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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... Magic Kingdom finally diminished her terrifying role in the Snow White ride. Lewis, like Disney and his artists, drew upon the primal characters of fairy tales to create his villains. Perhaps the primal nature of such villains is what ...
... magic to achieve their goals. Both tempt protagonists by o›ering them something physically desirable and sensually fulfilling. In Duessa's case, she o›ers “the shield, and I, and all” (I.v.¡¡.¡0) to Redcrosse, an emotionally vulnerable ...
... magic in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is most clearly manifested in her snow spell and her magic wand. The spell, like Duessa's transformation of Fraudubio and Fraelissa into trees, is a perversion of nature. Jadis creates a ...
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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 |