Post #2 on the “Hilary Trench” Alternate Personality of Graham Greene, another Great Novelist who had Multiple Personality

“When Vivien [his future wife] first met Greene, three different personalities must have been evident to her: the first what Greene described as ‘the Oxford me’, an undergraduate persona characterized by a devil-may-care, tongue-in-cheek delight in pricking Oxford pomposities, sometimes by the pose of insouciance; the second the richer, more ambiguous person described in this chapter; and the third hinted at in scattered references—the Hilary Trench personality…"

Greene wrote to reassure Vivien that she “need never be afraid of meeting H[ilary] T[rench] in our house. Poor devil, he can never come anywhere near you, even if he is alive, which he isn’t. O it’s no use writing. I’ve got to be with you to convince you that he’s dead. He’s been dying since March 17 [that is, the day they met]…

“But he did not succeed in persuading Vivien that his secret personality would not return, though he deeply regretted the sudden assumption of this secret self…

“…the Hilary Trench personality…usually made its appearance after deep anxiety had been prolonged to a point where Greene could stand it no longer, and this began before he met Vivien…

“On other occasions Greene’s notion of Hilary Trench seems less severe and is more in line with seeking both an escape from intolerable restlessness and also new experiences to use for creative purposes…” (1, pp. 276-277).

1. Norman Sherry. The Life of Graham Greene. Volume I: 1904-1939. New York, Penguin Books, 1989.