The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Set in 1930s Edinburgh, The Prime of Miss Jean
Brodie is the story of a charismatic schoolmistress and her
influence on the pupils of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. One
group of girls in her junior class (Sandy, Rose, Monica, Jenny, Eunice and Mary)
become known throughout the school as 'the Brodie set', and Miss Brodie herself
calls them the crème de la crème. When the girls move on to the senior
school, Miss Brodie retains her influence over them, and she takes steps to
ensure her continued involvement in their lives.
Miss Brodie's teaching methods are flamboyant and unconventional. She shows
an airy disregard for the formal curriculum, choosing to teach her class about
Italian Renaissance Art, the virtues (as Miss Brodie sees it) of Mussolini's
Fascist regime and her own love life at the expense of long division and the
dates of famous Scottish battles. This cavalier and individualistic attitude
brings her into conflict with the headmistress, Miss Mackay, who sets about
searching for evidence that she may use to discredit Miss Brodie and force her
dismissal.
It is in Miss Brodie's nature to sail close to the wind, and Miss Mackay is
soon able to build her dossier. It gradually becomes evident to the Brodie set
and to certain members of staff that Miss Brodie is romantically involved with
Mr. Lowther, the singing master, and that she also carries a torch for Mr.
Lloyd, the art master, a married man. Initially, the girls take a keen interest
in these events as a means of discovering ‘the facts of life’. As they grow
older they become more directly involved in Miss Brodie’s world and in her
schemes. Through the machinations of their former teacher, some of the girls
become models for Mr. Lloyd at his studio.
Miss Brodie plans to have Rose become the artist’s lover, so she can enjoy a
vicarious fulfilment of her own desires. In the event it is the less beautiful
Sandy who takes on that role. Astute, sensitive and intelligent, Sandy grows
increasingly suspicious of Miss Brodie and resentful of her controlling nature.
When one of the peripheral members of the Brodie set runs away to fight in the
Spanish Civil War and is killed, Sandy becomes aware that this may be a direct
consequence of Miss Brodie’s teachings on fascism, disastrously misunderstood by
her ill-fated pupil. Sandy decides to reveal the details of Miss Brodie's
fascist leanings and educational slant to the authorities. Miss Brodie is
dismissed from her post.
A few years later, Jean Brodie is a broken, though still defiant, figure
suffering from a terminal illness. She speculates endlessly as to which of her
girls 'betrayed' her, though she never suspects Sandy. The influence of Miss
Brodie ‘in her prime’ on the lives of her grown-up pupils is an enduring one. In
Sandy's case, it determines the course of her life.
Brodie is the story of a charismatic schoolmistress and her
influence on the pupils of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls. One
group of girls in her junior class (Sandy, Rose, Monica, Jenny, Eunice and Mary)
become known throughout the school as 'the Brodie set', and Miss Brodie herself
calls them the crème de la crème. When the girls move on to the senior
school, Miss Brodie retains her influence over them, and she takes steps to
ensure her continued involvement in their lives.
Miss Brodie's teaching methods are flamboyant and unconventional. She shows
an airy disregard for the formal curriculum, choosing to teach her class about
Italian Renaissance Art, the virtues (as Miss Brodie sees it) of Mussolini's
Fascist regime and her own love life at the expense of long division and the
dates of famous Scottish battles. This cavalier and individualistic attitude
brings her into conflict with the headmistress, Miss Mackay, who sets about
searching for evidence that she may use to discredit Miss Brodie and force her
dismissal.
It is in Miss Brodie's nature to sail close to the wind, and Miss Mackay is
soon able to build her dossier. It gradually becomes evident to the Brodie set
and to certain members of staff that Miss Brodie is romantically involved with
Mr. Lowther, the singing master, and that she also carries a torch for Mr.
Lloyd, the art master, a married man. Initially, the girls take a keen interest
in these events as a means of discovering ‘the facts of life’. As they grow
older they become more directly involved in Miss Brodie’s world and in her
schemes. Through the machinations of their former teacher, some of the girls
become models for Mr. Lloyd at his studio.
Miss Brodie plans to have Rose become the artist’s lover, so she can enjoy a
vicarious fulfilment of her own desires. In the event it is the less beautiful
Sandy who takes on that role. Astute, sensitive and intelligent, Sandy grows
increasingly suspicious of Miss Brodie and resentful of her controlling nature.
When one of the peripheral members of the Brodie set runs away to fight in the
Spanish Civil War and is killed, Sandy becomes aware that this may be a direct
consequence of Miss Brodie’s teachings on fascism, disastrously misunderstood by
her ill-fated pupil. Sandy decides to reveal the details of Miss Brodie's
fascist leanings and educational slant to the authorities. Miss Brodie is
dismissed from her post.
A few years later, Jean Brodie is a broken, though still defiant, figure
suffering from a terminal illness. She speculates endlessly as to which of her
girls 'betrayed' her, though she never suspects Sandy. The influence of Miss
Brodie ‘in her prime’ on the lives of her grown-up pupils is an enduring one. In
Sandy's case, it determines the course of her life.