L. P. Hartley's The Eustace and Hilda Trilogy: a study of symbolic structure

Résumé

This dissertation presents a study of symbols as they spring
up from the literary work (The Eustace and Hilda Trilogy by L. P. Hartley), occurring and recurring as theme-carriers in similar contexts, reinforcing and complementing basic ideas, acting and  interacting for the same purpose of showing the central theme, related to the problematic development of the protagonist, Eustace Cherrington, from childhood and early adolescence to manhood. Eustace's difficulty lies basically in his obsessive sexual relationship towards his sister Hilda and in a life-time repression which together lead him to a condition of latent incest. To explain and illustrate this central theme, which is the destructive power of incest resulting in fragmentation of the ego we have opted for a psycological approach and tried to concentrate our study on erotic symbols.