Book Review: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
A good teacher is one who encourages his(er) pupils to think freely, let them be on their own and yet have the power to admonish and correct them when they stray away from the right path. To a group of six girls, Miss Jean Brodie was all that and even more. After losing her fiancé in World War I, Miss Brodie decides upon herself to educate the girls in Edinburgh. However what puts her apart from the rest of the teachers is that she is unconventional and daring; her methods of teaching are 'progressive' and she doesn't believe in a curriculum based education which constantly puts her at loggerheads with the school's headmistress.
She takes her 'Brodie set' (the aforementioned gang of six girls) to various art galleries, museums and imparts them worldly knowledge from her first-hand life experiences. The girls too have their unflinching devotion and admiration for their teacher, who begins to trust them to the point of telling about her love affairs and other problems at school.
Even years after they graduate to senior school, the girls continue to remain her favourites and Miss Brodie in return demands their unswerving loyalty. But one member of the group betrays her. Set in Edinburgh during the 1930's, TPoMJB takes a fascinating look at student-teacher relationships and brilliantly exposes the power a teacher can wield over her students. Miss Brodie is portrayed as a powerful woman who believes being normal is a crime and expects nothing but the same from her 'set'.
At first she appears to be a wonderful teacher; she freely discusses mature and sensitive topics, like sex and the rise of Fascism in Europe for instance, with the girls, but by the end you get to see her real disturbing and manipulative side which she uses to influence and exert control over them and her lovers. While the rest of the girls in the 'set' blindly follow Miss Brodie's orders, Sandy begins to understand her teacher's real intentions and defiantly tries to get away from her. She ultimately betrays her by informing the school authorities of her fascist mentality, and the fact that she was a fan of Mussolini and Hitler was enough to get her fired from the job.
The prose is masterfully written with multiple sub-plots concerning their past, present and future commingled seamlessly into the narrative. The characterizations are needless to say nothing short of spellbinding; Miss Brodie's personality gets a dramatic turnaround as she tries to force her wonts and habits upon the children she taught. Sandy as the girl with 'insight' is equally fantastic and so are the rest of the characters. Intellectually stimulating and entertaining, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a pièce de résistance from Muriel Spark.
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| A student-teacher relationship |
Even years after they graduate to senior school, the girls continue to remain her favourites and Miss Brodie in return demands their unswerving loyalty. But one member of the group betrays her. Set in Edinburgh during the 1930's, TPoMJB takes a fascinating look at student-teacher relationships and brilliantly exposes the power a teacher can wield over her students. Miss Brodie is portrayed as a powerful woman who believes being normal is a crime and expects nothing but the same from her 'set'.
At first she appears to be a wonderful teacher; she freely discusses mature and sensitive topics, like sex and the rise of Fascism in Europe for instance, with the girls, but by the end you get to see her real disturbing and manipulative side which she uses to influence and exert control over them and her lovers. While the rest of the girls in the 'set' blindly follow Miss Brodie's orders, Sandy begins to understand her teacher's real intentions and defiantly tries to get away from her. She ultimately betrays her by informing the school authorities of her fascist mentality, and the fact that she was a fan of Mussolini and Hitler was enough to get her fired from the job.
The prose is masterfully written with multiple sub-plots concerning their past, present and future commingled seamlessly into the narrative. The characterizations are needless to say nothing short of spellbinding; Miss Brodie's personality gets a dramatic turnaround as she tries to force her wonts and habits upon the children she taught. Sandy as the girl with 'insight' is equally fantastic and so are the rest of the characters. Intellectually stimulating and entertaining, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a pièce de résistance from Muriel Spark.
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