Answer:
The figurative language that supports the central idea that life is like a play in the text “Miss Brill” includes metaphors and similes.
Explanation:
Katherine Mansfield's short story "Miss Brill," focuses on a middle-aged woman who works as a teacher and a reader for children and an old man respectively. Every Sunday she goes to the French public park named Jardins Publiques wearing her shabby coat and fur. Sitting there she views everything happening around her as a play - the surroundings form the set and the people in the park as the actors. When she faces a dilemma between fantasy and reality she tends to retreat into her self-imposed exile. This is expressed with the use of figurative language. The use of figures of speech makes a literary piece more effective and impactful. Figurative language involves a wide range of literary devices. In this story, metaphors and similes are in use to enhance the story's plot. Some examples are:
<em>“Although it was so brilliantly fine—the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques—Miss Brill was glad that she had decided on her fur.”</em> Here, a metaphor and simile are intertwined.
<em>"He scraped with his foot and flapped his arms like a rooster about to crow, and the bandsmen sitting in the green rotunda blew out their cheeks and glared at the music."</em> Here, the simile gives a clear picture of the conductor of the musicians that were playing.
<em>“The old people sat on the bench, still as statues.” </em>Here, it's a simile that has been used.
