Narcissism in Miss Brill

【Abstract】Katherine Manthfield was the only writer in the 20th century whose literary reputation was completely established on short novels. Thus， Manthfield has enjoyed the reputation like “English Chekov”， and “Master of Short Novels”. Miss Brill is a short novel that belongs to her mature stage. This paper intend to analyze the protagonist in Miss Brill from the aspect of narcissism.

【Key words】Manthfield； Miss Brill； narcissism

1. Introduction

Miss Brill is one of Manthfield famous short novels. We can never avoid character analysis when we try to study a novel， no matter long or short. Narcissism has become an eternal theme in literature. This paper intends to combine these two together and analyzes the narcissism in Miss Brill.

2. Narcissism

Narcissism comes from ancient Greek mythology. Narcissus was the son of the River-god Cephisus and a goddess Liriope. He didnt know what did he look like because of the instruction of the God. Narcissus was so handsome that many goddesses admired his charms. But Narcissus was so aloof and proud that he turned down them， which irritated the gods in the sky. To punish him， gods made him discover his shadow in the river. Narcissus saw his beautiful shadow and fell in love with it. However， Narcissus could never touch his shadow. At last， he died of the draining and withering of vitality. After his death， he appeared as a narcissus（daffodil）. Later， narcissus is metaphorically referred to people who indulge in self-admiration.

The theme of narcissism becomes an eternal one in western literature. However， the exploration of narcissism is not limited to literature.

Many psychologists and psychoanalysts have devoted themselves to the research of narcissism. In 1980， American Psychiatric Association officially identified “narcissistic personality disorder” as a psychological illness and describe its typical symptoms as follows： highly valuing themselves； having a keen desire for others love but showing apathy to others； having an urge to control and dominate others； extorting attention and love from others regardless of all， otherwise sinking into deep meditation and constantly changing between idealizing and belittling others.

No matter from the aspects of literature or psychoanalysis， narcissism will always be an important subject for writers as well as for psychoanalysts.

3. Narcissism in Miss Brill

3.1 Being Intoxicated with Illusion

Miss Brill was an ordinary and lonely women who lived in a “little darkroom” alone. She made her living by teaching English and reading newspaper to an “old invalid gentleman”. She went to the park Every Sunday and that was the only way to entertain herself.

“Miss Brill discovered what it was that made it so exciting. They were all on the stage. They werent only the audience， not only looking on； they were acting. Even she had a part of the performance after all.”

Not only she thought it was a performance， she also imagined herself as an important role in it. She was so important that if she had not showed up one day， others would notice that.

Miss Brill was so happy in her imagination. However， none of these was true. What she was intoxicated with was only the illusion. In reality， she was just an old lonely woman， but she did not realize that.

3.2 Highly Valuing Herself

In the novel， “Miss Brill had often noticed there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd， silent， nearly all old， and from the way they stared they looked as though theyd just come from dark little rooms or even-even cupboards！”Apparently， Miss Brill did think she belonged to this group people. She thought those old people were very “funny” and not suitable with the enjoyable atmosphere in the garden. She was prepossessed with the sense of superiority.

But later on， her superiority was completely smashed. The dialogue between the young couple broke all her self-satisfaction and destroyed the only joy of her life. And her superiority was replaced by humiliation.

4. Conclusion

In some sense， the mentality of narcissism is rooted in the fact that people want to get rid of the cruel reality that they do not want to face. They are not satisfied with their actual situation and long for a meaningful life and independent personality. Miss Brill hoped to find her own worth in society， only realized there was no position for a lonely woman who was old and poor.

References：

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作者簡介：申曉蕾（1992-），女，漢，碩士在讀，遼寧大學，英語語言文學。