Mythic Symbolism and Cultural Anthropology in Three Early Works by Marguerite Yourcenar Nouvelles Orientales, Le Coup De Grâce,

This study, which relies on the theories of Mircea Eliade, Gilbert Durand, C. G. Jung, offers a symbolic reading of three early works, all originally published in the 1930's. During that decade, Yourcenar's metaphysical thinking expressed itself through myth, and as the writer herself affirms, many of her characters thus represent "figures of mythical magnitude". In addition to disproving comments regarding the anti-feminist aspects of Yourcenar's writing, this study of her short fiction also signals the fundamental originality of the early narratives, and firmly establishes them as masterpieces of French literature.