Mythic Symbolism and Cultural Anthropology in Three Early Works of Marguerite Yourcenar: Nouvelles Orientales, Le Coup De Grace, Comme L'Eau Qui Cou

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 attempts to show the fundamental originality of the early narratives, and to establish them as masterpieces of French literature.