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Chapter 27
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
The older, narrating Sybylla prefaces the next events by revealing they are imprinted on her memory so permanently that not even the greatest poets could imagine enough “joy, fame, pleasure, and excitement” to erase it.
This warning from an older Sybylla prepares the reader for the drastic downturn of Sybylla’s circumstances. It makes clear that whatever events are to come impacted her deeply, and she has yet to recover. Her remark that the greatest poet could not replace her misery emphasizes her belief in the power of literature, as she imagines that the only person who could come close to erasing her pain would be a great poet. The thought that even “joy, fame, pleasure, and excitement” couldn’t ease her suffering also reveals the four aspects of life that Sybylla values most. The inclusion of “fame” alongside “joy” and “pleasure” indicates that life with the M’Swats did not rob Sybylla of her ambitions.
Themes
As Mr. M’Swat drives Sybylla to his home, she comes to like him. She considers him too different from herself to ever befriend, but she appreciates his common sense despite his ignorance and small-mindedness. M’Swat has known Sybylla’s father since they were children because M’Swat’s father worked on Mr. Melvyn’s station as a blacksmith.
When Sybylla lived at Possum Gully, she described the life of a peasant as simple and ignorant. She was careful, though, not to disparage peasants themselves, since they are only adapting to their lifestyle. Her description of Mr. M’Swat is similar: she likes the man himself, but she cannot look past his ignorance enough to consider him an equal who she could befriend. The fact that M’Swat once worked for Mr. Melvyn also emphasizes how far the Melvyns have fallen in society.
Themes
Sybylla strives to take an optimistic view of the situation. She reasons that she was bound to face misfortune at some time, so that time might as well be now. She hopes M’Swat’s home might not be as bad as she fears, and even if the family is dirty, she is certain she could introduce measures of cleanliness. But her hopes are dashed when the buggy reaches M’Swat’s home at Barney’s Gap.
In contrast to the cynicism of her youth, Sybylla tries to follow Aunt Helen’s example and take an optimistic perspective. She accepts that her charmed life at Caddagat was never going to last, and she reassures herself that she can take measures to improve her circumstances when she gets to Barney’s Gap. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation undermines her attempts at optimism.
Themes
The M’Swat residence is “desolate and prison-like,” with no grass, an abundance of livestock, and eight children. Sybylla finds the children horribly dirty––not because they are poor, but because they are ignorant and unkempt. Mrs. M’Swat is “fat, ignorant, [and] pleasant-looking,” and she greets Sybylla with a kiss. Mrs. M’Swat leads Sybylla inside, and Sybylla is disgusted by the squalor of the house. She longs to return to Caddagat.
Sybylla describes the M’Swat house as “prison-like,” making clear she views her employment there as a jail sentence. She specifies that the M’Swat’s dire living conditions come not from poverty, because they are not really that poor. They live in squalor simply because they are too ignorant to know that they could live with more cleanliness and culture. Mrs. M’Swat is the last model of womanhood that Sybylla meets. Like Sybylla, Mrs. M’Swat does not fit the 19th-century standards for an ideal woman. She lets her children run unkempt and keeps her house in disarray instead of exerting her authority over the domestic sphere. She is untidy and fat, which runs counter to Victorian beauty standards. However, Sybylla does not identify with Mrs. M’Swat, despite their similarities and the pleasant nature that Sybylla notices immediately on the woman’s face. Mrs. M’Swat is ignorant, and Sybylla prizes knowledge too highly to subscribe to Mrs. M’Swat’s form of womanhood.
Themes
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Mrs. M’Swat serves a dinner that further disgusts Sybylla, all while two of the little M’Swat boys fight loudly. Mrs. M’Swat hits both boys on the head and finishes serving dinner. The M’Swat children stare at Sybylla wonderingly. She feels completely overwhelmed but manages to ask if she has now met the whole family. Mrs. and Mr. M’Swat say she has met everyone but Peter, their 21-year-old son who is out working.
Every new aspect of the M’Swats, from their food to their table manners, further demonstrates their ignorance and horrifies Sybylla. Although she is overwhelmed by her new life, she tries to be polite, grasping at rules of common courtesy to buffer herself against the lack of refinement.
Themes
After dinner, Sybylla writes to Mrs. Melvyn and Mrs. Bossier to inform them of her safe arrival. She plans to collect her thoughts before begging them to let her leave Barney’s Gap. Mrs. M’Swat shows Sybylla to her bedroom, which is “fairly respectable,” and once Mrs. M’Swat leaves, Sybylla locks the door and sobs. Her tears are coarse and uncontrolled, free from any manners or refinement. Finally, she controls herself and calls herself a fool for crying.
Though Sybylla’s room is “fairly respectable,” it cannot compare to her beloved room at Caddagat. Sybylla weeps, unconcerned with her mother’s expectations of refinement. In a way, she is indulging in the same lack of manners that she dislikes in the M’Swats. Unlike the M’Swats, however, Sybylla restrains herself and returns to her manners, embarrassed by her outburst.
Themes
Sybylla resolves to explain her situation to Mrs. Melvyn and Mrs. Bossier, and she is sure that she will soon return to Caddagat. Later, Peter M’Swat, Jr. comes home, and Sybylla overhears a conversation between him and the other M’Swat children. They tell Peter that Sybylla is small and pale, with tiny hands, quiet feet, and fancy accessories. Mrs. M’Swat adds that Sybylla writes very quickly and uses big words that they can’t understand. Peter responds to this in a surly tone, remarking that she will obey him no matter how pale she is. When Sybylla meets Peter, he leers at her. She is especially pleasant and deferent to him, and he gives her no more trouble.
Sybylla finds comfort by assuring herself that she will return to Caddagat. While Caddagat was once a home where Sybylla felt comfortable, now it has reached an almost mythical, heavenly status as the only place Sybylla can be truly happy. Sybylla’s interactions with Peter M’Swat also mark a shift––this time, in the way Sybylla deals with men. She handled Frank Hawden’s rudeness by confronting him head-on, driven by a combination of youthful recklessness and social status. Now that Sybylla is more mature and wields less social power, she resolves the issue with Peter by being overly polite to him. Peter’s arrival also brings up another topic of privilege. The M’Swat children’s fascination with Sybylla’s pale complexion is likely because they are suntanned and freckled from spending too much time outdoors. However, Peter’s resentment of Sybylla’s paleness calls to mind issues of race, specifically of the privilege white Australians have compared to Aboriginal Australians. Race does not play a significant role in Sybylla’s narrative, as she primarily interacts with other white Australians. This absence is notable in and of itself, though, since Sybylla is so interested in matters of injustice. The lack of attention she pays to racial prejudices, when she is so concerned with discrimination based on gender and class, suggests that even the most liberal white Australians of this era were often ignorant of the racial issues in their country.
Themes
That night, Mrs. M’Swat tells Sybylla to play a song for them on the piano. Sybylla is happy to obey, thinking that the piano can offer her comfort while at Barney’s Gap. However, the piano has been warped by the dust, heat, and wind, and it makes only a terrible clanging when Sybylla tries to play it. When Mrs. M’Swat asks her to play the instrument anyway, Sybylla believes that the family has no idea what music is supposed to sound like. She pounds randomly on the piano keys, and the louder she plays, the more the M’Swats enjoy it.
Barney’s Gap is so devoid of culture and art that even the piano, the one bright spot, produces only ugliness. Sybylla is disappointed, but the M’Swats are so ignorant in matters of culture that they enjoy the off-tune music. This only deepens Sybylla’s resentment of her situation, but she obliges their request to keep on playing.
Themes
