The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (pages 68-137)

Summary: Ms. Mackay divides the Brodie set and begins questioning them about Miss Brodie. I thought this would be the moment where we find out who betrays her, but none of the girls who tell her anything. There are two sewing teachers named Ellen and Alison Kerr who begin to do housekeeping for Mr. Lowther and Ellen Kerr tells Miss Mackay about the night dress under Mr. Lowther's pillow. It seems as though Mr. Lloyd has taken an interest in Rose. Although, his paintings of her and other schoolgirls all resemble Miss Brodie.  Sandy insists with “near-blackmailing insolence” that Mr. Lloyd’s paintings reveal his obsession with Miss Brodie. Her attitude angers him, and he kisses Sandy intensely and then insults her.
Miss Brodie chooses to confide in one of the girls and she chooses sandy. she can remark that all of her ambitions are fixed on Sandy and on Rose, who continues to sit for Mr. Lloyd. Miss Brodie says Sandy has insight and Rose has instinct. She also concludes that Miss Brodie wants Rose to become Mr. Lloyd’s lover (i thought Miss Brodie and Mr. Lloyd were lovers? why would she want one of her students to do that?) and for Sandy “to act as informant on the affair.” However, Rose only models for Mr. Lloyd, and Rose is the one who carries the information back when Sandy has sex with him. WHOAAA, this is craaaaazy! After several months, Mr. Lowther’s engagement to Miss Lockwood is announced in the paper. The new girl, Joyce Emily Hammond, also admires her. Taking Miss Brodie’s political views to heart, Joyce Emily disappears from school, and six weeks later students learn that she has run away to Spain and died in a train accident. 


 Miss Brodie predicts that “Rose and Teddy Lloyd will soon be lovers.” Sandy realizes that this fantasy is not a game, it is real manipulation. Sandy realizes Miss Brodie “was obsessed by the need for Rose to sleep with the man she herself was in love with.” Sandy understands now that Miss Brodie’s has a real intention to play God in the lives of her students: “She thinks she is Providence … she thinks she is the God of Calvin.” Rose is not manipulated into becoming Mr. Lloyd’s lover, however. 
Ironically, as she wonders which of the students betrayed her, Miss Brodie tells Sandy that she is “exempt from suspicion.”and Sandy says: “If you did not betray us it is impossible that you could have been betrayed by us.” As a nun, Sandy publishes a book on psychology entitled The Transfiguration of the Commonplace. She is visited by people who admire the book and by other members of Miss Brodie’s set. To a young man who visits, Sandy admits being influenced by her childhood teacher. Eunice lays flowers on Miss Brodie’s grave. Monica asks Sandy about the betrayal, and Sandy asserts, “It’s only possible to betray where loyalty is due.” So here we find out that it is SANDY who betrays Miss Brodie! 

Quote: "Monica came again. 'Before she died,' she said, 'Miss Brodie thought it was you who betrayed her.'
'Its only possible to betray where loyalty is dude,' said Sandy.
'Well, wasnt it due to Miss Brodie?'
'Only up to a point' said Sandy." (Spark 136-137).


Reaction: From reading this quote i can infer that Sandy is the one who "betrayed" Miss Brodie. Although, Sandy doesnt feel as though she betrayed Miss Brodie because she didnt owe her any loyalty. When Sandy found out that Miss Brodie was basically trying to play "God" in her students' lives, she didnt feel that she owed her any loyalty. It's weird how the one person Miss Brodie trusted the most, is the one who betrayed her!

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (pages 1-68)

Summary: To be honest, the first half of the novel is very confusing to read. It is full of flashbacks from Miss Brodie's life that occur at random moments. Its hard to tell whether you're in the past or the present, and sometimes there are little details about the future that are thrown in. Miss Brodie taught at the Marcia Blaine School for girls, and her pupils were called "The Brodie Set". Each one of the girls were famous for something. Monica Douglas- famous for her mathematics skills
Rose Stanely- famous for sex
Eunicer Gardiner- famous for her gymnastics and swimming
Sandy Stranger- famous for her vowel sounds

Miss Brodie had expressed to the girls that there were plots going around to get her to resign from Blaine. This had happened a couple times in the past but Miss Brodie never resigned. The other teachers were not familiar with her teaching methods and felt that she taught her students meaningless things that had nothing to do with the curriculum. Some members of the faculty feel that her teaching style would be better for a progressive school but Miss Brodie refuses to leave Blaine.

Miss Brodie tells the girls of her lover named Hugh who proposed to Miss Brodie but ended up dying. The girls were all in tears because of the story and when Miss McKay walked by, they all were silent because they didnt want her to know what they were talking about. Then the novel flashes to the future and tells us that Mary Macgregor, a member of the Brodie set, is going to die in a hotel fire. Mary Mcgregor is very clumsy and was always blamed for everything. When her boyfriend leaves her, she thinks about a time when she was really happy, and she says that she was really happy with Miss Brodie.

Then the story switches over to Sandy Stranger and Jenny Gray when they are 10years old and having tea. They talk about "sexual intercourse" and how the days with Miss Brodie were supposed to be the happiest days of their lives. Then the story switches to Eunice, who plans on returning to Edinburgh and she wants to put flowers on Miss Brodie’s grave. When talking to her husband, she says that Miss Brodie was forced to retire, because she was “betrayed by one of her own girls,” and right after World War II she died. Hmmm... who betrayed Miss Brodie?!


Miss Brodie begins to have an affair with two teachers at Blaine. Monica catches Miss Brodie kissing Mr. Lloyd and then later Mr. Lowther and Miss Brodie are absent from school for 2 weeks, so it is assumed they are together. A man exposes himself to Jenny and is questioned by the police. the woman police officer becomes the protagonist in one of Sandy's stories. Sandy and Jenny notice that Rose has developed, which was probbably the start to Rose being famous for sex. 


Quote: "Just after the war. She was retired by then. Her retirement was rather a tragedy, she was forced to retire before time. The head never liked her. There's a long story attached to Miss Brodie's retirement. She was betrayed by one of her own girls, we were called the Brodie Set. I never found out which one betrayed her" (Spark 26).


Reaction: I was completely shocked when i read that conversation Eunice had with her husband about Miss Brodie! I'm soooo curious as to who betrayed Miss Brodie and how. I think one of the girls must have told the head about her affairs with Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Lowther because it seems thats the only secret Miss Brodie really had. I'm not sure which girl has betrayed her yet because all of the girls seem to have a sort of dedication to miss brodie and a faithfulness to her. They all appreciate her so I have NO idea who betrayed her but im eager to find out, IF the speaker tells us!