Analysis of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodice by Muriel Spark “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a novel about a teacher’s dedication to her pupils. It is also about loyalty and betrayal.” The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a novel about a teacher’s dedication to her pupils. It is also about loyalty and betrayal. The novel emphasises the effects of dedication, loyalty and betrayal within a small group of people and the way in which they are all intertwined. It forces the reader to look at particular aspects of these themes. When has dedication gone too far? To what extent is loyalty due to another? Can betrayal be justified? These themes are joined when a teacher’s dedication becomes interference in her student’s life forcing that student to retract her loyalty and put a stop to the situation, an action branded by the teacher as “betrayal”. The most obvious theme in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is that dedication to the young has a definite limit, it should stop at guidance. It becomes evil when it is extended to domination of their and direction of their lives. Miss Brodie is very protective of her class of 1931, she feels the are the ‘crème de la crème” and they attract her special dedication. Miss Brodie took them to the theatre, to galleries and museums where they were encouraged to emulate the dedication of powerful female figures such as Pavlova and Sybil Thorndike. However, her dedication is deep: “These are the years of my prime. You are benefiting by my prime…one’s prime is the moment one was born for.” (P44) Miss Brodie believed that her great dedication was in the best interests of her girls. However, it is quite apparent that the girls do not receive a ‘prime’ education. Miss Brodie felt that the knowledge the girls were meant to have for exams was unimportant: “If there are any intruders, we are doing our history lesson… our poetry… English gramma…’ The small girls held up their books with eyes not on them, but on Miss Brodie.” (P11) It is impossible to deny that Miss Brodie had great dedication towards her girls. However, her motives for her dedication and the lengths she goes to are in her own interests rather than in the interests of her girls. Miss Brodie’s dedication to her girls went too far, she went beyond the stage of merely bringing out the best in the girls and began too meddle in their lives: “It was plain... ... middle of paper ... ... her decision was regrettable but inevitable. The themes of dedication, loyalty and betrayal in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie are all quite closely connected. Miss Brodie is liked to a ‘God’ figure: “She thinks she is Providence, she thinks she is the God of Calvin, she sees the beginning and the end” (P120) Her dedication is largely focused on her set, who can be seen as her disciples, and Sandy who would therefore be Judus. The difference being that Sandy’s ‘betrayal’ is justified: “’It’s only possible to betray where loyalty is due,’ said Sandy. ‘Well, wasn’t it due to Miss Brodie?’ ‘Only up to a point,’ said Sandy” (P127) The three themes of dedication, loyalty and betrayal are all closely knit and so they complement each other in the way they are woven into the story. As Miss Brodie’s girls were being formed, Miss Brodie’s nature was also growing and the principals governing the end of her ‘prime’ started with her dedication, climaxed with a breach of loyalty and finished with a betrayal. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie demonstrates clearly that dedication should stop at guidance, that loyalty is due only up to a point and that betrayal can be justifiable.
The concern of this paper is the “happy ending,” typical in Women’s Fiction according to Harris (46), present in A New England Tale, in which Jane Elton sacrifices her autonomous self through marrying Mr. Lloyd. I will critique this ending by applying several of the points Harris makes, including the conflict between theme and structure, the “extended quest for autonomy” (50), and the issue of the self-willing and “socially determined self” (54); also, I will discuss the sexual and religious politics Jane faces, as well as the importance of her role as educator. Readers can understand the autonomous self to which I refer in a nineteenth-century context: this do...
Shaw-Thornburg, Angela. “On Reading To Kill a Mockingbird: Fifty Years Later.” Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: New Essays. Meyer, Michael J. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2010. 113-127. Print.
The heroine, Mrs. P, has some carries some characteristics parallel to Louise Mallard in “Hour.” The women of her time are limited by cultural convention. Yet, Mrs. P, (like Louise) begins to experience a new freedom of imagination, a zest for life , in the immediate absence of her husband. She realizes, through interior monologues, that she has been held back, that her station in life cannot and will not afford her the kind of freedom to explore freely and openly the emotions that are as much a part of her as they are not a part of Leonce. Here is a primary irony.
Franklin continues the argument that Edna is an example of the “labor toward self of the female hero with the accompanying inner and outer threats to attainment of selfhood” (Franklin 510) in her criticism The Awakening and the Failure of Psyche. Franklin also compares Edna’s character to a mythological figure; the comparison proves how it is “clear that heroism is necessary for the nascent self to resist the lure and power of unconscious” (Franklin 510). To first address Franklin’s discussion of Edna’s fight to become a female hero, it’s displayed in the criticism that Edna’s individuality is one of a matriarchal society. However, as Franklin proves, Edna wants are different than her actions because she “begins to play with different love roles, such as courtly love” (Franklin 514). Edna is then said to be a sexually awakened being because of her dabbling in different love roles as well as her idealism in her new relationships; although, her new sexual being comes with a cost because she, as said by Franklin, falls into the “narrow roles prescribed by the patriarchs” (Franklin 520). This struggle, as identified by Franklin, adds to the darkness in her emerging ego out of the stifling atmosphere. The criticism then elaborates on how the stifling atmosphere brings Edna to believe that there is a whimsical love in her journey individuation, but instead “Chopin now wishes [the readers] to see that Edna has a crucial choice to make: either to accept the fantastic nature of romantic love and continue on her solitary journey to self, or to refuse to acknowledge romantic love’s transient nature and embrace death” (Franklin 524). Franklin identifies Edna’s labor to find a balance between love and individuality as one similar to both the spirits of Psyche and Eros; they each have a continually struggle to strive towards two different passionate loves. Franklin explains that much like Psyche’s yearning, Edna’s infatuation with Robert is one in which
...ly must complete with the dominance of men. “In acknowledging her personal desires and dreams, Edna realizes that double standards exist for men and women” (Telgen and Hile 53). Ignorant of her “awakening” to come, Edna tests and defies every accepted value in women during the late 1800s including but not limited to obedience, fidelity, and compliance. Ultimately Edna succeeds in determining who she, reaching her full “awakening,” but discovers that the price for having her own identity in the restrictions of society is more than she can handle emotionally (53). Chopin provided insight for the future generations through the evidence of the effect of gender roles and the process of finding one’s self through their individual “awakening” in the midst of controversy and “as she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself” (Chopin 49).
Women were always having negative image in the history, which their reputations were low. Memo Paris and Harriet Bird seemed only attract to those with abilities, which made Roy extremely jealous in the story. When Roy first approached these two female characters in the story, he could not get closer with either of them, because he was just a rookie, and none of them was willing to get along with infamous or poor people. “as if she had recognized him from somewhere, but when she found she hadn’t, to his horror her expression changed instantly to one of boredom”(9). The instant action of Harriet Bird had proved that the suggestion of women only attracted to famous and wealthy people in that time, which caused people like Roy generated fear, and jealousy. People co...
If any other characters in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” were to read Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts, they would surely be horrified. What sort of sane, caring woman would feel joy and relief at the death of her husband? She must be a terrible person, despite her reasoning for those feelings. How could Mr. Mallard have chosen such a woman for his bride? She’s a gem, truly; note the sarcasm. Though, one does have to consider what else there is to Mrs. Mallard. She is a human and there is much more to her than her seemingly ill feelings toward her late husband, such as her desire for freedom, her genuine care for Mr. Mallard, and her capacity to exhibit strong emotions.
The struggle the other characters face in telling Mrs. Mallard of the news of her husband's death is an important demonstration of their initial perception of her strength. Through careful use of diction, Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as dependent. In mentioning her "heart trouble" (12) Chopin suggests that Mrs. Mallard is fragile. Consequently, Josephine's character supports this misconception as she speaks of the accident in broken sentences, and Richards provides little in the way of benefiting the situation. In using excess caution in approaching the elderly woman, Mrs. Mallard is given little opportunity to exhibit her strength. Clearly the caution taken towards Mrs. Mallard is significant in that it shows the reader the perception others have of her. The initial description the author provides readers with creates a picture that Mrs. Mallard is on the brink of death.
Chinese novelist Mo Yan once said the following: “One of the biggest problems in literature is the lack of subtlety.” But trends tend to prove otherwise. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, which is often regard the best american novel ever written, subtlety is found rarely throughout. Whether it be in her characterization or allegory she fails to leave the reader with a shred of doubt about what or who she is talking about, through her incessant circumlocution, if it can be called that, she delivers a vivid and redundant recount of events through the eyes of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. If a section of the story (which encompass numerous almost unrelated shorter stories) were to be taken and examined, The Trial (chapters 17-22) would prove the most fruitful, and so it will serve as the subject of this essay.
In Miss Julie, August Strindberg depicts a tormented, sadomasochistic woman held captive by ingrained and inherent restrictions posed onto her by her aristocratic class. As she attempts to break free, her escapist tendencies cause various consequences to ensue, such as her eventual death. Other characters present also engage in the same escapist desires, especially present in Jean’s longing to advance his level in society. Such ideas end in disaster for any party involved. Strindberg manifests various character’s nonconformist ideas towards exaggerated barriers between social classes, such as those of Jean and Julie, to create themes on conformity and consequence.
As a result, this dramatic and deeply moving novel takes us into the world of Jem and Scout, in a journey that teaches both the characters and the readers about lessons in life that we witness everyday and learn from, growing and maturing, day by day. The main problems that were faced in the book were of: prejudice and hate, people judging others, and the inequality between the treatment of men and women. These are problems that are faced in places by people, everyday, even today, and together we must work to overcome these problems and unite, every person equal to any other.
Through the use of a concise plot, symbolism, descriptive setting, point of view, and dramatic irony, readers are left with a strong feeling of empathy for the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard. Through each paragraph of the story, readers continue to feel empathetic for the woman who grieves the loss of her husband, gains a new feeling of freedom outside of the restrictions of marriage, then loses that freedom when she discovers that her husband is not dead, all within an hour’s time. While women’s independence and freedom within marriage could still be a topic reflected in today’s literature, it would be a much different story than that of Chopin’s time. At the time this story was written, women were expected to do whatever it took to please and cater to their husbands. This story seems to draw from the changes of that time as women were beginning to gain more independence in their lives as in the suffrage movement, marriage, and employment outside the home. Much has changed in women’s rights since the end of the nineteenth century, which is a result of the work of women like Kate
It is expected of woman to shatter into crisis as news of her husband’s death is exposed. In this reading, the author presents a widow named Louise Mallard, who against all odds dares to expose her desired dream. Mrs. Mallard subdues an unexpected reaction as she was notified of Mr. Mallard’s death. With sense of relief, she disgracefully mourns his absence. Yet, despite the horrendous news, Louise was powerless as a transparent feeling of joy approached her heart. Freedom was gifted. She “opened and spread her arms out…”
Many people read Jane Austen’s fiction novels and only see her writing as cliché and old fashioned. But her stories have a classic, undying theme to them. Stories that are still relatable to readers today. In the last 10 years Austen’s books have been made into a number of television adaptations. Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park. Not only do we see Austen’s story lines through her books and the movies, but many modern authors and movie directors use Austen as an inspiration when writing their books and movie scripts. Austen’s stories capture the heart of many people, but she also captures the heart of women today. Women who strive to abolish the social discrimination against themselves. It is a debatable
This story is an exploration of one's personal life and dismay and its affect on their life. Miss Meadow's, the main character gives us an outlook of human behavior. The story starts with the "trotting" of Miss Meadows in the hall and "the girls of all ages, rosy from the air, and bubbling over with that gleeful excitement that comes from running to school on a fine autumn morning, hurried, skipped, fluttered by" (pg 1, line 3-5). The contrast between Miss Meadow's nature of "cold" and "sharp despair" (pg 1, line 1) on one side and the girls happily passing by with glee and delight shows the sense of isolation roaming around the hall. So Miss Meadows can also be taken as a symbol of isolation and despair which Katherine herself depicted h...