Fascism in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

“The word „education. comes from the root e from ex, out, and duco, I lead. It means a

leading out. To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil.s soul” (36).

Miss Jean Brodie, the eccentric teacher at Marcia Blaine.s School for Girls, tells the

headmistress of the school that this is her method of teaching. But would others, who are more

rational, see Miss Brodie.s teaching methods as such or would they see those methods as her

projecting her own ideas and beliefs onto impressionable children? It would seem to most that

Brodie is fascinated and inspired by the fascist movement and has, in her fascination, created her

very own fascisti to control and manipulate anyway she sees fit.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie introduces to readers six, ten year old girls who were

formed into an “elite” group, later known throughout the Marcia Blaine School for Girls as the

“Brodie set.” This set of girls was hand chosen by the infamously unconventional teacher, Miss

Jean Brodie, when the girls came under her teaching supervision. The group consisted of Sandy

Stranger, Jenny Gray, Eunice Gardner, Monica Douglas, Mary MacGregor, and Rose Stanley. It

seems that Miss Brodie did not choose these girls because of any particular ability they

possessed, but rather what she, herself, would be able to use them for. Miss Brodie tries to play

God and orchestrates the girls. lives and forces them to conform to her narrative. For example,

Miss Brodie insists that Rose Stanley.s sex-instinct will determine her future: “When you are

seventeen or eighteen…you will come to the moment of your great fulfillment” (38). When this

prophecy is first announced by Miss Brodie, Rose is only eleven years...

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... by Sandy Stranger. As Sandy states in a letter to Miss Brodie “If you did not

betray us it is impossible that you could have been betrayed by us…” (136). Miss Brodie.s

abuse of her power and knowledge wreaked havoc on many of the girls lives. It is in this way

that Miss Brodie betrayed the loyalty instilled to her by the girls and it is the reason why at the

end she was betrayed.

Works Cited

Gottlieb, Julie. Feminine Fascism: Women in Britain’s Fascist Movement: 1923-1945.

London: I. B. Tauris, 2000.

Spark, Muriel. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.

Suh, Judy. “The Familiar Attractions of Fascism in Muriel Spark.s The Prime of Miss

Jean Brodie.” Journal of Modern Literature. 30. (2007): 86-102.