"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark Quiz

Answer: Edinburgh

Miss Brodie often took her girls on tours of the city, pointing out great pieces of architecture. On other occasions, she took them to visit parts of the city inhabited by the poor, so that the girls could see firsthand the squalor that existed in the same city where they lived.

Answer: Hugh

Miss Brodie loved to tell the girls stories about her personal life instead of following the traditional lessons. In chapter 1, she related this story from her past when she was supposed to be teaching English grammar.

Answer: Miss Mackay

Miss Mackay is the headmistress. Marcia Blaine founded the school, and it is named after her. Miss Lockhart is the senior school's chemistry teacher, and Miss Gaunt is a teacher at the junior school.

Answer: Rose

This epithet follows Rose's name throughout the book, but it first appears in chapter 1. When Rose enters her teen years, Miss Brodie wants Rose, with her "instinct," to have an affair with Mr. Lloyd.

Answer: Monica

In chapter 3, Monica went to the art room one day after school to get a new sketch pad. Although the teachers didn't see her, Monica beheld the two teachers in a passionate embrace: "It was a small part of a good long kiss that I saw..."

Answer: Sandy

As an adult, Sandy enters a nunnery (becoming Sister Helena) and later writes a psychological treatise on the nature of moral perception. Twice in the novel, when someone asks Sandy what the main influences were from her school days, Sandy replies from behind the bars of her grille: "There was a Miss Jean Brodie in her prime." This quote is also the book's last line.

Answer: He has only one arm.

Chapter 3 reveals that Mr. Lloyd lost his left arm in World War I. He paints with his right arm only.

Answer: Mr. Lowther

Mr. Lowther inherited the Cramond estate from his parents. Miss Brodie often brought her girls to visit the estate on weekends, but Miss Brodie would remain overnight. These two teachers, the bold Miss Brodie and the introverted Mr. Lowther, had a secret affair for several years.

Answer: 56

In a flash-forward paragraph, chapter 3 reveals that Miss Brodie died when she was 56 because she was "suffering from an internal growth."

Answer: Beauty is greater than science. Beauty comes first, and then science.

In chapter 2, Miss Brodie tells her girls, "Art is greater than science. Art comes first, and then science." Throughout the novel, Miss Brodie mentions several works of art and impresses the girls' minds with her views of aesthetic qualities.

But of course, Miss Brodie's most famous sayings were, "You are the creme de la creme" and "I am a woman in my prime."

If you have not seen the 1969 film version of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," I encourage you to do so. Maggie Smith brilliantly portrays the eccentric Miss Brodie, and she won the 1969 Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Although the film deviates a bit from Spark's novel, the movie is excellent and brilliant on its own merit. All of the girls who portray Miss Brodie's set are excellent as well, but Pamela Franklin is particularly impressive as Sandy. It's simply a wonderful film.