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Chapter 29
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
Mrs. M’Swat sends Sybylla and one of the M’Swat girls, Lizer, to visit the neighbors. Sybylla likes them better than the M’Swats because their house is clean and they are kind, but she is disappointed that the neighbors live the same slow life with the same small ideas as the M’Swats. The girls of the neighboring family tell Sybylla that Barney’s Gap is a horrible, dirty place, and Mrs. M’Swat is a filthy creature. Sybylla never speaks against Mrs. M’Swat, but she resents that the life forced upon her is one that horrifies even these girls with no ambition.
Sybylla’s encounters with the neighbors reveals that the M’Swats’ flaws are specific to them and not due to their class. The neighbors are much cleaner and more reasonable, though Sybylla is still unable to find a friend who shares her lofty goals and ideas. Sybylla demonstrates some respect for the M’Swats and her position in their household by refusing to speak against Mrs. M’Swat, but her frustration continues to grow as she becomes the object of pity for the small-minded girls she considers herself distinct from.
Themes
Mrs. Melvyn insists Sybylla write to her regularly, so every week Sybylla writes a letter complaining about Barney’s Gap. In turn, every week Mrs. Melvyn replies that Sybylla should be thankful for room and board. Sybylla knows that many girls would gladly swap places with her, but these girls are of a different temperament than she is.
Sybylla again distinguishes between herself and ordinary girls. By making the distinction, she is able to recognize her privilege while at the same time rejecting it as privilege. Mrs. Melvyn’s insistence that Sybylla should be grateful classifies her as this “other” type of woman, whose temperament is fundamentally different from Sybylla’s.
Themes
Sybylla’s brother Horace writes her a letter asking why she doesn’t give up writing to their mother, since doing so only frustrates both Sybylla and Mrs. Melvyn. Sybylla’s letters make Mrs. Melvyn more determined to leave her at Barney’s Gap, where Sybylla might become more practical. Horace is jealous that Sybylla gets to live away from home; he is tired of their father and the slow life of dairying. Sybylla takes her brother’s advice and stops writing Mrs. Melvyn, though she continues to correspond with Mrs. Bossier.
Horace’s letter provides a look into life at Possum Gully, since Mrs. Melvyn prefers to discuss Sybylla’s life than her own. Horace shares some of Sybylla’s frustrations with the monotony of life as a laborer, which are compounded by his resentment of their father. He calls into question the wisdom of continuing to write to Mrs. Melvyn, since doing so only entrenches both women more firmly in their respective positions. Sybylla actually sees Horace’s point and takes his advice.
Themes
In her letters, Mrs. Bossier tells Sybylla that Harold Beecham is leaving Sydney for Queensland. She wishes Sybylla would make the best of her situation; the dullness means Sybylla has no temptations she needs to resist, so her stay at Barney’s Gap will likely help her reputation. Mrs. Bossier also sends Sybylla a copy of an illustrated magazine that includes portraits of Australian singers. Sybylla thinks one of the singers, Madame Melba, is beautiful, and she describes the woman with great admiration to the M’Swat children. They don’t believe Sybylla about Madame Melba’s career, claiming that no one would pay a woman to sing.
Sybylla and Harold continue to drift apart: while she is stuck at Barney’s Gap, Harold is exploring the country. In her letters to Sybylla, Mrs. Bossier makes clear that she shares the Melvyns’ concern for reputation, and she believes that Sybylla’s time at Barney’s Gap will improve her reputation. Though Mrs. Bossier clearly does not understand how dire Sybylla’s mental health is, the magazines she sends demonstrate an understanding of Sybylla’s interests and passions. Sybylla enjoys the magazines, but the M’Swat children don’t believe the stories about Madame Melba. They insist that a woman could never make a career singing, unknowingly belittling Sybylla’s dream of becoming a singer.
Themes
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Sybylla is surprised that none of the M’Swats have heard of Madame Melba, but she also envies their ignorance. They are like ducks in a duck pond, while Sybylla is like a duck in a desert, never reaching water outside her dreams.
Sybylla envies the M’Swat’s ignorance because it prevents them from aspiring to unreachable heights. Like ducks in a pond, the M’Swats know only the limited world around them, so they do not want anything else. Sybylla, on the other hand, always feels out of place. She has a longing for something that would make her feel at home, but she can only achieve that goal in her dreams.
Themes
