  Moreover, the work starts with Miss Brill putting on her fur and feeling self assured.  As Miss Brill ventures out, I sense that she yearns to feel needed.  Because of this wanting, Miss Brill deems her surroundings to be a production with the world as its cast.  As Miss Brill looks about, her "eyes fill[ed] with tears and she looked smiling at all the other members of the company'' (Mansfield).  The realization that she is an actress merely observing the community around her, liberates her from the main theme of the piece, loneliness.