Inclined to think of herself as European, Miss Brodie praises fascism, her very taste for it a sign of her cultivation. In the pre– World War II days, autocratic, orderly, and foolish Miss Brodie is infatuated with Mussolini and Hitler. Indeed, it is in putting this 1930s story in personal and historical perspective that some of its darker meaning emerges. Miss Brodie is memorable for these students, recalled in their later lives, as repeated flash-forwards reveal. She colludes with her students regarding her status in the school and trouble she has with the headmistress. Miss Brodie sabotages school curriculum as she grandstands her own passions, both personal and academic. Miss Brodie’s six students, known collectively as “the Brodie set,” move through the grades. In her 1961 novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark brings to life an eccentric, egocentric, and charming teacher in a private Edinburgh school during the 1930s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |