The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Upon seeing Mr. Lloyd’s portrait of Rose, Sandy exclaims that it looks just like Miss Brodie, but she quickly backtracks and says it looks like Rose. Deirdre Lloyd asks what Miss Brodie looks like, and Sandy admits that Rose and Miss Brodie do not look alike at all. Mr. Lloyd asks Sandy if she likes it, and she says yes. Deirdre, who is the first woman Sandy has ever met who dresses like a bohemian, tells Mr. Lloyd to show Sandy the new portrait of Rose. Sandy thinks to herself, but does not say aloud, that this one also looks like Miss Brodie. She discovers that Mr. Lloyd painted portraits of Monica wearing a bohemian outfit and Eunice dressed as a harlequin: both look like Miss Brodie. However, none of the portraits of Mr. Lloyd’s family look like Miss Brodie. Sandy is annoyed but also fascinated by Mr. Lloyd’s obvious obsession with Miss Brodie, which is apparent in his economical style. She senses that the Brodie set might be splitting up soon and thinks this could be good for all of them.

Deirdre leaves to check on the children. Mr. Lloyd says he would like to paint the whole Brodie set as a group, and Sandy says that they would probably all look like “one big Miss Brodie” (109).