CLASSIC TUTORIALS

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The Prime of Miss Jean

Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a short novel written by Muriel
Spark published in 1961. It tells the story of the charismatic
Scottish school teacher Miss Jean Brodie and her influence on the
lives of six impressionable students at the Marcia Blaine School for
Girls in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the 1930s.
The story opens in 1936 as Miss Brodie comes upon The Brodie Set,
the name given to the group of students the teacher selected six
years ago from the junior class to become “the créme de la créme,”
the best of the best, through lessons often having little to do with
academics. Supremely confident in her views of the world, Miss
Brodie expands their ideas and knowledge while also manipulating
their growing perceptions to remain as much in alignment with
her own as possible. Still, it’s known Brodie’s girls are the brightest
in the school, and now, at sixteen and in their fourth form, they
still remain under her influence despite no longer being in her
classroom. As she states, “Give me a girl at an impressionable age,
and she is mine for life.”

The narrative continually moves forward and back through time to

explore events, people, and relationships that will shape not only
the girls’ futures, but Miss Brodie’s as well. The narrative voice is
not only omniscient, but timeless, often revealing the future fate
of a girl while narrating her experience as a child. In this manner,
the majority of the plot is revealed early, although one central
mystery is left in place. In one flash-forward we learn that one of
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the girls will eventually betray their teacher, but the who isn’t
revealed until later.

The story dips back to 1930 when the girls—Monica Douglas,

famous for her mathematics and temper; Sandy Stranger, a small-
eyed girl famous for her English pronunciation and who will
become Brodie’s most trusted confidante; Rose Stanley, who will
undeservedly become famous for sex; Jenny Gray, Sandy’s best
friend who is known for her beauty; Eunice Gardiner, famous for
her gymnastics; and Mary Macgregor, the dim-witted scapegoat of
the group—are 10 years old and just entering junior school with
Miss Brodie. The teacher is already considered too progressive in
her methods by the majority of the faculty, including the
headmistress, Miss Mackay, who tries throughout the story to
gather evidence of misconduct to remove Brodie from her
position. Brodie’s instruction often focuses on controversial
concepts of art, politics, religion and interpersonal relationships,
all being influenced by her personal views on these subjects. An
early lesson with the girls includes sharing a story of the time she
was engaged to her lover, Hugh, who died on Flanders Field during
World War I. It is her hubris in her views and teachings that will
eventually be her downfall.

During the course of the story two prominent characters—the

singing instructor, Gordon Lowther and the art master, Teddy
Lloyd—form a love-triangle with Miss Brodie, who is, as she
constantly tells her girls, “in her prime.” Both men love her, but
Brodie truly only holds affection for Lloyd, although expression of
her feelings never moves beyond a single kiss, due to Lloyd being
married. Believing the singing instructor to be a more appropriate
romantic interest, Miss Brodie begins an affair with Lowther
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during two weeks away from school. However, over the course of
the story Brodie neglects the relationship and Lowther later
marries the school’s chemistry teacher, Miss Lockhart.

A bit obsessed with romantic, and usually inaccurate, concepts of

love and sex, the girls often engage in wild speculation on Miss
Brodie’s experiences in these areas, especially Sandy and Jenny.
Sandy goes so far as to imagine her teacher having sex and
imagining herself a policewoman looking for evidence of a
relationship between Brodie and Lowther, on a mission to “stop
sex” completely.

By the age of twelve, the girls graduate from Brodie’s care into the
Senior School, and the headmistress does her best to break the
girls up and remove them from Brodie’s influence. However, the
connection between the girls remains solid despite having little in
common. Although no longer their instructor, Brodie still invites
the girls into her personal world, continuing to mold and influence
their lives. By the time they are around sixteen, Brodie decides to
make Sandy her most trusted confidante, deciding that she is the
most trustworthy.

Eventually a new girl, Joyce Emily Hammond, tries to enter the

group. Although rejected by the girls, Brodie takes her under her
wing. At one point, Brodie encourages Joyce Emily to run off to
fight in the Spanish Civil War. Later she will do so, only to be killed.
This incident will play a part in Brodie’s eventual betrayal.

As the girls enter their late teens, prepare to graduate, and head
their separate ways, Brodie sets on the idea of Jenny, who often
models for Lloyd, having an affair with the artist in order to enjoy

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the relationship vicariously. When it’s clear Jenny isn’t interested

in Lloyd, Sandy enters into the affair instead. She eventually loses
interest in him as a lover, but grows interested in his love of Miss
Brodie. She also becomes interested in his Roman Catholic beliefs,
and we learn Sandy will eventually become a nun. However, before
doing so, having been disturbed by Brodie’s part in the death of
Joyce Emily and perhaps growing resentful of her old teacher’s
controlling influence, Sandy gives the headmistress the
ammunition she needs against Brodie by revealing her teachings
on fascism. Miss Brodie only begins to suspect it was her most
trusted student that betrayed her as she lays on her death bed
several years later. Despite this, later, while a nun, Sandy is asked
about her greatest influence. She says: “There was a Miss Jean
Brodie in her prime.”

Main characters
Jean Brodie
"She thinks she is Providence, thought Sandy, she thinks she is
the God of Calvin." In some ways she is: in her prime she draws
her chosen few to herself, much as Calvinists understand God to
draw the elect to their salvation. With regard to religion, Miss
Brodie "was not in any doubt, she let everyone know she was in no
doubt, that God was on her side whatever her course, and so she
experienced no difficulty or sense of hypocrisy in worship while at
the same time she went to bed with the singing master." Feeling
herself fated one way or another, Brodie acts as if she transcends
morality.
Sandy Stranger
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Of the set, "Miss Brodie fixed on Sandy," taking her as her

special confidante. She is characterised as having "small,
almost nonexistent, eyes" and a peering gaze. Miss Brodie
repeatedly reminds Sandy that she has insight but no instinct.
Sandy rejects Calvinism, reacting against its
rigid predestination in favour of Roman Catholicism.

Rose Stanley
In contrast to Sandy, Rose is an attractive blonde with
(according to Miss Brodie) instinct but no insight. Though
somewhat undeservedly, Rose is "famous for sex", and the
art teacher Mr. Lloyd asks her to model for his paintings: it
rapidly becomes clear that he has no sexual interest in her
and uses her simply because she is a good model. In every
painting, Rose has the likeness of Brodie, whom Mr. Lloyd
stubbornly loves. Rose and Sandy are the two girls in whom
Miss Brodie places the most hope of becoming the crème de
la crème. Again unlike Sandy, Rose "shook off Miss Brodie's
influence as a dog shakes pond-water from its coat."
Mary Macgregor
Dim-witted and slow, Mary is Brodie's scapegoat. Mary
meekly bears the blame for everything that goes wrong. At
the age of 23 she dies in a hotel fire, killed running back
and forth through the hotel, unable to escape.
Supporting characters

 Monica Douglas – one of the set; famous for

mathematics and her anger

 Jenny Gray – one of the set; famous for her beauty

 Eunice Gardiner – one of the set; famous for her
gymnastics and glorious swimming


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 Teddy Lloyd – the art master


 Gordon Lowther – the singing master
 Miss Mackay – the headmistress

 Miss Alison Kerr – the sewing mistress of Marcia Blaine
with her sister Ellen

 Miss Ellen Kerr – Miss Alison's elder sister

 Miss Gaunt – a school mistress and a sister to the
minister of Cramond

 Miss Lockhart – a chemistry teacher, the nicest teacher
in Marcia Blaine

 Joyce Emily Hammond – a girl who was sent to Marcia
Blaine. She died in the Spanish Civil War

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