wonders which of them it was, but she does not learn the answer before she dies of cancer.

Sandy’s betrayal of Miss Brodie is mentioned fairly early in the novel; she feels that Miss Brodie’s influence is too strong and that she must be stopped, yet at the end of the story, it is perhaps she who has been most influenced by Miss Brodie. She has joined an enclosed order, become Sister Helena, and has written a surprisingly popular psychological treatise, The Transformation of the Commonplace. When visitors to her convent ask about the influences in her life, expecting her to name famous writers and thinkers, she is forced to admit the powerful effect that Miss Brodie had on her.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie powerfully evokes a women’s world. All the major characters are female, and their views and voices dominate the text. The Marcia Blaine School is a female universe and functions as a microcosm in which women play almost all the roles. This novel was one of the first to portray sophisticated girls unsentimentally. The Brodie set members are not the “sugar and spice” young women of stereotype.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie also functions as a study of female social patterns. The girls’ school setting provides a comparison with the many works that focus on the interactions of boys and men in schools and other closed groups.

Because the story is so woman-oriented, the male characters almost become objects. Certainly, the passive Mr. Lowther, who allows Miss Brodie to control his kitchen and his bedroom, seems more acted upon than active. Even Mr. Lloyd is under the power of women: All the portraits he paints resemble Miss Brodie because he is obsessed with her, and Sandy is able to make him kiss her simply by manipulating the way she looks at him. This female-male pattern is unusual in literature.

More subtle woman-related issues involve Miss Brodie’s role as a spinster. She never reproduces herself literally. It may be that she is trying to reproduce herself through her girls. Perhaps Miss Brodie’s power becomes warped because her position as a junior school teacher only allows her to exercise that power in a limited arena. If this aging, unmarried woman had possessed more options for power in her life, perhaps her need to control would not appear so manipulative.

Spark’s novel was received enthusiastically, and it remains her most popular work. Film and stage adaptations have proved to be extremely popular; Maggie Smith won an Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of Miss Brodie. The concept of a Miss Brodie—a controlling but inspiring teacher—has even entered popular discourse as a sort of cultural archetype.

The Great Depression

During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, the world experienced a severe economic depression. Prices soared, currencies devalued, and millions became unemployed. The crash of the New York Stock Market in late 1929 heralded financial disaster for investors. Post-World War I Germany faced immense difficulty repaying its war debt, leading to unemployment rates nearing 40 percent. The United Kingdom was less severely affected, having already implemented government assistance to combat rising unemployment during the 1920s. In The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miss Brodie guides her students through Edinburgh's Old Town, where the streets are filled with jobless men, whose resentment is palpable towards the privileged schoolgirls and their haughty teacher.

The Rise of Fascism

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) rose to power in Italy in 1922 amidst economic turmoil and the prevailing sentiment that Italy had won World War I but lost the peace. In the late 1920s, the fascist regime intervened to rescue industries and boost employment. Over time, Mussolini consolidated more power within his government. Initially reluctant to support Hitler's rise in Germany, by late 1936, cooperation between Italy and Germany began to take shape.

The Rise of National Socialism (Nazism)

Facing economic despair, humiliated by World War I's outcome, and seeking simple solutions, many Germans were drawn to Adolf Hitler's (1889–1945) fiery speeches blaming Jews and Communists for the depression. Defying the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade Germany from rearming, Hitler vowed to rebuild Germany's strength through military might. The National Socialist Party, led by Hitler, gained power in the early 1930s. By 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor, and shortly thereafter, he dismantled the government that elected him, becoming an absolute dictator. Nazism exalted the so-called Aryan race while oppressing Jews and other marginalized groups. Germany's resurgence was built on the extermination of European Jewry and the total domination of other European nations. With Mussolini's backing, Hitler annexed Austria in 1938. World War II began when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, prompting France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany.

Repetition

The characterization of the Brodie set is partially achieved through the repetition of the girls' well-known traits. For instance, Rose is “famous for sex,” Sandy Stranger is “notorious for her small, almost nonexistent, eyes,” and Mary Macgregor is recognized for “being a silent lump, a nobody whom everybody could blame.” When these characters reappear in the text, their famous traits are reiterated, serving as tags or codes for identification. This pattern adds a humorous touch but also reduces the characters to two-dimensional figures, much like those in comic strips.

As the narrative progresses, these traits gain deeper significance. Rose may be famous for sex, but she does not become sexually involved with Mr. Lloyd as Miss Brodie expects. Sandy may have almost nonexistent eyes, but she possesses enough insight to understand the dynamics between Miss Brodie and Mr. Lloyd, recognizing evidence of it in Mr. Lloyd’s paintings. Mary, although often seen as a lump and victimized, is still a human being, and her humanity is highlighted by the description of her silent death. The image of her running back and forth in the hotel hallway, trapped in the fire and choked by smoke, evokes compassion and undermines the comedy at her expense.

Treatment of Time

The story is narrated chronologically, covering the period from the fall of 1930 to the summer of 1939. However, at certain points, the narrative abruptly jumps into the distant future, revealing crucial information that, in a more traditional story structure, would be disclosed only when it happens in chronological order. This technique allows the present of the novel to be contrasted with the future, offering a new perspective and reinterpretation through the lens of retrospect.

One example of this technique is found in passages that show the students’ later assessments of Miss Brodie. Mary Macgregor, at twenty-three and recently dumped by a boyfriend, looks back on her school years as her happiest time. Eunice tells her husband of twenty years that she plans to lay flowers on Miss Brodie’s grave upon their return to Edinburgh because Miss Brodie was “full of culture.” Sandy, who betrays Miss Brodie, leading to her forced resignation, later admits that her career in psychology and success as an author were influenced by the impression Miss Brodie left on her.

1930s–1940s: By 1933, Germany enacts its own compulsory sterilization law targeting "defectives," while the United States leads the world in the mandatory sterilization of institutionalized individuals. In the U.S., around 30,000 people are sterilized, all within institutions. During the 1930s in Germany, about 300,000 individuals are sterilized in an effort to prevent traits such as low IQ, poverty, sexual promiscuity, and criminality from being passed to the next generation.

Today: Individuals with genetic conditions like Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease might opt not to have children to avoid transmitting these inheritable traits. However, in most cases, the state considers this decision to be a personal one.

1930s–1940s: The eugenics movement in Europe and the United States proposes that many human afflictions can be eradicated. The Nuremberg Trials expose the Nazi atrocities committed under the guise of eugenics research and reveal how sterilization escalated to euthanasia during Hitler’s pursuit of the Final Solution.

Today: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and cloning present both advantages and risks to food production in the U.S. and worldwide. Stem cell research remains a contentious issue, and as of 1999, cultivating human embryos for stem cell use is illegal in the United States.

1930s–1940s: In 1944, Raphael Lemkin publishes Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, documenting mass extermination and coining the term genocide. One definition of genocide includes the attempt to eliminate ethnic or cultural identity through mass murder. The Third Reich systematically exterminates at least 5.6 million European Jews, along with millions of other "undesirables" during World War II.

Today: Organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Genocide Watch strive to expand the definition of genocide to encompass events such as the mass murder of civilians by Stalin. These groups also advocate for an international tribunal to prosecute those accused of crimes against humanity. In 1994, genocide occurs in Rwanda when extremist Hutus kill between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people, primarily targeting the Tutsi ethnic group.

Adapted from the novel and written as a screenplay by Jay Presson, the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, featuring Maggie Smith in the main role, was released in 1968. In 1988, the novel became available on audiocassette, and the film was re-released on VHS in the 1990s.

Sources

Hicks, Granville, “Treachery and the Teacher,” in Saturday Review, January 20, 1962, p. 18.

Hynes, Samuel, Review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in Commonweal, February 23, 1962, p. 567.

Review of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in Library Journal, January 1, 1962, p. 114.

Spark, Muriel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, HarperCollins, 1999.

Further Reading

Bottner, Barbara, Let Me Tell You Everything, Harper Collins, 1989.

The protagonist, Brogan, is an intelligent high school student with feminist beliefs who develops a crush on her social studies teacher. She navigates the impending divorce of her parents, and her journey through teenage angst is both amusing and insightful.

Drabble, Margaret, The Radiant Way, Knopf, 1987.

The novel's ironic title is derived from a children's primer that portrays life as serene and harmonious, contrasting with the experiences of Cambridge University friends from the 1950s who reunite in London in the 1980s.

Newman, John Henry, Apologia pro Vita Sua, edited by Ian Ker, Penguin Books, 1994; new edition of the work originally published by Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1864.

Newman chronicles his spiritual development from youth to adulthood. Once an Anglican, Newman converted to Catholicism in 1845, an event he explores in this work.

Spark, Muriel, Curriculum Vitae: An Autobiography, Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

Spark acknowledges the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman as influential in her conversion to Catholicism, a theme that significantly impacts her fiction.