Sociology Essay: Miss Brill and A Jury of Her Peers Character Analysis

This essay provides a detailed analysis of the characters in Katherine Mansfield's 'Miss Brill' and Susan Glaspell's 'A Jury of Her Peers', focusing on the theme of isolation. It examines how loneliness and societal expectations influence the characters' perceptions and behaviors. The essay explores Miss Brill's imaginative world as a coping mechanism for her isolation and the oppressive environment faced by Mrs. Wright in 'A Jury of Her Peers', highlighting the impact of gender roles and emotional neglect. The analysis draws upon the provided short stories and relevant scholarly sources to illustrate the psychological and social effects of isolation on individuals. The essay emphasizes how the characters' experiences reflect broader societal issues and the complexities of human relationships.

Miss Brill and A Jury of her
Peers
March 2
2020
Analysis of two main characters of two different stories and how
isolation has affected both the characters.
Short Stories written by
Katherine Mansfield
and Susan Glaspell

Sociology 1
Miss Brills by Katherine Mansfield and A Jury of her Peers by Susan Glaspell
The story of Miss Brills is entirely based upon how loneliness can affect an individual and the
way these individuals see the world around them. She has creative side to hers as well where
she imagines things and situations and fantasises about the lives of individuals (Wayback
Machine, 2011). In the other story, the author explains in detail about the gender roles and
how the isolation in humans affects them emotionally as well as mentally. The author also
talks about the truth behind the stereotypes revolving around the work that a woman is
supposed to do (Owl Eyes, 2020).
Miss Brill:
As per the short story, Miss Brill is a woman who works as a tutor in France. She is a middle
aged teacher of English and has an optimistic approach towards life. Apart from this, she is
also very sensitive and observant (Owl Eyes, 2020). The way she sees things and reflects
upon, it becomes quite evident that she is a very lonely person. In order to make things
interesting, she replaces the reality with her own fantasises concerning the people she sees or
meets, this reveals a lot about her nature (Allen, 2019).
Minnie Foster / Mrs. Wright:
There are various evidences in the story that help the reader figure out that the relationship
that Mrs. Wright had with her husband was an abusive one. The evidences that her
neighbours Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale find out while being in Mrs. Wright’s house state that
she had no control of hers over her life and she also feared her husband. Instead of noticing
such kind of information, the male characters were engrossed in blaming Minnie for her lacks
and how she was failing as a wife. The house here that was unkempt is a symbol of the
isolation she felt emotionally and the state her mind was in (Glaspell, 2020).

Sociology 2
Bibliography
Allen, H., 2019. Analysis of "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield. [Online] Available at:
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Miss-Brill-Katherine-Mansfield-Meaning-Themes-Summary-
Character [Accessed 3 March 2020].
Glaspell, S., 2020. A Jury of Her Peers. [Online] Available at:
https://americanliterature.com/author/susan-glaspell/short-story/a-jury-of-her-peers [Accessed 4
March 2020].
Owl Eyes, 2020. A Jury of Her Peers. [Online] Available at: https://www.owleyes.org/text/a-jury-of-
her-peers/read/a-jury-of-her-peers#root-2 [Accessed 4 March 2020].
Owl Eyes, 2020. Character Analysis in Miss Brill. [Online] Available at:
https://www.owleyes.org/text/miss-brill/analysis/character-analysis [Accessed 3 March 2020].
Wayback Machine, 2011. Miss Brill (1920). [Online] Available at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110916041739/http://cle.ens-lyon.fr/56709178/0/
fiche___pagelibre/%26RH%3DCLE_ANG110100 [Accessed 3 March 2020].