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louhare 's review for:
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
by Muriel Spark
I picked this up on the spur of the moment having always meant to read it and never getting around to it. Also, at only 126 pages it's a quick read compared to most books! Everyone I know who's ever read this book raves about how good it is and I cannot disagree.
This is the tale of a woman who is, in her own words, in her prime. An unmarried woman in her thirties whose fiancé fell at Flander’s Field, she carries out two love affairs with male teachers at the school, in the full knowledge of her girls (and, later, the school authorities). She is ahead of her time, though she operates within strict moral guidelines of her own making. Her actions at times are quite shocking, even by today’s standards. For a teacher to take a group of students to the houses of her lovers is unorthodox to say the least, and would lead to the dismissal of any teacher if discovered. To then actively encourage a love affair between a man whom she has renounced (since he is married and she will not break her own code of conduct) and one of her girls is rather odd, but in character for this progressive woman. At this time it was still expected that a married woman should not work. Jean Brodie’s entire identity seems tied up with the compulsion to teach her girls, no matter what it takes, and it is seemingly for this reason that she rejects marriage.
Although this book is set very firmly in 1930s Edinburgh, it is not difficult to imagine the bold and unconventional Miss Brodie still creating a stir today. She is most definitely an iconic figure, and this book worthy of all its accolades.
This is the tale of a woman who is, in her own words, in her prime. An unmarried woman in her thirties whose fiancé fell at Flander’s Field, she carries out two love affairs with male teachers at the school, in the full knowledge of her girls (and, later, the school authorities). She is ahead of her time, though she operates within strict moral guidelines of her own making. Her actions at times are quite shocking, even by today’s standards. For a teacher to take a group of students to the houses of her lovers is unorthodox to say the least, and would lead to the dismissal of any teacher if discovered. To then actively encourage a love affair between a man whom she has renounced (since he is married and she will not break her own code of conduct) and one of her girls is rather odd, but in character for this progressive woman. At this time it was still expected that a married woman should not work. Jean Brodie’s entire identity seems tied up with the compulsion to teach her girls, no matter what it takes, and it is seemingly for this reason that she rejects marriage.
Although this book is set very firmly in 1930s Edinburgh, it is not difficult to imagine the bold and unconventional Miss Brodie still creating a stir today. She is most definitely an iconic figure, and this book worthy of all its accolades.