Question

Please, explain this sentence to me: " When the Freudian doctrine of complexes and inhibitions came in, younger members of the family, such as Violet, given to pastels, Christopher, inclining to the stage, and Maud Dartie, nothing if not daring, would speculate on what had happened to Aunt Hester before she was as she was", especially this part: "Violet, given to pastels, Christopher, inclining to the stage". What did author really want to say about Violet and Christopher? It's from Galsworthy's novel "Hester’s Little Tour". This phrase sounds extremely out of place to me. Why would he talk about their personal treats in a sentence dedicated to a strangeness of Hester?
I'm a non-native English speaker, so the more detailed your explanation will be, the better. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hello there!

"Violet, given to pastels," = Violet likes to paint or is a painter.
"Christopher, inclining to the stage" = Christopher likes to be on the stage or is an actor. 
I believe this is what the author was saying about Christopher and Violet.

Hope I helped!

Answer 2

Pastels are drawings, and I believe Aunt Hester has something to do with the drawing. 
To answer "what did author really want to say about Violet and Chris", i would say that Violet is trying to draw Chris (violet, given to pastels literally means drawing, while Chris is the person Violet is drawing).
But im not sure, but i think that Aunt Hester wants Violet to draw Chris, or she is just watching them.


hope this helps