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Chapter 30
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 monotony of life at Barney’s Gap is agony to Sybylla. At night, she slips out of the house to sit under the stars. She sings songs from Caddagat and tries to relive every hour she spent there until emotion overwhelms her and she prays. Mr. M’Swat suspects Sybylla of sneaking out to see a lover because the idea of a girl going out to stargaze and dream is impossible to him. Sybylla does not try to explain; she assumes that a soulless man like M’Swat would consider her mad.
Caddagat continues to serve as a tantalizing dream for Sybylla. She characterizes Caddagat with the songs she sang there, emphasizing its status as a place of music and art. Though she has frequently spurned the existence of God, her longing for Caddagat is so strong that Sybylla starts to pray. In her despair, her description of Mr. M’Swat becomes more resentful. She calls him soulless for his lack of wisdom and culture, and she believes that he could never understand that a girl might have dreams.
Themes
Peter M’Swat has a sweetheart a few miles away, and he often goes out to visit her. One night, he returns from one of these visits and sees Sybylla outside. He slows his horse so Sybylla can walk beside him, but he does not dismount. Sybylla reflects that Peter is not rude, he is simply ignorant. This is why he allows Mrs. M’Swat to labor while he sits and smokes. He is not unmanly; he is just acting out the only manliness he knows.
In the same way that Mrs. M’Swat presents a model of unwomanly womanhood, Peter M’Swat offers a model of unmanly manhood. He lacks Harold’s chivalry and replaces it with ignorance. Like Mr. Melvyn, he fails to fulfill his duties to his family––he lets Mrs. M’Swat toil while he relaxes. Unlike Mr. Melvyn, though, Peter’s behavior is not selfish; it simply doesn’t occur to him to behave otherwise.
Themes
Mr. M’Swat approaches Sybylla about her sweetheart, telling her both that she shouldn’t sneak out to meet men and that she shouldn’t make any advances toward Peter. Sybylla is dismayed and disgusted by the idea of marrying Peter––she has some respect for him, but she views their lives as so incompatible that their only similarity will be death. Sybylla explodes at M’Swat, calling him impertinent to even suggest she might have interest in a boor like Peter. She tells him she goes out at night to escape his terrible home, and spitefully assures him that making a bit of money has not made M’Swat a gentleman. She demands M’Swat never discuss Sybylla as an option for marriage with anyone in the area, and then she storms to her room, where she weeps.
Sybylla does not dislike Peter, but she is so disgusted by the M’Swats’ lifestyle that she snaps at Mr. M’Swat for even suggesting she might want to be part of it. Her notion that even the most alien lives will share similarities in death is a bleaker version of Sybylla’s democratic view of humanity; whether rich or poor, male or female, all people are equal in death. However, Sybylla briefly pushes against her own egalitarianism. She falls into elitist ideas of Old Money and New Money when she tells M’Swat he has failed to become a gentleman, and by calling him impertinent, Sybylla suggests that she holds higher status than M’Swat, despite him being her employer.
Themes
Sybylla fantasizes about running away from Barney’s Gap, but her love for her siblings at home keeps her there. If Harold Beecham were to appear, she would accept his proposal with no conditions. She thinks of him as gallant and princely, and far superior to any men she sees at Barney’s Gap. Mrs. Bossier mentions Harold in a letter to Sybylla on Easter, and her description makes it clear that Harold still intends to marry Sybylla when she is 21.
Though Sybylla often expresses jealousy toward Gertie, she does love her siblings. Because of this, she remains employed at Barney’s Gap, despite her misery. Where once a married life was her worst nightmare, now she would accept Harold at once if he came for her. Just like she sees everything else at Caddagat as superior to Barney’s Gap, Harold too is a superior man. Harold is not planning to swoop in and rescue her, but he still plans to be married once Sybylla turns 21.
Themes
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Life at Barney’s Gap is draining the life from Sybylla. She often cries through the night instead of sleeping, and the neighbors describe her as sorrowful and delicate. She feels guilty for snapping at Mr. M’Swat, who in his own mind was only behaving in a fatherly way, so she apologizes to him. Sybylla also tells M’Swat that she is already engaged, but she asks him to keep this a secret, and he agrees.
Sybylla was once so rambunctious and wild that her mother worried she would never mature into a proper woman. Now, her depression has put her in a delicate constitution, and her fearlessness is replaced by constant tears. After the heat of the moment passes, she recognizes that she treated Mr. M’Swat badly. This mirrors Sybylla’s argument with Harold, when she snapped that she would never marry him before regretting her actions. Despite Sybylla’s changing nature, some of her habits remain the same. And, just as Harold forgave her, M’Swat responds to Sybylla kindly, which suggests that she has judged him too harshly.
Themes
Sybylla does not consider herself superior to the M’Swats––in fact, she thinks their morality, practicality, and good natures make them superior to her. She is especially impressed at Mrs. M’Swat’s ability to bear children year after year without complaint. But despite her respect for the M’Swats, the lack of mental stimulation they offer Sybylla is hurting her soul.
Sybylla manages to overcome her misery enough to recognize that she doesn’t really dislike the M’Swats. She envies the qualities that make them suited to lead practical lives with kindness and humor, and she sees that Mrs. M’Swat is not as unwomanly as she first thought. In fact, Mrs. M’Swat may be more womanly than Sybylla, since Sybylla struggles to raise children and loathes the idea of giving birth. But even as she realizes the best features of the M’Swats, she cannot reconcile herself to life at Barney’s Gap.
Themes
