the prime of miss jean brodie book review

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.

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

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. 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. 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.

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. Considered a modern classic and having been adapted for both television and film, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a short novel written by Muriel Spark published in 1961.

The prime of miss jean brodie book review