Prime of Miss Jean Brodie! Please Help!

[pauliwauli2]

Well I've got this essay to do about The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark, and it's going pretty well but the only thing is I have to identify themes in the book and point out how they are portrayed..

can anyone help me? I'm awful at identifying themes..

I'd really really appreciate it!

xxx

[shaneystar2]

If you go through the book you will soon see what the themes are ..basically ...dedication,elitism,snobbery,betrayal and loyalty.
She is such a snob and only really wants to have "her girls"around her and to teach them her ideals to the exclusion of others. Her "creme de la creme ". ..elitism. She is dedicated to her profession but in a skewed way.She only wants to teach them what she thinks is right ,so selfishness could be another theme. The girls are loyal to her but betray her finally when one of them shops her for her facist views.

[jno]

it's also, I guess, about the meaning of education. Is she teaching fascist nonsense when she should be teaching the past tense of French verbs? Or does educating children necessarily imply inculcating a set of values as well as mere facts and figures - even wrong values?