Picnic at Hanging Rock: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

It is the afternoon of Thursday, March 19th. Appleyard College is cold and quiet—lunch has just finished, and afternoon classes have not yet begun. During a bit of leisure time, Mademoiselle reads a letter she received from Irma earlier in the week. The letter is written in Irma’s signature chatty, upbeat, flighty voice, and it reports the news that Irma is traveling to the Menzies Hotel in Melbourne to meet her parents, who are arriving from India later this week. She says she’ll be stopping by the college on Thursday to bid Mademoiselle and the other girls goodbye—but is hoping to avoid seeing Mrs. Appleyard.

Just as Mademoiselle finishes reading the letter, Mr. Hussey drives Irma up to the front of the building. Before Mademoiselle can hurry down to meet her, she watches out the window as Mrs. Appleyard sweeps Irma inside and leads her straight to her office. Miss Lumley summons Mademoiselle—it is time for them to lead the girls in their gymnasium class.

Mrs. Appleyard, having received a letter from Irma’s father suggesting he would be bringing a Scotland Yard detective over to further investigate the disappearances, is determined to use Irma to diffuse the situation. Mrs. Appleyard asks Irma how she’s feeling and whether she’s been able to remember anything from the day up on the rock—Irma says she hasn’t. Mrs. Appleyard tells Irma that her parents are doing her a disservice in bringing her home before her education is complete, and further states that Irma’s teachers always complained about her “lack of application” when she was a pupil at the school. As soon as the words are out of Mrs. Appleyard’s mouth, however, she regrets having done something to “further antagonize the wealthy Leopolds.” Irma replies that the only things she learned at Appleyard were learned from Miranda.

Hoping to save the meeting, Mrs. Appleyard offers Irma the chance to stay overnight on her way to Melbourne. Irma says she’s planning on traveling onward but would like to say goodbye to her classmates and Mademoiselle. Mrs. Appleyard tells Irma she can find them in the gymnasium. After an icy handshake, Irma leaves the room.

In the gymnasium, Irma finds Sara strapped to a board meant to correct posture while Miss Lumley and Mademoiselle lead the girls in plies timed to classical music. As Irma steps inside, Mademoiselle tells the girls to take a break so they can greet their classmate. Irma, though, finds that her classmates are not happy to see her—instead, they appear to be in a kind of trance as they look past Irma at the space behind her. Mademoiselle wonders what the girls can see that she cannot. The girls, the narrator says, are having a kind of collective flashback to the picnic at Hanging Rock, in which the looming shadow of the rock stretches over their picnic and becomes a “living monster” lumbering toward them.

Chaos overtakes the gymnasium. One student vomits while another begins flailing uncontrollably. Edith screams loudly. Mademoiselle tries to quiet the girls, but soon realizes she’s lost control of them. Miss Lumley, seeing Mademoiselle’s face, teases her for being afraid of the students, but Mademoiselle gravely asks Miss Lumley to go fetch Mrs. Appleyard. As the girls continue to laugh and sob, they swarm around Irma, grabbing at her as they scream, cackle, and cry.

Irma begins to panic as the girls encircle her. Edith pushes in closest to her and demands to know what happened to Miranda and Marion. The other girls, too, begin demanding to know what became of their classmates. Irma tells them she doesn’t know. Mademoiselle pushes her way through the crowd and tries to extricate Irma from the mob. Edith shouts that Miranda and Marion and Miss McCraw are dead and rotting in a cave on Hanging Rock. On the edge of the crowd, a young girl named Rosamund—the only student who has not joined the mob—prays to Saint Valentine to make the girls leave Irma alone. 

At that moment, Tom comes into the gymnasium. As the girls’ heads turn toward him, they quiet down. Tom tells Irma that if she wants to make the Melbourne express, she needs to leave right away. The girls, as if snapped from a trance, part to let Irma head for the door. Mademoiselle, still upset, kisses Irma on the cheek and tells her they’ll meet again soon. The narrator, however, reveals the two will never see one another again.

After Irma leaves, Mademoiselle curtly tells the girls to go change out of their gym clothes. After the girls leave the room, Miss Lumley steps out of a cupboard where she’s been hiding—she never went to fetch Mrs. Appleyard. Mademoiselle calls Miss Lumley a “little toad.” The two women hurl insults at one another until Miss Lumley threatens to tell Mrs. Appleyard about everything that has transpired. Mademoiselle lifts a large weight from the floor and says that if Miss Lumley breathes a word, she’ll clobber her to death in her sleep. As the women call a truce, they hear a horrible “rasping cry” from the corner of the room—nobody remembered to unstrap Sara from the posture-correcting board.