Prime Of Miss Jean Broadie Essay, Research Paper
To be in Miss Broadie’s set was to be set apart from the rest of the school. They were outwardly looked upon with disdain. Inwardly, however, others were jealous of them for the distinction they received. Each girl in the Broadie set was held on a pedestal. Each had something special about them, reasons why they were chosen by Miss Broadie, and that puts them at higher regard.
Each girl was famous in school for something. They really have very little in common with one another aside form their friendship with Miss Broadie. Each girl was selected for their individual personality traits, and further chosen because Miss Broadie knew that none of their parents would ever have a problem or make complaints about her unorthidoxed method of teaching.
Mary was the stupid character of the set. Miss Broadie, along with the other girls, treated Mary as their scapegoat. They blamed everything on her stupidity. Miss Broadie harshly accused her and blamed her for faults belonging to everyone, using her to make an example.
Monica was known by all for her quick temper and her mind for mathematics. She was chosen, most likely, for little more than the fact that Miss Broadie knew that her parents would not have any problems. Miss Broadie never seemed to have an underlying scheme planed out for her, as she did with some of the other girls. Eunice was quite the same, seeming to have no purpose to the group, and the other girls wondered for some time why Miss Broadie had chosen her. Miss Broadie’s interest in her, it was found out, was that Eunice was a wonderful gymnast, and would entertain Miss Broadie with her performances shown before her class.
Jenny, with her golden curls, was the prettiest of the bunch. She had a beautiful voice and later a desire to act. Miss Broadie had hopes that one day Jenny would become one of her cr?me-de-la-cr?me, but Jenny disappointed her, becoming too dull for Miss Broadie’s taste as she got older.
Rose, as she became older, would be known for sex. Miss Broadie took special interest in her, because, as she saw it, Rose had instinct. The love of Miss Broadie’s prime was Mr. Lloyd, the art teacher, but he was married and she did not find that to be befitting of herself. So, because Miss Broadie could not have Mr. Lloyd herself, she planned to set Rose up for a love affair with him, but that did not work out as she planned.
Sandy, the last of the Broadie set, was the one girl that Miss Broadie choose to let herself get closest to as she felt that Sandy matured. When Sandy was still
The downfall of Miss Broadie is because of this secret animosity that Sandy holds towards her. Sandy, rather than Rose, becomes the lover to Mr. Lloyd. It seems as if it is her way of trying to be Miss Broadie, as Miss Broadie is so in love with Mr. Lloyd but cannot have him. Sandy tells Mr. Lloyd of how ridiculous Miss Broadie is and ridicules him for not clearly seeing it. It is Sandy who in the end betrays Miss Broadie, telling the schoolmaster, who has always tried to bring Miss Broadie down, that Miss Broadie is a fascist. This is the information, lie as it could be, that finally is used to force Miss Broadie to retire.
Even ten years later, Sandy holds the same feelings towards Miss Broadie. Miss Broadie never truly knows, and still confides in Sandy, asking her over and over again who could have possibly betrayed her, because upon being forced to retire, she was told that it was one her set that had done this to her.
Each of the other girls left to go on their separate ways, all knowing that they are better people having been taught under Miss Broadie. All were smarter and well rounded than most, as is shown before they leave school, with the exception of Mary, of course. Mary dies early, and as stupidly as she always is, running around in circles in a burning building until she collapsed and died. Had she not died so, she really would not have had the mental capacity to think much of Miss Broadie later on in life aside from a passing thought.
Rose left to get married, “shaking off” Miss Broadie’s influence as she left the Broadie set. Jenny left for acting. Eunice ended up becoming a nurse. Most came back to talk to Sandy on occasion, whom had since become a nun, and spoke with her about Miss Broadie. All thought that Sandy had been the one who’d cared about Miss Broadie the most. Yet her answers to their questions about Miss Broadie were detached and uncaring. In the end it would be Sandy who, ten years later, would be plagued with thoughts of Miss Broadie the most. She would forever be plagued with her jealousy, far past Miss Broadie’s death.
Bibliography
All information and thoughts come from “The Prime of Miss Jean Broadie” ((and me))
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