A Psychological Analysis Of The Initiation Theme Of The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie

Muriel Spark（1918-2006）is a famous British female writer.She digs deeply into themes of the psychological growth and development of modern people,human value and society.Her works are short in length but rich in enlightening connotation.Spark’s masterpiece The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is based on a high school in Edinburgh.It depicts the education and life of the protagonist Sandy and the teacher Miss Brodie.The thesis intends to trace the growth of protagonist Sandy from the perspective of Initiation Story,under the guidance of Lacan’s “Mirror Stage” and “Three Orders”theory,analyzing inner contradiction of the subject construction.It tries to explore the theme of psychological growth of protagonist’s transformation: from innocence,temptation,confusion,struggle to epiphany and the realization of true ego.By exploring the construction of individual’s subject,which forms in the interaction between the ego and the Other,the author of the thesis tries to reveal the significance of psychological growth in one’s personal development.The theory “Three Orders” refers to the “Imaginary Order,Symbolic Order and Real Order”,which is proposed by Lacan to scientifically explain the psychological structure of the subject.In The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,Miss Brodie is a growth guide of Sandy’s initial stage of growth.Under her influence,Sandy constructs a submissive illusory image.In the Imaginary Order,Sandy regards the mirror image as her ego,which is a subjective illusion nor a real subject.Without a real ego,she feels confused.Sandy introspects herself and wants to rebel.Later,she breaks the subjective illusion and enters the Symbolic Order to pursue true ego and build her real subject.In the Symbolic Order,Sandy enters the epiphany of growth.Sandy is still influenced by Miss Brodie but she starts to resist and transcends the influence of the Other,to build a complete ego.She rebels against her teacher and is free to choose her religious belief and becomes a Catholic nun.Sandy returns to real life after subject construction but she still has a new life dilemma.In the Real Order she experiences a new loss.Lacan explains the truth of subject construction that the ego develops in the mutual interaction with the Other and the subject is constructed in the context of the Other.In her growth process,although facing the new confusion,Sandy still has experienced the rebirth of growth and inspiration to life.Sandy’s personal growth is enlightening.The world has become increasingly incomprehensible and people live in loneliness and despair.The loss of human subjectivity is the root of all this.By exploring the loss and reconstruction of human subjectivity,the author of this thesis has hopefully tried to reveal the enlightenment that Spark intends to present to people in modern life.