Alan Veale
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Acting Dangerously?In 1961, Muriel Spark published a new novel about an unorthodox teacher whose influence on the girls in her charge was considered to be “dangerous”. “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” was an instant best-seller, and has deservedly found its place in British fiction as a “classic”. For those who are not familiar with its content, I will give you a brief taster:
The setting is a girls’ school in Edinburgh in the 1930’s. Like many women at that time, suffering from the loss of so many young men through the Great War, Jean Brodie is a spinster who is forging a teaching career in a brave new world. It is a world where those looking for new ideals only have to look to Europe where Hitler, Franco and Mussolini are all establishing themselves as political leaders, and drawing huge followings. Brodie develops a passion for such ideals, encouraging her pupils to take an interest in subjects “outside the accepted curriculum”, and to forsake the merits of team spirit. The oft-quoted line “Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life” has considerable implications when viewed in the context of Brodie’s political leanings.
The book illustrates what happens to six girls over a period of several years under Jean Brodie’s influence, and of the confrontations that ultimately ensure her downfall. This account of a “dangerous” female teacher, passionately following her beliefs against the tide of normality, has similar overtones to the situation at Marton Primary School. In the book, Brodie is depicted as a woman who is undoubtedly a strong personality, with an ability to “bewitch” at least two of her (male) colleagues into protecting her own ethics. She survives every situation in which her authority is challenged – until one of her own girls ultimately betrays her.
Muriel Spark’s book is a fictional story, laced with a balance of delightful humour and passionate intrigue, but it is more than entertainment. “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” serves to remind us just how easy it is to find whole groups of people captivated by the oratory and personalities of powerful leaders. Where those leaders hold positions of power, the dangers of their influence have been demonstrated throughout history – most recently in the two World Wars. In the book we see how one teacher demonstrates the same effect, and one can imagine how much stronger that effect would be if that teacher became (say) a head teacher…
If you wish to sample Ms Sparks story first hand, then you have an opportunity to do so: At the time of writing I am pursuing my other “hobby” in amateur theatre, and acting in the Fylde Coast Players latest production “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” – adapted from Muriel Spark’s book by Jay Presson Allen. The play is being presented at the Lowther Pavilion Theatre in Lytham from Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 October at 7.30pm. Rather ironically, I play one of the teachers under Miss Brodie’s spell!
Alan Veale
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