Netflix’s My Brilliant Career introduces us to Sybylla Melvyn, a young Australian woman determined to become a writer in a world that seems to have already decided her fate.
Episode 1
Episode title: ‘Revolt’
Setting: 1890s Australia
Main locations: Possum Gully and Caddagat
Key characters: Sybylla Melvyn, Lucy Melvyn, Mrs Bossier, Aunt Helen, Harry Beecham, Frank Hawden and Augusta Beecham
What happens in My Brilliant Career Episode 1?
Right from the start, Sybylla Melvyn makes it very clear that she is not cut out to meet the societal expectations of 1890s Australia. She is stuck on her family’s faltering Possum Gully farm and spends her time riding, writing and, even at her young age, questioning the idea that a woman’s entire purpose should be tied to finding a husband.
Sybilla receives an invitation to go and stay with her wealthy, estranged grandmother, Mrs Bossier, at the lavish Caddagat estate but initially turns it down. It is only when she realises that there is a private library, a piano and plenty of fresh material for her writing that she caves into her parents’ wishes and accepts the invitation.
Life at Caddagat could not be more different from Possum Gully. She meets her widowed Aunt Helen, a kind woman who welcomes her warmly, but she gets off to a difficult start with her grandmother. Mrs Bossier is not impressed by her granddaughter’s clothes or manners, and immediately decides that she is in need of improvement in every sense.
At Caddagat Sybylla also meets two very different men. Frank Hawden is a guest at the homestead, an arrogant English foreman who is in search of a wife, while wealthy neighbour Harry Beecham’s blunt manner makes a poor impression.
Sybylla first social event
Sybylla’s first introduction to Caddagat society is when Harry organises a birthday party for his eccentric suffragist aunt, Augusta.
Mrs Bossier, not wasting any time, uses the party as an opportunity to work a Cinderella transformation on her granddaughter and turn her into a lady. At first Sybylla is amused enough by the idea and plays along with it, as it gives her the chance to observe a new world that is a complete contrast to life at Possum Gully.
But behind the scenes, Frank has begun considering Sybylla as a potential wife – and not because he has fallen in love.
Sybylla secretly overhears Frank telling Harry that his father will cut him off from his inheritance unless he returns to England with a wife. He bemoans Sybylla’s lack of a dowry and her ‘uncouth spirit’ as shortcomings he might be willing to tolerate in his desperation.
Sybylla is shocked and offended, but her feelings of humiliation quickly turn to anger – so she decides to fight back.
A scandal
Unwilling to take the insult lying down, Sybylla turns her rage into ammunition. She takes to the stage and recites a scathing provocative poem that is clearly aimed at Frank and Harry. The guests are all scandalised and Mrs Bossier is furious; she berates Sybylla for throwing away a rare opportunity to make an advantageous marriage. Sybylla refuses to apologise for her actions and insists that she wants to return to Possum Gully.
Then her mother arrives unexpectedly and reveals the eye-opening truth Sybylla has not been told.
Why can’t Sybylla go home?
Lucy explains that the Melvyn family is in dire straits and they can no longer afford to support her. It turns out, it was Lucy who had begged Mrs Bossier to take her daughter in to relieve the pressure on their household.
Suddenly, Sybylla understands that there is a reason for her visit to Caddagat, and it is not simply her grandmother’s meddling attempts to turn her into a lady.
Her family needs her to marry well.
This revelation changes everything about her situation. Sybylla has arrived at Caddagat with childish dreams of books, music, independence and a brilliant writing career. Instead, she realises that the people around her regard her as the potential solution to her family’s financial problems.
By the end of the episode, she is faced with a brutal ultimatum: Sybylla has got one year to find a husband – or her entire family could go under.
My Brilliant Career is based on the classic 1901 novel of the same name by Australian author Miles Franklin, who wrote the book while still a teenager.
You can stream all episodes of My Brilliant Career on Netflix.
