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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... villains as evil, unappealing, and occasionally ridiculous. This is also how he interpreted many of the villains and monsters in The Faerie Queene and Paradise Lost.6 Lewis's depiction of women is at least as complex as his depiction of ...
... villains in the Chronicles, who, both in appearance and in essence, resemble the primary antagonists created by Spenser and Milton to provide struggles for their protagonists. In addition to these reprobates, there is a host of evil ...
... villains and those of his sources lies in the archetypal and primal elements that make up these adversaries. Such elements are vital components of any successful villain and resonate in all the “great” villains, from The Big Bad Wolf to ...
... villains are built on the fears that are part of every human being.2 When C.S. Lewis wrote about the composition process he followed for the Chronicles of Narnia, he frequently emphasized that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was ...
... villains who lend a number of characteristics to Jadis. The Faerie Queene's Duessa, one of Spenser's masterpieces, is clearly an influence in the creation of Jadis. Like Duessa, the White Witch appears with all the trappings of royalty ...
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 |