Chapter Six
Chapter six wraps up the novel, as Miss Mackay tries to gather evidence against Miss Brodie from the Brodie girls. However, the girls cannot incriminate their former teacher after seven years of friendship without also implicating themselves.
One of Miss Brodie's biggest admirers is Joyce Emily Hammond, a wealthy and troubled girl who goes to Marcia Blaine as a last resort. Although Joyce Emily does not exhibit delinquent behavior at Marcia Blaine, she is not well-liked by the Brodie girls.
Finally, the Brodie girls develop interests and activities outside of their friendship with Miss Brodie. Eunice has a boyfriend; Monica and Mary help the less fortunate by delivering groceries to people living in slums; Jenny pursues acting; and Rose models for Mr. Lloyd. Sandy, who entertains the idea of getting Mr. Lloyd to kiss her again, sometimes accompanies Rose during her modeling sessions. The girls also visit Miss Brodie both individually and as a group, leaving little time for Joyce Emily. However, Miss Brodie tries to spend time with Joyce Emily and takes her out for tea and to the theater.
Tragically, Joyce Emily runs away to Spain that year and meets a shocking demise in a train attack. The school holds a remembrance service in her honor. By their final year at Marcia Blaine, only four of the Brodie girls remain. Mary becomes a typist; Jenny enrolls in a dramatic art school; Eunice initially plans to study modern languages but becomes a nurse; Monica pursues science; and Sandy studies psychology. Rose, known for sharing her father's lively nature, gets married shortly after leaving school and quickly sheds the influence of Miss Brodie.
Miss Brodie is unaware of how effortlessly Rose distances herself from her influence. She confided in Sandy her belief that Rose and Mr. Lloyd would become lovers, a strategic move on Miss Brodie's part to bring the two together. Sandy, however, discerns that Miss Brodie is "obsessed by the need for Rose to sleep with the man she herself was in love with."
Sandy shares with Miss Brodie that all of Mr. Lloyd's portraits resemble her. Miss Brodie calls herself Mr. Lloyd's muse but predicts that Rose will eventually replace her. On the other hand, Sandy perceives Miss Brodie as someone who believes she is all-knowing, likening her to the God of Calvin. Sandy also wonders, based on her knowledge of psychology, whether Miss Brodie may be an unconscious lesbian.
The narrative then shifts to the summer of 1938, after the Brodie girls have left Blaine. Miss Brodie travels to Germany and Austria while Sandy studies psychology and frequently poses for her portrait by Mr. Lloyd, often accompanied by Rose. During one instance when Sandy and Mr. Lloyd are alone due to his wife and family being away, Sandy tells him that all his portraits, even of the youngest Lloyd child, resemble Miss Brodie. She gives him a defiant stare, and as he did three years prior, Mr. Lloyd kisses Sandy, marking the start of a five-week love affair between the two.
During their affair, Mr. Lloyd paints a portrait of Sandy. She points out that he makes her look like Miss Brodie, prompting him to start a new canvas. However, the painting still ends up resembling Miss Brodie. Sandy questions Mr. Lloyd about his obsession with Miss Brodie and highlights her absurdity. While he acknowledges her ridiculousness, Mr. Lloyd advises Sandy to stop analyzing his mind, considering it an unnatural habit for an eighteen-year-old girl.
In September, Miss Brodie and Sandy meet at the Braid Hills Hotel. Miss Brodie confidently discusses Hitler and her belief that...
(This entire section contains 1186 words.)
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fascism, whether Hitlerian or in general, will save the world. However, Sandy finds the conversation boring. Eventually, Miss Brodie confronts Sandy about her relationship with Mr. Lloyd, revealing that Rose informed her of their affair. Sandy admits to being involved with Mr. Lloyd because she finds him attractive. Miss Brodie responds by suggesting that Mr. Lloyd, a Roman Catholic, cannot think for himself and relies solely on instinct, making him unsuitable for someone as insightful as Sandy.
Mr. Lloyd continues to paint accidental portraits of her. His affair with Sandy becomes even more dangerous and exciting when Mrs. Lloyd returns with the family. However, by the end of the year, Sandy loses interest in Mr. Lloyd as a person but remains deeply absorbed in his mind. She is particularly fascinated by his Roman Catholic religion, a fascination that persists even after she ends her relationship with him.
The following autumn, Sandy meets Miss Brodie multiple times, and their discussions revolve around Mr. Lloyd, specifically how his portraits all reflect the lover who abandoned him. During one of these meetings, Miss Brodie reveals to Sandy that she, Sandy herself, not Rose, was destined to be the great lover. Miss Brodie also confides in Sandy about her regret in encouraging the young Joyce Emily to fight for Franco in Spain, a fact that Sandy was previously unaware of.
During that autumn, Sandy returned to Marcia Blaine to meet with Miss Mackay and informed her that Miss Brodie was still influencing groups of girls. Sandy advises Miss Mackay to try to remove Miss Brodie from her position based on her fascist political interests. Sandy tells Miss Mackay about her intentions because she wants to stop Miss Brodie. When the time comes to force Miss Brodie into retirement due to her politics, Miss Mackay ensures that Miss Brodie knows it was a former Brodie girl who betrayed her.
Finally, in the summer term of 1939, Miss Brodie is compelled to retire on the grounds of teaching fascism. By then, Sandy has joined the Catholic Church and encounters other fascists who are much less pleasant than Miss Brodie.
Miss Brodie writes a letter to Sandy to inform her of her retirement, suspecting that the political issue was merely an excuse and that Miss Mackay disapproved of her educational approach. Miss Brodie is hurt and shocked to think that one of her special girls betrayed her. She tells Sandy that she could suspect any of her girls except for Sandy herself. Sandy responds by saying that if Miss Brodie had not betrayed them, they could not have betrayed her.
Over the years, many former Brodie girls have reached out to Sandy after she became Sister Helena of the Transfiguration and published "The Transfiguration of the Commonplace." Jenny writes to inform Sandy that Miss Brodie is past her prime and obsessed with discovering who betrayed her. Jenny also visits Sandy, and while clutching the grille that separates them, Sandy describes Miss Brodie as "quite an innocent in her way." Monica also visits Sandy and reveals that Miss Brodie now suspects Sandy of the betrayal. Sandy responds by saying that betrayal is only possible when loyalty is expected.
Lastly, there is a day when a curious young man visits Sandy and speaks to her through the grille, which she clings to desperately. He asks about her formative influences during her school days, including literary, political, personal, and Calvinism. In response, Sister Helena says, "There was a Miss Jean Brodie in her prime."