A plot diagram visually represents
the exposition of the story; the rising action; the complications; the climax; the
falling action; and the resolution of the story. In "Miss Brill," the
exposition--the introduction of the character(s), plot,
setting, action--occurs in medias res, which is in the middle of
on-going action, and introduces us to the setting, the conflict, the action and to Miss
Brill and the fox fur necklet that is at one and the same time part of the setting, a
character to be reckoned with, and a part of the plot
conflict.
It is a subtle part of the
setting because it is really part of where the action and conflict
occur ("It's her fu-ur which is so funny,"); character because to
Miss Brill, it has a personality and importance of its own ("Little rogue! Yes, she
really felt like that about it. Little rogue biting its tail ..."); plot
conflict because it is the vehicle through which the truth of her presence is
revealed to her (""It's exactly like a fried whiting." / "Ah, be off with you!" said the
boy [to Miss Brill] in an angry whisper.")
The rising
action, which would be notated on the upward left-hand slope of your
pyramid diagram, consists of Miss Brill's walk to and observations at the Jardins
Publiques, including the little girl, the conductor's new coat, and the conversations
she listens to, like that about the woman's possible new spectacles. A
complication would be the play that she perceives them all
to be actors in.
The climax
occurs when the "boy and girl ..., [who] were beautifully dressed; they were in love
[and the] hero and heroine" of her little jardins publiques theatrical, break her heart
and shatter her illusions by their cruel assessment of her, reaction to her, and remarks
directed at her. From this point on, the rest of Miss Brill's day (perhaps life) is
fixed and determined.
The falling action
occurs as she leaves--we are not told of her departure--and walks home past the bakery.
The narrator's report of her Sunday habits regarding the bakery, honey-cakes, raisins,
and tea kettles constitutes the occurrences of the falling action. The
resolution occurs when her hope is dashed and her dream
crushed, when Miss Brill encounters her red eiderdown, the fox's little box, her
closet-like room, and her bed.
readability="10">
[Miss Brill] went into the little dark room--her
room like a cupboard--and sat down on the red eiderdown. She sat there for a long time.
The box that the fur came out of was on the bed. She unclasped the necklet quickly;
quickly, without looking, laid it inside. But when she put the lid on she thought she
heard something crying.
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