A Mini American Revolution

In the short story Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill is French. This plays an important role in the story. Miss Brill is an Englishwoman living in France. The French and English are notorious for not getting along, whether it be on the battlefield or in the search for cultural supremacy. So, a French woman living in England would likely already run into cultural issues. The added bonus that she is looney doesn't help her case, either. I think Mansfield makes Miss Brill French because it serves to further detach her from her surroundings. She goes on about all the young people around her, usually in love, but there she sits, old and alone. She clearly doesn't fit in as it is. The added ethnic difference stands to emphasize Miss Brill's elephant -in- the -room existence.