Saturday, July 7, 2012
Miss Brill
One of the reasons I really enjoyed "Miss Brill" is because of the vibrant way that Katherine Mansfield writes. One such example is; "And sometimes a tiny staggerer came suddenly rocking into the open from under the trees, stopped, stared, as suddenly sat down "flop," until it's small high-stepping mother, like a young hen, rushed scolding to it's rescue." (Mansfield 85) Her descriptions put you right in the scene, and the mood here is ordinary in a happy way, but later in the story her vivid descriptions change the mood; "But today she passed the baker's boy, climbed the stairs, went into the little dark room-her room like a cupboard- and sat down on the red eiderdown." (Mansfield 87) with these words she changes the sunny, active scene into a dark, closed, depressing scene. Her wordcraft is excellent.
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I agree, her word craft is excellent. I wrote about this piece also, because I found the duality of her mood through out fascinating. She's clearly day dreaming, but much more subtle is that she's choking back her tears of sadness and loneliness the whole time.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jennifer. I really like the quotes you selected! "tiny staggerer" is exactly what little kids look like, and yet I wouldn't have put those words together. Same goes for "high-stepping mother." I can see a woman in high heels kind of mincing toward her child, scolding because she is worried, but again, I don't think I would have picked those words. They are poetic. Nancy
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer. I too liked the story about Ms. Brill. It was sweet in many ways and you could totally see the mother and child painted in the story. I agree with Nancy too, the "high-stepping" to me, indicates a woman dressed up. Nicely done!
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