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!
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