SOURCE: "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: Muriel Spark Bridges the Credibility Gap," in Arizona Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3, 1969, pp. 217-28.

Dobie is an American educator and critic. In the following essay, she discusses the novel's point of view and the development of its major characters.

Muriel Spark is certainly one of the most productive novelists writing today. Since 1957 she has published eight novels in addition to verse and short stories. Though all have received critical attention, amounting sometimes to little more than critical puzzlement, most interest has been paid neither to her first nor her latest fiction, but one of the central novels: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1962). For example, a few seasons ago it was adapted for the London stage, where it was a popular success, and it was subsequently made available to American audiences in New York City. It has most recently been made into...