Living in the largely secular 21st century, it’s easy to forget the role religion played in people’s lives. Muriel Spark was a recent convert to Catholicism when she wrote The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and it’s presence is felt throughout this novel. The Jesuit’s said “Give me the child until the age of seven and I will give you the man”. Jean Brodie said “Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life.”
It is hard now to imagine a teacher having such easy access to students out of the usual school hours, and to be able to influence them as much as Miss Brodie does. However, this novel is set in the 1930s, and written in 1961 before any thought of children protection.
In the light of recent revelations about teachers and pupils, this is a disturbing read. Miss Brodie’s influence on these impressionable, naive girls could be seen as predatory. However it is more manipulative than sinister. By using forward-flashes, Spark shows us that Jean Brodie is a truly tragic figure, and “her girls” a way for her to create some meaning in a lonely life. We never hear Jean Brodie’s thoughts. It is only through the girls’ eyes and their interpretation, do we know anything about her.
Times, and teaching methods, may be very different now, but one thing that hasn’t changed is how girls interact: the whispering, gossiping, backbiting and wondering about sex. For all our modern ways, girls will be girls.
This novel is a mere 128 pages, and yet carries more weight and meaning than many larger ‘literary’ tomes. It is a novel to revisit and savour for its beautiful structure and economy of words.
It is a classic.