Because I Am In My Prime : ”A Psychoanalytical Reading of Muriel Spark’s  The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”

Abstract: This essay is a psychoanalytical reading of the Scottish author Muriel Spark’s novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The protagonist is a charismatic teacher, who is popular among her pupils, but who appears to use her power and position merely in order to manipulate her pupils. It appears that Miss Brodie’s main interest is not her pupils’ academic achievements, but she has a different agenda on her mind. This essay examines the unconscious motives behind the protagonist’s peculiar treatment of her pupils by learning more about what takes place in the human mind, when the individual starts to listen to the sound of defensive mechanisms instead of to the sound of logic.