The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Pages 51-137

Summary:

As Miss Jean Brodie tells the girls of her prime, she talks to them about the lovers that she had during the time as well. She talks about one of the girls in her set betraying her and telling her secret. The headmistress Ms. Mackay gets the girls and divides them in order for them not to be influenced by each other. She starts to question them about Miss Brodie but to my surprise none of the girls tell her anything that would help her take Miss Brodie out of the school.

After Miss Brodie decides to confide in one of the girls that she teaches in her sect. Out of all the girls she chooses Sandy. For some odd confusing reason, Miss Brodie wants one of her students (Rose) to become lovers with Mr. Lloyd and Sandy to become the person who delivers information on the affair. In the end, Sandy ends us having a sexual relationship with Mr. Lloyd and Rose becomes the informant.

Aside of all this sexual stuff, the students of Miss Brodie’s girls are now all grown up and 17 years of age. They were now able to view her as more than just a teacher but also observe and admire her womanly side.  A new girl, Joyce also starts to admire Miss Brodie just as all the other girls do, but with more intense acknowledgement. She took Miss Jean Brodie’s ideas and views on politics very seriously and disappears from school and ends up dying in an accident in Spain.

            As Miss Brodie still had a great impact on these girls, one of the main things that Miss Brodie was basically overseeing was the relationship between Sandy, Rose and Mr. Lloyd. Since Sandy was the one that was having sexual relationships with Mr. Lloyd, when Miss Brodie says that Rose and Mr. Lloyd will soon be lovers, it really angers Sandy. Instead of being brainwashed by Miss Brodie’s ideas, she begins to think that Miss Brodie was instead trying to act like God and control her and her actions. Mr. Lloyd was in fact in love with Miss Brodie himself, he would draw canvasses of her student Sandy but each time they would resemble Miss Brodie. Years later when Ms. Mackay and Sandy meet they start talking about Miss Brodie. Ms. Mackay says that she is afraid that Miss Brodie put to many ideas into their young head. Sandy say’s that there were many ideas that Miss Brodie influenced them with. Since Miss Brodie has a new sect now Ms. Mackay would need ideas that she would use set to set each year. Those ideas were politics, since Miss Brodie had the same ideas since she was “born”.

            In that same summer Miss Jean Brodie was forced to retire because she was teaching Fascism. She then wrote a letter to Sandy telling her what had occurred. She says that Sandy out of all her sets is the one who would never betray her. But in fact, it was Sandy who betrayed Miss Jean Brodie.           

Quote:

“‘It’s only possible to betray where loyalty is due,’ said Sandy” (Spark 136).

Reflection:

When Monica told Sandy that Miss Brodie thought it was her that betrayed Miss Brodie, Sandy said that she didn’t betray her because you cannot betray someone when there is no loyalty that you are trying to show someone. When Miss Brodie was in her prime all of her students were loyal to her because that was when she was their teacher. After years past, the loyalty disappeared with it which was why Sandy believes she didn’t betray Miss Brodie, although in my opinion she did. When someone trusts you and you go behind their back and say things that you’re not supposed to your betraying that person and that was exactly what Sandy did.