The Problem of Evil in Sand's La Mare au diable and Carl Jung, The Ideology of Sentiment

My thesis insists oil the theme of evil implicit in Sand's title to her pastoral novel, La Mare an diable (1846). The question of evil as death (le mal metaphysique) stands Out ill her preface, opens her novel, and defines the challenge faced by the hero in social prejudice (le mal social) and in the heroic journey to overcome internalized obstacles such as fear (le mal psychologique) in order to transform his values. The interplay between good and evil culminating in "the devil's pond" intuits Jung's theory of the convergence of good and evil and the necessity of the latter in the maturation process. The victory of the hero, Germain, is also chat of Sand who rises above the ideological partisanship of her opening chapters to bring to life inspirational values open to all.