Caddagat Symbol in My Brilliant Career

Caddagat symbolizes Sybylla’s fruitless ambitions. At Caddagat, Sybylla temporarily attains the life she craves: she is surrounded by family who are openly affectionate toward her, fulfilling her desire to be loved, and she has ready access to literature and her grandmother’s piano, fulfilling her desire for arts and culture. Caddagat at first seems unambiguously positive––it is a haven for Sybylla after the struggles of Possum Gully. However, when she is forced to leave Caddagat, the memories of her life there become melancholy because she is unable to return. She begs Mrs. Bossier to rescue her from Barney’s Gap and restore her place at Caddagat, but Mrs. Bossier refuses. Not only can Sybylla not reclaim the happiness she once had, but she is actively prevented from doing so by Mrs. Bossier and her old-fashioned values of family. This speaks to how expectations of traditional femininity stand in the way of Sybylla’s ambitions. Even when Sybylla is once again among her family at Possum Gully, she cannot go back to Caddagat; instead, her sister Gertie is sent to live with their grandmother, and Sybylla hears of Caddagat only through letters, highlighting her distance from the life she wants to lead. Gertie’s letters make clear that the residents of Caddagat have taken to her even more easily than they took to Sybylla, which convinces Sybylla that Gertie has replaced her in the hearts of her relatives. Caddagat has become yet another reminder of the lack of love in Sybylla’s life, yet its memory still haunts her because it represents what might have been.

Caddagat Quotes in My Brilliant Career

The My Brilliant Career quotes below all refer to the symbol of Caddagat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

The pleasure, so exquisite as to be almost pain, which I derived from the books, and especially the Australian poets, is beyond description. In the narrow peasant life of Possum Gully I had been deprived of companionship with people of refinement and education who would talk of the things I loved; but, at last here was congeniality, here was companionship.

Related Characters: Sybylla (speaker), Mrs. Bossier, Aunt Helen

Related Symbols: Caddagat

Page Number and Citation: 62

Explanation and Analysis:

Caddagat Symbol Timeline in My Brilliant Career

The timeline below shows where the symbol Caddagat appears in My Brilliant Career. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Sybylla is excited to go to Mrs. Bossier’s home, Caddagat, where Sybylla was born. When Gertie comes to act as a peacemaker between Sybylla and... (full context)

Sybylla sets off to Caddagat, which is so rural that even rural residents consider it “up the country.” She leaves by... (full context)

Finally, Sybylla arrives at Caddagat. She is nervous about how Mrs. Bossier will receive a girl with no money and... (full context)

...Mr. Hawden, and two travelers whom Mrs. Bossier has invited to spend the night at Caddagat. After dinner, the group plays music and sings in the drawing-room until Mrs. Bossier tells... (full context)

Sybylla’s Uncle Julius is set to return from Sydney to Caddagat in September, and he will be bringing with him a young gentleman named Everard Grey.... (full context)

Ambition, Respectability, and Pride Theme Icon

...tells Everard to hide his attraction to Sybylla for the rest of his stay at Caddagat. (full context)

Two days later, Everard and Uncle Julius leave Caddagat for Sydney. Hawden tells Sybylla that he is glad the “dandified ape” is gone, since... (full context)

...to stop Hawden’s pursuit of Sybylla, and in fact afterwards he follows her all over Caddagat complaining about her abuse of him. Despite this annoyance, Caddagat is so beautiful in the... (full context)

...Harold. The next morning, Julius gives Harold the pair of bullocks that Harold came to Caddagat for, but Harold lingers at the house to speak with Sybylla. This outrages Julius; he... (full context)

...hear the beauty of the piano. She asks if Possum Gully has seen rain, since Caddagat is facing a drought––though it is nothing like the droughts the Melvyns suffered near Goulburn.... (full context)

...and magazines he sent her and supposes he has forgotten all about the family at Caddagat after so long away. She anxiously awaits her visit to Sydney, where she plans to... (full context)

Sybylla has a few chores at Caddagat, one of which is to extend hospitality to visiting vagrants. Anyone who comes to Caddagat... (full context)

...man––her brother in humanity––truly believes in God. This sort of thinking rarely troubles Sybylla at Caddagat, since she has so many pleasures that she is happy simply to be reckless and... (full context)

...in leisure. The Bossiers have brought in a number of young women as guests to Caddagat to spend time with Sybylla. They go swimming together, supervised by Aunt Helen, and race... (full context)

Every year to celebrate the Prince of Wales’s birthday, Caddagat’s neighboring course Wyambeet hosts a horse-race, which is then followed by a servants’ ball at... (full context)

Sybylla joins the parties from Caddagat and Five-Bob Downs for lunch. Among them is Miss Blanche Derrick, who is considered the... (full context)

...for a long time, and when she does, Harold meets her. Mrs. Bossier and the Caddagat group have returned home, so the group from Five-Bob Downs will be taking Sybylla home... (full context)

The next morning Joe Archer brings Sybylla and Aunt Helen back to Caddagat. Harold tells Sybylla that he will visit her the following Sunday, so on Sunday morning... (full context)

Sybylla turns 17 at a time when the farm hands are away from Caddagat. When a drover announces that 20,000 sheep are going to be passing through the Bossier’s... (full context)

...Sydney. Despite Mrs. Bossier’s strictness for propriety, she is so used to Harold’s presence at Caddagat that she allows him to visit with Sybylla freely before he leaves. (full context)

Christmas at Caddagat is a happy occasion with many guests, though Sybylla sorely feels Harold’s absence. She looks... (full context)

...mother, who only writes to express hope that Sybylla is behaving well. The men of Caddagat are seven miles away, so Sybylla saddles her horse and rides to find them. She... (full context)

...refuses to break her promise to Mr. M’Swat. Sybylla is devastated at having to leave Caddagat, her home, and Mrs. Bossier and Aunt Helen, whom she adores. In her remaining time,... (full context)

Sybylla leaves Caddagat on a hot Wednesday afternoon. Aunt Helen kisses Sybylla’s hand and tells her that everyone... (full context)

Frank Hawden drives Sybylla away from Caddagat, and the two of them part on good terms. When she gets on her second... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...she can only sit still and torture herself by imagining what might be happening at Caddagat. She continues this habit as she starts her duties the following Monday, since her work... (full context)

...life is full of trials. After a year, Helen says, Sybylla might come back to Caddagat. Sybylla takes this answer as a betrayal and writes as much in a response to... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...Sybylla will not give in. Mrs. Bossier offers to take one of the children to Caddagat to help the family, and Mrs. Melvyn sends Gertie. Sybylla reflects that Gertie, the pretty... (full context)

Gertie initially sends many letters from Caddagat, but she sends fewer as time goes on. Mrs. Bossier mentions in one of her... (full context)

A few months later, Sybylla receives several letters from Caddagat informing her that Harold Beecham has moved back to Five-Bob Downs with his fortune intact.... (full context)

My Brilliant Career

Miles Franklin

Caddagat Symbol Analysis

Caddagat Quotes in My Brilliant Career

Caddagat Symbol Timeline in My Brilliant Career