The Prime of Ms.Jean Brodie

496 Words2 Pages
Sixteen year-old girls, Sandy, Rose, Mary, Jenny, Monica, and Eunice are assigned to Miss Jean Brodie, who describes herself as being "in my prime". Miss Brodie, determined that they shall receive an education in the original sense of the Latin verb educere, "to lead out", gives her students lessons about her personal love life and travels, promoting art history, classical studies, and fascism. Under her mentorship, these six girls whom Brodie singles out as the elite group among her students known as the "Brodie set" begin to stand out from the rest of the school. However in one of the novel’s flash-forwards we learn that one of them will later betray Brodie, ending her teaching career, but that she will never learn which.In the Junior School, they meet the singing teacher, the short Mr Gordon Lowther, and the art master, the handsome, one-armed war veteran Mr Teddy Lloyd, a married Roman Catholic with six children. These two teachers form a love triangle with Miss Brodie, each loving her, while she loves only Mr Lloyd. However Miss Brodie never overtly acts on her love for Mr Lloyd, except once to exchange a kiss with him. Once the girls are promoted to the Senior School they hold on to their identity as the Brodie set. Miss Brodie keeps in touch with them after school hours by inviting them to her home as she did when they were her pupils. All the while, the headmistress Miss Mackay tries to break them up and compile information gleaned from them into sufficient cause to sack Brodie. Miss Mackay has more than once suggested to Miss Brodie that she should seek employment at a 'progressive' school. At this point Mr Lloyd asks Rose and the other girls to pose for him as portrait subjects. Each face he paints ultimately resembles Miss Brodie, as her girls report to her in detail, and she thrills at the telling. One day when Sandy is visiting Mr Lloyd, he kisses
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