SOURCE: "The Narrative Structure of Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," in The Midwest Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 4, Summer, 1990, pp. 488-98.

In the following essay, Bower analyzes Spark's use of flashforwards and fantasies, concluding that they "dramatize the unexpected ways in which a seemingly dedicated teacher can affect her pupils."

Because the narrative line of Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is often interrupted and time seems to be just a plaything of the author, a first reading may leave one feeling dislocated. Further investigation, however, proves that Spark regularly introduces flashforwards and fantasies into the novel's present time in order to demonstrate the unforeseen ways in which the teacher, Jean Brodie, influences her students, especially Sandy Stranger.

The novel depicts "the Brodie set," a group of six middle-class schoolgirls who are variously influenced by one teacher—Jean Brodie. It follows these girls from the...