The Enid Blyton Society

It's so long since I've read Summer Term that I can't remember how Prudence feels at the end of the book, or how the other girls feel about her...

It seemed that Prudence did want to go home, Anita. She suggested this to Miss Grayling, but the headmistress wanted her to face her troubles instead of running away from them and made her stay until the end of the featured term:

Prudence was angry and unhappy. It was terribly difficult to face so many hostile girls every minute of the day. For the first time in her life she was really getting the punishment she deserved.

Thanks, Poppy. It would be interesting to know what happened to Prudence next, as it seems that she may still have been full of resentment when she left St. Clare's.

When I first read the books, I just thought 'good riddance' about Prudence being expelled, but now I'm not so sure it was the right thing to do. She doesn't seem to do anything so very serious, and I feel like a stiff punishment together with a real talking to from the Head about why what she did was wrong would have been much more helpful. On the other hand, if she actually wanted to leave, then maybe that was better for her. Maybe it's one of those situations where there is really no right answer.

Anita, I only managed to make amends with a few of them when I was still in school years ago. I think time will have dulled any grudges, but it makes things more awkward if I were to get in touch with them now.

I still had the tendency to keep to myself and make mountains out of molehills when I went to university, but it wasn't so bad. Nobody really made a big deal of my temper and I'm still on speaking terms via social networks.

On the subject of Prue's expulsion, the only reason I would consider possible has to do with her attempted cheating for Mamzelle's French exam. Even that might not be strong enough, as she only cheated out of desperation and didn't want to be scolded by the head for bad grades.

Thanks, TheOriginalFive.

In Prudence's case, I suppose Miss Theobald had to look to the immediate future rather than the long-term future and she concluded that Prudence was unlikely to settle down next term.

Prudence would never have been happy staying on.... the girls would see to that. However she has to face their scorn for the rest of the term. Miss Theobald wouldn't let her run away home to escape the nasty consequences of her actions. Then, because it became known to the girls that she was indeed not coming back next term, they decided to be a bit kinder for the remaining few days as she had looked very miserable. -
"So for the last two or three days of term the girls relaxed their hostile attitude towards Prudence and the girl regained some of her confidence and happiness. She had begun to learn her lesson, though, and made no attempt to boast or lie, as she always used to do. Poor Prudence - she was her own worst enemy, and always would be."

If that's the case, what do you think would happen if Prudence had tried to get in touch with her classmates years later? Would time dull any grudges they might bear? (It might not dull HER grudges!)

I think it is quite possible - especially as they were prepared to be kinder to her when they knew she was leaving. That seems to indicate they would be more inclined to be forgiving than bearing a grudge years later.

What type of school would Prudence have ended up at after St Clares? Would she have gone to university?

Prudence was only in the first form, I think; so it's doubtful that she will have gone straight to university. I always imagined that she would simply make a fresh and more positive start at a different Boarding School.

Yes, I think the girls were about 14 in that book... so Prudence would need to go somewhere else. Whether she would have got to University back in those days is doubtful, I think.

wasn't she the one who liked to talk politics?

Maybe she would have ended up a "The Great Handbag" type like Margaret Thatcher and be either a Tory MP or the wife of a Tory MP.

As Daisy said, Prudence wouldn't have got into university if her grades had remained low. However, she could have become a councillor and got into politics that way, and she might have been able to gain qualifications later in life. It's not clear whether she had a real interest in politics or whether she just liked creating an argument!

I got the impression that it was more because she liked to show off by seeming to be interested in such topics, whereas the other girls are a bit more down-to-earth. I guess she would have gone to another school, though whether she would have got into a good one after that I don't know.

Yes, she would have had the Sword of Damocles hanging over her when applying to a new school.