Comparing My Brilliant Career And The Drover's Wife

Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career (1901) and Henry Lawson’s famous short story The Drover’s Wife (1892) are distinctly embedded in the history of Australian literature. Within this essay, I will examine how these writers have contributed to the proliferation of nationalism and how their works are indicative of Australian rural life. To do this, I will firstly analyse Lawson’s interpretation of bush life and its significance in The Drover’s Wife; then, I will focus on the feminist aspect and how the ‘wife figure’ is centred in the context of the novel; and finally, I will illustrate how Lawson’s effectual narrative strategy and language draws a emblematic picture of Australia as a nation and assigns gender roles respectively within both sexes.
In the second part of my essay, I will engage in the nationalist argumentations that Franklin puts forth in My Brilliant Career; then, I will examine how feminism and nationalism come together to challenge imperialism and the sovereignty of masculine power; and lastly, I will expound upon Franklin’s description of Australia’s unique landscape which has greatly influenced our perception of Australia as a ‘new’ nation. To conclude I will examine the importance of indigenous people and their exclusion in both Lawson’s and Franklin’s novels due to Australia’s colonial attitude and the writers’ nationalistic expressions. The 1890s saw a huge upsurge in proto-nationalist literature, most notably evident in the works of Miles Franklin and Henry Lawson. Lawson’s hugely celebrated short story ‒ The Drover’s Wife ‒ published in 1892, constructs a ubiquitous identity which expounds upon what it means to be Australian with its delineation of the bush life. Specifically, expanding the exploration of the Australian spirit and its connectedness to the landscape is what the Bulletin school refers to as bush realism. In opposition, critic Mandy Sayer states that the ‘The Drover’s Wife blurred the distinctions between masculine heroics and a threatening feminine landscape’ (Sarper, 2008, p. 194).The female protagonist of the story, the drover’s wife, is isolated in an unforgiving landscape which can be metaphorically equated to the ethos of the robust masculine nationalism. However, the permeating image of the bush and its place in the Australian landscape heavily influences the bush woman’s sentimentality and physicality. She is displaced in this melancholy environment, where the male drover tradition is surprisingly juxtaposed with the affirmative and resilient female portrait given. Lawson defined the growth of nationalistic ideals among women and contributed immensely to represent Australia’s culture as a reinvented identity, not only as a masculine entity, but rather as a place for mutual self-expression among both women and men. The female realm of the 1890s was domestically-oriented, with the woman’s focus being on her children, duties and her responsibilities towards her husband.
She was expected to stand strong in the face of danger with the absence of her husband. Henry Lawson’s characterisation of the drover’s wife oscillates between masculine exhaustion and cultural femininity which she inherits from the British refined civilisation. The drover’s wife demonstrates feminine traits with her emotional and affectionate concern towards her children’s appearance and etiquette and also her own respectful and obedient manner in the bush. Furthermore, she symbolizes hope and construes an effective relationship with the volatile landscape which is represented as evil and alien with the snake’s terrorising presence. According to Australian historian, Manning Clark, ‘the drover’s wife presents to Australians an awareness of both a surface heroism and a metaphysical terror’ (Magarey, Rowley, & Sheridan, 1993). The position of the woman is paradoxically set against the dangers of the bush life, signifying the discordance of femininity in a heroic masculine environment. The wife’s plight against the bush is a feminist struggle against the superiority of the dominant male in a time of national pride for independence and masculine
hardship.

In order to distinguish it from itsmotherland, Britain, Lawson strives to convey a unique picture of Australia as a new nation. By emphasizing the bush landscape as a cultural object of identification, Lawson greatly contributed to an arising nationalism centredround mateship and freedom. As a result, the presence of women in Australian literature was becoming prominent, resulting in the establishment of The Federation in 1901. Many of the female heroines were taking on leading roles such as the drover’s wife and Franklin’s compelling character, Sybylla Melvyn. Professor Kay Schaffer states that ‘by studying the critical reputation of the drover’s wife as a story as a female character, and as a representative of the nationalist tradition . . . we can trace shifting ideological perspectives on Australian culture and women’s place within them’ (Kossew, 2003). However, it is important to notice Lawson’s taciturn narrative strategy that maintains the ‘woman-man’ distinction. Ironically, her son Tommy and the bushmen are the ‘heroes’ of the story despite her tiresome efforts as the ‘male’ figure of the story. This is evident in Lawson’s precept inthe story: ‘There are things that a bushwoman cannot do!’(Lawson, 1973, p. 5). I argue that Lawson, in this way, focuses on gender differences and the physical ‘limitations’ not the ‘exclusion’ of women in Australia’s national culture.
Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career (1901), is recognised as the ‘founding narrative of nationhood’ (Dalziell, 2004, p. 40) in Australian literature. The story endorses the archetypal Australian characteristics such as mateship, independence and masculinity which she subjectively critiques through the character of Sybylla Melvyn. The antipathetic conceptualization of masculinity towards women is strongly disputed with the main character acting as the ‘voice’ of women in a conventional Australian ‘space’. What draws the most prominent picture of national identity is Franklin’s perpetual focus on the landscape and Sybylla’s ‘journey’ through a rural setting. Her adventure symbolizes the Australian type; an individualist and a ‘misfit.’ In contrast to Australia’s motherland which stood for its cultivation and romanticism, Australia and its bush life drastically opposes such ‘feminine’ values. Consequently, the 1890s saw a new nationalistic outlook which objected masculine biases, with the emergence of female writers such as Rosa Praed, Susan Sheridan and Miles Franklin. Franklin helped to define a new nation which exhibits the pioneering mentality of the ‘feminine’and the robust heroism of the bush-men.
My Brilliant Career is a story written from a feminine perspective, resistant against the superior nationalist tradition of ‘manliness.’ According to Professor Jill Roe, the ‘key component of nineteenth century nationalism was belief in the emergence of a superior Australian type, female as well as male’ (Magarey, 2001). Before the 1890s, Australia’s history was void offemale authority, both as a respectable member of society and as an equal to the rugged dominant male. Even The Bulletin, initially an Australian literature magazine established in 1880, denied Franklin’s feminine statements whilst glorifying her metaphorical re-creation of the Australian landscape in her novel, My Brilliant Career. Due to this anti-feminist attitude, Franklin portrayed Sybylla as a ‘tomboy,’ resilient and tough. By focusing on the principles of independency and creativity, Sybylla negates the institution of marriage. I argue that her refusal to accept Harold Beecham’s proposal is her refusal to succumb to imperial order and reproduction. By juxtaposing masculine characteristics with her feminine traits such as sensitivity and romance, Sybylla showcases the power of women and their conformity within both gender roles. However, the national character of Australia, characterised by its prevalence to colonised tropes and masculine signification, renders Sybylla’s dream of pursuing a ‘brilliant’ career impregnable. She identifies herself to the Australian culture, being of a laconic and hardworking type, stating that her ‘ineffective life will be trod out in the same round of toil, - I am only one of yourselves, I am only an unnecessary, little, bush commoner, I am only a – woman’ (Franklin, 1901, p. 232). The strong emphasis on the statement that she is ‘only a woman,’ objectifies the placement of women in Australia at this time. As a result, women were viewed as sexual objects; submissive to the robust man and alienated from the rural portrait of Australia, the outback. By announcing Sybylla’s unfortunate destiny, Franklin presents us with an inevitable realisation of what Australia represents: isolation of women and the impossibility of a ‘brilliant’ career within the restraints of the hyper-masculine ideology. Consequently, Franklin’s strategy of interpolating both feminist and masculine traits to that of the main protagonist, the ‘Australian Girl’, creates a new dimension in moulding Australia’s national identity. Her romance with Harold showcases the realism that inhibits the novel; the relationship expressing the woman’s vulnerable state and dependence on masculine power. However, Sybylla rejects this sentimental nationalism and adheres to a different point of view. I argue that Franklin positions the woman as a passive subject to Australia’s bush mythology and as an active participant in re-creating Australia’s identity; conveying an impetus for change within Australia’s nationalist discourses and gender relations.
In contrast to Franklin’s hugely criticized feminist nationalism in My Brilliant Career, her portrayal of Australia’s unique landscape is praised for its sheer Australianness. According to Lawson, Franklin’s depictions are ‘true to Australia – the truest I have ever read’ (Dalziell, 2004). Despite her note in the novel that she will refrain from poetic and romantic descriptions of the sun and the gushing wind, she goes against this forewarning. For example, she joyfully expresses its evocative impact by alluding to the sun and how it ‘blazed and danced in the hallway – the leaves of the leaves of the gum-trees gleaming in it like a myriad gems!’ (Franklin, 1901). I argue that this unreliable narration provokes the reader to substitute the inconsequential romantics of the main character and focus instead on her passion for Australia’s heritage and landscape. By giving the scenery such strong connotations, Franklin transforms Australia’s obscurelandscape into an iconic locality.
Sybylla’s struggle to conform to various places such as Barney’s Gap for instance, is a symbolic indicator of the position of women in Australia’s history. Even though Sybylla claims that she is just like the bedraggled M’Swat’s, she is evidently ironic in her soliloquy. Being a woman of intelligence and independency, she differs from her surroundings. Consequently, to engender the ‘isolated’ woman, Franklin connects Sybylla to the landscape in which we are made to interpret this as their permanent and righteous place in Australia’s cultural identity. Moreover, the remoteness of the outback reveals the heroic combat to epitomize Australia as a land of opportunity and individuality that is not subjected to its parent culture, Britain. The realist structure in MBC and The Drover’s Wife,highlights the preoccupation of marginalised voices and discourses of gender and race, in particularly that of women. However, in both textsthe novelists seem to have an ambivalent viewpoint about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders placement within their stories. For example, the drover’s wife recalls an incident from the past where she calls for a ‘Black Mary - the whitest gin in all the land,’ to aid her through the agonies of child-birth. The binary opposition made here between black and white illustrates the writer’s equivocal position towards indigenous people. Paradoxically, the use of the word ‘black,’ embraces the propagation of colonial discourse and imperialistic power over minorities and marginalised groups. In addition, Franklin’s racial reference to Barney’s Gap as the ‘Black’s Camp’is intentional. By dividing Aborigines and the white settler’s place within a racial context, she announces an intrusive nationalistic hierarchy that is evident in Australia. I argue that the exclusion of Aborigines in these iconic narratives are implicitreminders of their displacement and absence in the reconstruction of a new nation. To conclude, I argue that the descriptive mastery and nation-building appeals in My Brilliant Career and The Drover’s Wife, have illustrated a unique perspective on Australia as a new nation, blurring the distinctions of its colonial customs. Both texts represent the mythology and the remoteness of the bush and the rural life of Australia during the 1890s. The peroration of elaborate and romantic expressions in MBC conveys a compelling image of Australia and its scenic beauty which is made homogenous with Sybylla’s harsh and unforgiving character. Similarly, Henry Lawson’s sere realism touches upon the burgeoning nationalism of late 19th century Australia and the gender politics that challenges cultural biases and have helped recreate Australia’s national identity.