Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis NovelsIn 1950, Clive Staples Lewis published the first in a series of children's stories that became The Chronicles of Narnia. The now vastly popular Chronicles are a widely known testament to the religious and moral principles that Lewis embraced in his later life. What many readers and viewers do not know about the Chronicles is that a close reading of the seven-book series reveals the strikingly effective influences of literary sources as diverse as George MacDonald's fantastic fiction and the courtly love poetry of the High Middle Ages. Arguably the two most influential sources for the series are Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen and John Milton's Paradise Lost. Lewis was so personally intrigued by these two particular pieces of literature that he became renowned for his scholarly studies of both Milton and Spenser. This book examines the important ways in which Lewis so clearly echoes The Faerie Queen and Paradise Lost, and how the elements of each work together to convey similar meanings. Most specifically, the chapters focus on the telling interweavings that can be seen in the depiction of evil, female characters, fantastic and symbolic landscapes and settings, and the spiritual concepts so personally important to C.S. Lewis. |
From inside the book
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... Aslan: “Dearest,” said Aslan very gently, “you and your brother will never come back to Narnia.... You are too old, children ... and you must begin to come close to your own world now.” “It isn't Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It's ...
... Aslan and his “other name,” and about much else that was important to him spiritually, personally, and professionally, particularly about the literature that he respected and enjoyed. A close reading of the seven-book series reveals the ...
... Aslan and his followers, evil in the series is given a thorough and well-developed treatment that echoes The Faerie Queene and Paradise Lost. There are a number of major villains in the Chronicles, who, both in appearance and in essence ...
... Aslan was an image that came “bounding in” through dreams, while Mr. Tumnus the Faun, carrying his umbrella, had been with him since adolescence: All seven Narnia books ... began with seeing pictures in my head. At first they were not a ...
... Aslan's Garden, or to her use of enchanted food, such as Turkish Delight. In addition, her red mouth marks one of her most powerful weapons: words which often twist and distort the truth in order to bring others under her sway. She also ...
Contents
17 | |
The Depiction of Evil Men Mortals Monsters and Misled Protagonists | 51 |
Girls Whose Heads Have Something Inside Them The Characterization of Women | 77 |
An Inside Bigger Than Its Outside Setting and Geography | 107 |
Knowing Him Better There Spirituality and Belief | 135 |
Conclusion | 159 |
Chapter Notes | 163 |
Bibliography | 177 |
Index | 183 |