The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

“At that time they had been immediately recognizable as Miss Brodie’s pupils, being vastly informed on a lot of subjects irrelevant to the authorized curriculum, as the headmistress said, and useless to the school as a school.”

This quote draws attention to the distinction between the Brodie set and the rest of the school and also underscores the fact that Miss Brodie teaches strange or obscure subjects that are not necessarily useful in the traditional sense. It also establishes looking as an important theme for the novel, stating that Miss Brodie’s girls are visually recognizable to the other students.

“‘When there is no vision,’ Miss Brodie had assured them, ‘the people perish. Eunice, come and do a somersault in order that we may have comic relief.’”

This is one of the first instances in which Miss Brodie speaks, and she uses some significant words. She addresses vision as a theme but uses it in a different context: rather than referring to physical sight, she refers to having ideas about the future. Her use of “the people” is also notable, as it is a phrase political leaders often use to talk about their followers. Finally, her demand that Eunice provide comic relief suggests that she sees the girls as tools that can help her achieve her goals rather than individual people with their own autonomy.

“You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur. You must then live it to the full.”

Here, Miss Brodie describes the idea of one’s “prime” in notably vague terms, suggesting that everyone’s prime is distinct, and the only unifying thread is that it necessitates living life fully. Keeping the concept ambiguous is ultimately a way for her to continually redefine her own prime in whatever terms she chooses.