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
Results 1-5 of 50
... clearly an important and brilliant scholar whose work on many levels remains relevant and vital. The Chronicles have also received more serious attention because of their spiritual depth. Lewis's well-known work as a Christian apologist ...
... clearly Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene and John Milton's Paradise Lost. Although he certainly thought that everyone should read and appreciate Spenser and Milton, Lewis did not include material from these classic works of Western ...
... clearly reflects Lewis's delight in the text, as well as his recognition of its importance. Ironically, he also asserted that it “is perhaps the most di‡cult poem in English. Quite how di‡cult, I am only now beginning to realize after ...
... clearly rooted in his scholarship, deeply influenced Lewis's fiction as well as his academic writing, for it would not let him go. Scholars who want a closer look into Lewis's motivation and thought life often turn to The Faerie Queene ...
... clearly echoes The Faerie Queene and Paradise Lost, and how all these elements work together to convey similar meanings.5 In order to analyze how the depiction of evil in Narnia has much of its history in The Faerie Queene and Paradise ...
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 |