Jean Brodie
Encyclopedia
Jean Brodie is a fictional character
in the Muriel Spark
novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; and in the play and film of the same name — both by Jay Presson Allen
— which were based on the novel, but radically depart from it in the interest of theatre and poetic licence.
Miss Brodie is a highly idealistic character with an exaggerated romantic
view of the world; many of her catchphrases have become cliché
s in the English language
.
The character takes her name from the historical Jean Brodie (aka Jean Watt), common law
wife or mistress of Willie Brodie — whom the fictional Miss Brodie claims as a direct ancestor; thus, she is the fictional namesake of the real Jean Brodie. The real Willie Brodie was indeed a cabinet-maker and fashioner of gibbets; he was a deacon of the Kirk o' Scotland; he did rob the Excise Office; and he was executed on a gibbet that he may indeed have designed himself.
Likewise, his fictional descendant — though much more human and likeable — may be described as ending up hoist by her own petard
. The story of William and Jean Watt Brodie was preserved for posterity in the play Deacon Brodie, or The Double Life — A Melodrama in Five Acts and Eight Tableaux by W.E. Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson. The played opened at the Prince's Theatre in London on 2 July 1884, with Mr. E. J. Henley as Deacon William Brodie and Miss Minnie Bell as Jean. Mr. Henley reprised his performance at Montreal on 26 September 1887, this time with Miss Carrie Coote in the role of Jean Watt/Brodie.
girls' school in 1930s Edinburgh
, Scotland
. She is a charismatic spinster
who appears to be out of place in her surroundings. In 1930, she declares that her prime has begun and sets out to make sure her class gets the full benefit of her Prime by making sure they are aware of drama, art and fascist beliefs. Out of her class she selects her favourite girls and attempts to mould them into the crème de la crème. In the novel, these are Sandy, Monica, Jenny, Eunice, Rose, and Mary MacGregor. There is also a tomboy, Joyce Emily, who attempts to force her way into the Brodie set, but she is summarily dismissed by Miss Brodie. Sandy eventually becomes a cloistered nun, Sister Helena; Mary MacGregor is killed in a hotel fire; and Joyce Emily enlists in the Spanish Civil War
, where she is killed.
The other teachers and the headmistress, Miss Mackay, bemoan the fact that Miss Brodie's "special girls" are different from the rest, displaying none of the team spirit the school tries to encourage. Years after Sandy and the others have moved on to the Senior School (where Miss Brodie does not teach) and into the world, Miss Mackay has an appointment with Sandy in which she bemoans the fact that "it's still going on" — that is, that Miss Brodie is training up another round of young girls who will come to think they are better than the other girls. Sandy then betrays Miss Brodie by telling Miss Mackay of her penchant for fascist political indoctrination (previously, Miss Mackay had tried and failed to get rid of Miss Brodie by catching her in some kind of sex scandal) — which, at a school like this one, will not be tolerated by the parents. She is easily gotten rid of, and suspects that it was Mary who betrayed her, even though it was Sandy.
In the novel, Miss Brodie dies of cancer
in 1946.
The play and film show marked departures from the novel. As adapted for stage and screen by Jay Presson Allen
, the story is told in a largely linear fashion. It begins in 1932, after Miss Brodie has returned from her summer holidays in Italy
, having realised her prime is upon her. The essentials of the character and the story are the same, though some characters are different and/or meet different ends. Mary MacGregor, for example, does not die in a hotel fire that happens years after graduation but she is killed while in her final year at Marcia Blaine (the name of the school), when she goes to join her brother who is fighting in the Spanish Civil War. She dies when the train in which she is travelling is blown up.
In the play we see a few scenes showing Sandy in later life as a nun
. In the film we do not know what becomes of Sandy or any of the other girls after graduation, because that is where it ends. Whereas in the book Miss Brodie is betrayed by Sandy after she and the girls have all left school and gone out into the world, the play and film put the betrayal before graduation, some weeks before the end of the school year in 1936. Sandy does it in reaction to the death of Mary MacGregor.
", and there are indeed many similarities between her and the Calvinist portrayal of God
. In the story, she selects a handful of girls from her class to become "her girls". The girls are not chosen for any particular reason but simply because they are "her favourites". This is strikingly similar to the Calvinist teaching of Unconditional election
which teaches God chooses His Elect to go to Heaven
, based on His own will
rather than any reflection of the person's character. Indeed, Miss Brodie attempts to transform these girls into the crème de la crème, again similar to the Calvinist teaching that the Elect will mould into God's image.
The most striking similarity however is the way Miss Brodie attempts to predestine
the lives of her girls and those around her. She is determined that one of her girls becomes the lover of the school's art master as her proxy and seeks to make this happen. Another incident involves her encouraging a girl in her class to run to Spain and fight for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, resulting in her death. This compares with the Calvinist teaching of Predestination, that God has already set out a path for everybody. One of her girls, Sandy Stranger notices this similarity saying:
She thinks she is Providence ... She thinks she is the God of Calvin, the beginning and the End.
Ultimately, Miss Brodie's attempts to be the Calvinist God drive Sandy to the Roman Catholic Church
. This is similar to Muriel Spark's own experience of converting to Roman Catholicism after growing up in Calvinist dominated Edinburgh
.
In the climactic
scene of the film, Miss Brodie confronts Sandy and is pointedly told that she is "not good for people, and children should not be exposed to" her. Realising she has no hope of appealing her dismissal from Marcia Blaine (the name of the school), Miss Brodie can do nothing but call the words after Sandy as she walks away, "Assassin! ASSASSIN!!!" The film closes poignantly with a shot of Sandy tearfully walking along after graduation, as we hear a voice-over of Miss Brodie saying, "Little girls, I am in the business of putting old heads on young shoulders, and all my pupils are the creme de la creme. Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life!"
was gaining popularity in Europe, she openly admires Benito Mussolini
and praises him to her class. She frequently tours Italy returning inspired by what she sees as Utopia
. When Adolf Hitler
becomes Chancellor of Germany, she changes her holiday destination to Berlin, believing Hitler's brownshirts to be more organised than Mussolini's blackshirts. When Sandy meets her for tea in the Braid Hills Hotel in 1946, Miss Brodie concedes that "Hitler was rather naughty". Her advocation for fascism is put into direct action when she persuades a troublesome girl to fight for Francisco Franco
, which leads to tragedy.
series by Alexander McCall Smith
, taking place in contemporary Edinburgh, is compared to Jean Brodie by another character in the book itself (though sharing none of Brodie's attraction to fascism) and the comparison was taken up by critics. McCall Smith also cites the book as one of his favourite humorous books.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; and in the play and film of the same name — both by Jay Presson Allen
Jay Presson Allen
Jay Presson Allen was an American screenwriter, playwright, stage director, television producer and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes-off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession...
— which were based on the novel, but radically depart from it in the interest of theatre and poetic licence.
Miss Brodie is a highly idealistic character with an exaggerated romantic
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
view of the world; many of her catchphrases have become cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
The character takes her name from the historical Jean Brodie (aka Jean Watt), common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
wife or mistress of Willie Brodie — whom the fictional Miss Brodie claims as a direct ancestor; thus, she is the fictional namesake of the real Jean Brodie. The real Willie Brodie was indeed a cabinet-maker and fashioner of gibbets; he was a deacon of the Kirk o' Scotland; he did rob the Excise Office; and he was executed on a gibbet that he may indeed have designed himself.
Likewise, his fictional descendant — though much more human and likeable — may be described as ending up hoist by her own petard
Petard
A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications. The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century...
. The story of William and Jean Watt Brodie was preserved for posterity in the play Deacon Brodie, or The Double Life — A Melodrama in Five Acts and Eight Tableaux by W.E. Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson. The played opened at the Prince's Theatre in London on 2 July 1884, with Mr. E. J. Henley as Deacon William Brodie and Miss Minnie Bell as Jean. Mr. Henley reprised his performance at Montreal on 26 September 1887, this time with Miss Carrie Coote in the role of Jean Watt/Brodie.
Character
In the novel, Miss Jean Brodie is a school teacher at a conservativeSocial conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
girls' school in 1930s Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. She is a charismatic spinster
Spinster
A spinster, or old maid, is an older, childless woman who has never been married.For a woman to be identified as a spinster, age is critical...
who appears to be out of place in her surroundings. In 1930, she declares that her prime has begun and sets out to make sure her class gets the full benefit of her Prime by making sure they are aware of drama, art and fascist beliefs. Out of her class she selects her favourite girls and attempts to mould them into the crème de la crème. In the novel, these are Sandy, Monica, Jenny, Eunice, Rose, and Mary MacGregor. There is also a tomboy, Joyce Emily, who attempts to force her way into the Brodie set, but she is summarily dismissed by Miss Brodie. Sandy eventually becomes a cloistered nun, Sister Helena; Mary MacGregor is killed in a hotel fire; and Joyce Emily enlists in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, where she is killed.
The other teachers and the headmistress, Miss Mackay, bemoan the fact that Miss Brodie's "special girls" are different from the rest, displaying none of the team spirit the school tries to encourage. Years after Sandy and the others have moved on to the Senior School (where Miss Brodie does not teach) and into the world, Miss Mackay has an appointment with Sandy in which she bemoans the fact that "it's still going on" — that is, that Miss Brodie is training up another round of young girls who will come to think they are better than the other girls. Sandy then betrays Miss Brodie by telling Miss Mackay of her penchant for fascist political indoctrination (previously, Miss Mackay had tried and failed to get rid of Miss Brodie by catching her in some kind of sex scandal) — which, at a school like this one, will not be tolerated by the parents. She is easily gotten rid of, and suspects that it was Mary who betrayed her, even though it was Sandy.
In the novel, Miss Brodie dies of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1946.
The play and film show marked departures from the novel. As adapted for stage and screen by Jay Presson Allen
Jay Presson Allen
Jay Presson Allen was an American screenwriter, playwright, stage director, television producer and novelist. Known for her withering wit and sometimes-off-color wisecracks, she was one of the few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession...
, the story is told in a largely linear fashion. It begins in 1932, after Miss Brodie has returned from her summer holidays in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, having realised her prime is upon her. The essentials of the character and the story are the same, though some characters are different and/or meet different ends. Mary MacGregor, for example, does not die in a hotel fire that happens years after graduation but she is killed while in her final year at Marcia Blaine (the name of the school), when she goes to join her brother who is fighting in the Spanish Civil War. She dies when the train in which she is travelling is blown up.
In the play we see a few scenes showing Sandy in later life as a nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
. In the film we do not know what becomes of Sandy or any of the other girls after graduation, because that is where it ends. Whereas in the book Miss Brodie is betrayed by Sandy after she and the girls have all left school and gone out into the world, the play and film put the betrayal before graduation, some weeks before the end of the school year in 1936. Sandy does it in reaction to the death of Mary MacGregor.
Calvinism
Most literary critics agree that Miss Brodie was written as a representation of "the God of CalvinJohn Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
", and there are indeed many similarities between her and the Calvinist portrayal of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. In the story, she selects a handful of girls from her class to become "her girls". The girls are not chosen for any particular reason but simply because they are "her favourites". This is strikingly similar to the Calvinist teaching of Unconditional election
Unconditional election
Unconditional election is the Calvinist teaching that before God created the world, he chose to save some people according to his own purposes and apart from any conditions related to those persons...
which teaches God chooses His Elect to go to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, based on His own will
Will (philosophy)
Will, in philosophical discussions, consonant with a common English usage, refers to a property of the mind, and an attribute of acts intentionally performed. Actions made according to a person's will are called "willing" or "voluntary" and sometimes pejoratively "willful"...
rather than any reflection of the person's character. Indeed, Miss Brodie attempts to transform these girls into the crème de la crème, again similar to the Calvinist teaching that the Elect will mould into God's image.
The most striking similarity however is the way Miss Brodie attempts to predestine
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
the lives of her girls and those around her. She is determined that one of her girls becomes the lover of the school's art master as her proxy and seeks to make this happen. Another incident involves her encouraging a girl in her class to run to Spain and fight for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, resulting in her death. This compares with the Calvinist teaching of Predestination, that God has already set out a path for everybody. One of her girls, Sandy Stranger notices this similarity saying:
She thinks she is Providence ... She thinks she is the God of Calvin, the beginning and the End.
Ultimately, Miss Brodie's attempts to be the Calvinist God drive Sandy to the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. This is similar to Muriel Spark's own experience of converting to Roman Catholicism after growing up in Calvinist dominated Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
In the climactic
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
scene of the film, Miss Brodie confronts Sandy and is pointedly told that she is "not good for people, and children should not be exposed to" her. Realising she has no hope of appealing her dismissal from Marcia Blaine (the name of the school), Miss Brodie can do nothing but call the words after Sandy as she walks away, "Assassin! ASSASSIN!!!" The film closes poignantly with a shot of Sandy tearfully walking along after graduation, as we hear a voice-over of Miss Brodie saying, "Little girls, I am in the business of putting old heads on young shoulders, and all my pupils are the creme de la creme. Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life!"
Fascism
Miss Brodie is described as a "born fascist" by one of her girls. An active teacher while fascismFascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
was gaining popularity in Europe, she openly admires Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
and praises him to her class. She frequently tours Italy returning inspired by what she sees as Utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
. When Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
becomes Chancellor of Germany, she changes her holiday destination to Berlin, believing Hitler's brownshirts to be more organised than Mussolini's blackshirts. When Sandy meets her for tea in the Braid Hills Hotel in 1946, Miss Brodie concedes that "Hitler was rather naughty". Her advocation for fascism is put into direct action when she persuades a troublesome girl to fight for Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
, which leads to tragedy.
Reference in later works
The character Domenica Macdonald in the 44 Scotland Street44 Scotland Street
44 Scotland Street is an episodic novel by Alexander McCall Smith, the author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The story was first published as a serial in The Scotsman, starting 26 January 2004, every weekday, for six months. The book retains the 100+ short chapters of the original...
series by Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
, taking place in contemporary Edinburgh, is compared to Jean Brodie by another character in the book itself (though sharing none of Brodie's attraction to fascism) and the comparison was taken up by critics. McCall Smith also cites the book as one of his favourite humorous books.