# Jean Brodie

jean brodie is a fictional character in the Muriel Spark novel The Prime of Miss jean brodie (1961); and in the play and 1969 film of the same name—both by Jay Presson Allen—which were based on the novel, but radically depart from it in the interest of theatre and poetic licence. Miss Brodie is a highly idealistic character with an exaggerated romantic view of the world; many of her catchphrases have become clichés in the English language. The character takes her name from the historical jean brodie (aka Jean Watt), common law wife or mistress of William Brodie, whom the fictional Miss Brodie claims as a direct descendant; thus, she is the fictional namesake of the real jean brodie.