Eustace & Hildatrilogy

This trilogy traces the unhealthy relationship a brother and sister, Eustace and Hilda Cherrington, from childhood through young adulthood in early twentieth-century England. Eustace is a weak-willed indolent creature, easily dominated and swayed by any stronger personality. He is perfect material for his elder sister Hilda, a forceful personality with a puritan streak a mile wide. Each needs the other's weakness to survive, Eustace because his ineffectualness needs an outside goad, and Hilda because she must have someone to exercize her will over. It was fascinating to observe the social development of the characters. Eustace gradually becomes independent of Hilda, but she can't thrive without him. At the end of the book, Eustace is well on the road to maturity, not so much a case of arrested as delayed development. He has learned to face responsibilities, and become a man of action. There is even a hint of a possible future romance. It is left to conjecture if he would have fallen again under Hilda's sway, but the reader feels he would have had a good chance. Hilda, while she initially appears more competent and effective, is unable to withstand the pressures of adult life, particularly adult sexuality. She cannot stand to be thwarted; to dominate and control is as necessary for her as air and water. Eustace, while handicapped by his passivity, has several strokes of luck. Several people assist his development and have his best interests at heart. Stephen Hilliard, an Oxford classmate who becomes a lawyer, manages his financial affairs and helps steady his impulsive generosity. Lady Nelly, his Venetian hostess, encourages him to write a book. He is able to accept and integrate outside advice into his life and learns to view the world in shades of gray; for Hilda everything must always be black and white. If you are interested in novels of psychological developement, I strongly recommend this book.

I cannot imagine how I manged to go through college, a graduate program in English, and many years of teaching British literature without ever having read this book. The character development is excellent, and even when the characters are being aggravating (as they sometimes are), the reader truly cares about them and wants to see what happens next. I highly recommend this book to all fans of the well-crafted British novel. Furthermore, I recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in the ways, both healthy and unhealthy, that siblings interact.

Certainly the most complicated and complex set of charcters in literature. And that THE charcters count up to only two only serves to underline the essence of the book. The trilogy is basically an exploration of releationship between a very unforthcoming and rather narcisstic Eustace and the domineering Hilda. "Shrimp and the anemone" starts off the tale from their childhood and culminates with "Eustace and Hilda". Both are certainly doomed to disappointments - neither can look beyond the other. For all Hilda's success at the hospital, it is Eustace's guardian that she sees herself - moral as well as the economic guardian. One never senses any feeling in Eustace to escape this bond.Rather he is as much a slave to Hilda as she wills all to be. As the story progresses towards an intriguing climax, the tables are turned as Hilda now becomes dependant on Eustace for her medication. Eustace gears up to it gamefully - and it is reeally the final chapters of the book which explore the relationship at a direct level. All in all, it is a wondferful read. Recommended for those who love words and who do not mind a leisurely pace. A masterpiece !