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. |
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... Redcrosse and his quest. Milton I had met in high school, when, like Lewis, I wondered why people saw Satan as heroic. Yes, he was proud; but pride is a sin. He did not impress me as worthy of admiration, and I was reassured to find ...
... Redcrosse Knight, several of the characters in the Chronicles are not innately evil; they are simply swayed from the true path by temptation and weakness and become temporary or unintentional antagonists. While some of these characters ...
... [Redcrosse] in great passion all this while did dwell,/ More busying his quicke eyes, her face to view” (I.ii.¡3.¡2–3, 26.5–6). The dissimilar color patterns in the two antagonists emphasize the natures of their seductive powers. While ...
... Redcrosse, Edmund, and Digory most want, they are as false as Duessa and Jadis themselves. Duessa's cry of encouragement is apparently a general one since she has made overtures to both Redcrosse and his opponent, the pagan knight Sans ...
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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 |