Womens Writings Assignment Report

Running head: WOMEN’S WRITINGS
WOMEN’S WRITINGS
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1WOMEN’S WRITINGS
Introduction:
Earlier the women were not treated as they are treated now. There had been a huge
controversy over their empowerment and them being independent. This had largely been because
the society in which they used to live had always been ruled by the patriarchal force. This had
made them stronger personality and in any or every way they tried to confront their confinement
and move out from their shackles. The English literature and many of the novels speak about the
women and talk about feminism which lets the readers know that the women of the then times
needed a space of their own where they could breathe independently. The following essay is a
critical analysis if the novel “My Brilliant Career”, by Miles Franklins, followed by a discussion
of the summary of the novel and also a critique of the same.
Discussion:
The novel “My Brilliant Career”, had been written by Miles Franklin which had also
been adapted into films and movies. This novel is a story of a teenage girl, named Sybylla
Melvyn. Her desire was to become a writer but throughout her journey of life, she had to face a
number of challenges as the patriarchal authority had prevented her from pursuing ther career.
The story is all about gender inequality and poverty. She being poor and belonging t o the female
gender, had been forced to support her family and earn her living, and this had prevented her
from walking towards her passion. Being demeaned by her own mother many of the times, she
had been finally sent to her grandmother where she had been lucky enough to work on her
passion, and develop her confidence and self esteem. However during her stay at her
grandmother’s house, she had been proposed by a boy named Harry Beechman. She had been

2WOMEN’S WRITINGS
hesitant because she had always wanted to be self dependent and financially stable. She hatred
control and wanted to pursue her dream of writing. However , again the patriarchal card plays
and she had to return back to her parents and clear her father’s debts. She is bound to be working
as a governess in her home and help her parents in Possum Gully1. This ends up shattering her
passions and her dreams and she thus could not pursue her passion of becoming a writer.
The Australian novel “My Brilliant Career”, had been strong and stands as a very bright
example for the present generation women. The novel dealing with a bush girl successfully and
most efficiently deals with the three phases of Women’s literature. These phases include the
indomitable strive for gaining equality in the male dominated society, the quest for gaining
independence and portraying her personality and the third phase includes the dream of self
fulfillment. In this context the author also says that the main protagonist of the story is a brilliant
example of all the modern day women. The novel very clearly depicted Sybylla Melvyn as the
rebellious one, who knew how to raise her voice. The author of the story had to take up a
pseudonym of a male character in order to make her book publish. She often had showed her
concerns and her hope in saying that had dreamt of standing in par with all the male novelists
and writers of the then times.
Virginia Woolf’s famous novel, “A room of one’s own” can also be compared with “My
Brilliant Career”, as being the twentieth century’s greatest feminist text that spoke of a women
and her state of mind. The main plot structure of the story deals with a women who also raises
her own voice saying that in order to let a women write fiction or become a writer, she must have
the financial stability and also a space of her own, where she can ponder upon her thoughts with
1 Henderson, Ian. "Gender, genre and Sybylla's performative identity in Miles Franklin's My Brilliant
Career." Australian Literary Studies 18, no. 2 (1997): 165.