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 6-10 of 44
... Christian in nature because Lewis was himself a Christian, and because his books feature British protagonists because Lewis was himself British, the Chronicles echo Milton and Spenser naturally as a result of Lewis's lifelong ...
... Christianity, Lewis did not reject Christian authors, actually finding himself alarmed that many of the writers he admired and enjoyed most were those whom he saw as “tainted” by “'Christian mythology' ... [but] authors who might be ...
... Christian traditions. Miltonic threads are woven even more deeply into the Lewis canon, partly because of his early, unfaltering interest in Paradise Lost. On March 5, ¡908, Lewis noted in his diary that he had read Paradise Lost and ...
... Christian beliefs, rather than making excuses for them, has also been cited as a refreshing and impres- sive aspect of the Preface. Although Milton was, for some time, out of favor among the literary elite, Lewis rejoiced that “Milton ...
... Christian tradition as sources: “It is true that there is little original material in Lewis's books for children. He tapped many literary sources for the fanciful frameworks of his stories.” Critics have explored Lewis's Platonic ...
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 |