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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Brilliant Career, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Womanhood
Class and Poverty
Ambition, Respectability, and Pride
Love
Maturity and Suffering
Summary
Analysis
A week after Sybylla first met Harold Beecham, Aunt Helen receives a letter from one of Harold’s aunts asking Sybylla to stay with the Beechams while the other Miss Beecham is away. Helen laughs and teases Sybylla about Harold wanting her to come stay, and Sybylla pretends not to understand. Mrs. Bossier agrees to the proposal, and that Wednesday Harold arrives to bring Sybylla to his home, Five-Bob Downs. His red buggy is pulled by a prize-winning horse, and Sybylla and Harold speed down the road. After a time, Harold lets Sybylla take the reins and drive the buggy herself.
Despite Harold’s quiet nature, he makes little pretense about his romantic interest in Sybylla. He convinces his aunt to invite Sybylla to Five-Bob Downs, and even Helen immediately understands that Harold wants Sybylla to visit for his own sake. His buggy is also surprisingly flashy, with its red hue and prize-winning horse, which hints that Harold is more dynamic than his stoic nature lets on. Harold also allows Sybylla to drive his buggy, which suggests that he respects her desire for independence and agency.
Themes
Harold and Sybylla arrive at Five-Bob Downs station at sunset, a “majestic hour” that highlights the grandeur of the property. They are greeted by Harold’s aunt, Gussie Beecham. Miss Beecham knew Mrs. Melvyn and assumes Sybylla will be as beautiful, and Sybylla tries to hide her face to avoid letting Miss Beecham down. Miss Beecham chastises her for this belief, because Harold has told his aunts that Sybylla is beautiful, and the residents of Five-Bob Downs take Harold’s judgments as fact.
Sybylla again demonstrates her appreciation for nature by describing the sunset as “majestic.” She even goes so far as to suggest that manmade structures are enhanced by the beauty of nature, which positions nature as more impressive than civilization. At Five-Bob Downs, Sybylla also becomes beautiful, at least in the eyes of the residents. Miss Beecham’s assurances that Harold thinks Sybylla is beautiful reveals that Harold sees a beauty in Sybylla that she herself does not. The fact that Harold’s aunts take his opinions as fact also speaks to his authority as man of the house, despite his youth.
Themes
In addition to the Beechams, Five-Bob Downs is home to a little girl called O’Doolan and a number of laborers. O’Doolan adores Harold, and he dotes on her in turn. The laborers eat dinner with the Beechams, but after the meal they retire to a room specifically set apart for them. Miss Beecham asks Sybylla what she thinks of Harold. Sybylla dodges the question by asking if Harold is usually as good-tempered as he appears, and Miss Beecham tells her that Harold is usually of a bad temper. Harold rejoins the conversation, and Sybylla is smitten. She notes that his charm––and his wealth––unintentionally draw the affections and break the hearts of many women.
Sybylla again witnesses tension between classes, and the false egalitarianism of the rich, as the laborers are allowed to dine with the Beechams but not socialize with them after dinner. On a more intimate level, O’Doolan’s love for Harold, and his love for her, shows an emotional side to the stoic young man. Sybylla gains further understanding of Harold’s hidden depths when Miss Beecham reveals that Harold has a bad temper.
Themes
