Questions tagged [c-s-lewis]
Questions about the British author C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963), or any of his works, most famously his fantasy series 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.
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Is Judaism represented in the Narnia books?
In C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, it's very clear that the Narnians are meant to represent Christianity, with Aslan symbolising Jesus (in fact, Aslan is literally Jesus in-universe), while the Calormenes ...
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Did C. S. Lewis support the Ransom Theory in the Chronicles of Narnia?
Some critics have claimed that the explanation of Aslan's sacrifice in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe supports the ransom theory of the atonement. (Edit: There's also a much briefer definition ...
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Why the title The Silver Chair?
The titles of the Narnia books mostly make sense.
The Magician's Nephew: title refers to the main protagonist, through his relation to a more minor character but that's how he got involved in all ...
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Why is the order of The Chronicles of Narnia changed from original publication?
When I originally read The Chronicles of Narnia I read an older boxset which has the books numbered in original publication order:
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of ...
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Does the description of Eustace's parents fit some known stereotype?
In the opening paragraph of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis introduces us to the (at this point in the story) singularly unlikeable character of Eustace Clarence Scrubb. About his parents, ...
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Was C. S. Lewis condemning nuclear weapons in The Magician's Nephew?
Aslan says the following in The Magician's Nephew:
"It is not certain that some wicked one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living ...
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Was Susan ever able to return to Narnia?
At the end of The Last Battle, Peter states that Susan has become 'too grown up' to return to Narnia. However, we do see grown-ups coming to Narnia, or Aslan's country - we see their parents. Also, it ...
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Who is Mrs LeFay in "The Magician's Nephew"?
In The Magician’s Nephew, Andrew refers to his godmother, Mrs LeFay, who gave him the powder he used to make the rings. Other than this and a reference to her possessing "fairy blood", ...
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Is Deeper Magic something more than God (the Emperor beyond the Sea) in Narnia?
When Aslan is asked why he has to die in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he answers something in the sense that there is a "deeper magic" that he has to obey.
What exactly is this &...
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Why don't people in the Chronicles of Narnia have trouble "transitioning" back to their old life after extended times in other worlds?
In The Chronicles of Narnia, people often spend weeks, months, or even decades in other worlds. They return to their old life at the exact instant that they left as if they were never gone. For ...
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Do all old stars get their own private island and a magical buffet table?
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the crew of the Dawn Treader lands on the island of Ramandu, who is a retired star1.
"I am a star at rest, my daughter," answered Ramandu. "When I ...
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What suggests Edmund might be gay?
While I was doing some research, looking for an answer for Are Frog and Toad more than just friends?, I found this article listing 15 fictional characters the author thinks are probably gay. Some of ...
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Was Neil Gaiman's Stardust influenced by C.S. Lewis?
A central theme in Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel Stardust is that stars, when they fall from the sky, take on the shape of human beings. One of the main characters is a fallen star who ends up living on ...
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Was Rowling inspired by the railway station scene in Prince Caspian?
I was rereading Prince Caspian and noticed that in the start of the story they're in
an empty, sleepy country station, and there was hardly anyone on the platform but themselves
and then they're ...
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Is the giant who carved the "Under Me" line Time?
In The Silver Chair, Rilian, while enchanted, said:
Though under Earth and throneless now I be,
Yet, while I lived, all Earth was under me.
From which it is plain that some great ...
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Why didn't The Last Battle mention Susan's reaction to her family's death?
In The Last Battle, several of Susan's close relatives (including all of her siblings) were killed on the same day in a train crash. The book merely mentions that she was no longer a friend of Narnia, ...
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Why does the Czech translation of "Till we have faces" mean the opposite?
The title of the book Till we have faces by C. S. Lewis is translated into Czech language as Dokud nemáme tvář. I would translate that into English literally as "While we don't have a face" or "Until ...
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Does C. S. Lewis support annihilationism in The Last Battle?
C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle includes a scene of what amounts to the Last Judgment (I don't recall the exact chapter, but it's toward the end of the book):
The creatures came rushing on, their ...
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Does Puzzle the Donkey have an allegorical relationship with any entity in the Book of Revelation or the Bible at large?
C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia are a great children's series which present an allegory the New Testament and Biblical history. That said, Lewis sometimes put in things that don't necessarily reflect ...
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How old is too old for Narnia?
In Prince Caspian, Peter and Susan are told that they won't return to Narnia again because they're "getting too old", although Edmund and Lucy aren't. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, ...
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Was CS Lewis referencing the uncanny valley?
I recently learned about the concept of the uncanny valley, and it immediately reminded me of the following passage from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Chapter 8 (emphasis mine):
"No, no, ...
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Did C. S. Lewis ever intend to write about any of the other universes in The Magician's Nephew?
The Wood Between the Worlds has numerous pools. We're told about where three of them lead: our world, Narnia, and Charn. Evidently, each pool leads to a separate universe in the Chronicles of Narnia ...
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Why is C.S. Lewis so concerned with being locked into a wardrobe?
In The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe author C.S. Lewis makes five references to the characters making sure to not latch the wardrobe from the inside:
[Lucy] immediately stepped into the wardrobe [...
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Why does the Emperor-Over-the-Sea play such a small role in the Chronicles of Narnia?
The Emperor-Over-the-Sea is referenced at several points during the series. The Stone Table, Deep Magic and the Deeper Magic were all set in motion by him, and he is the father of Aslan.
At the same ...
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Was Edmund in the Narnia series loosely inspired by Edmund in King Lear?
In King Lear, Edmund, resentful of his inferior status to his older brother, betrays his family and frames his brother as a traitor. This strikes me as being quite a bit like what Edmund does in The ...
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Does this edit in The Magician's Nephew (from "had her bathe" to "had her bath") fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence?
Later editions of C.S. Lewis 'The Magician's Nephew' have been edited, presumably to reflect modern usage.
Polly went down and had her bathe; at least she said that was what
she'd been doing, but we ...
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Did any of the Pevensie kings and queens find romance while in Narnia?
Something that always struck me about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is how the four Pevensie children not only spend years in Narnia but grow up and become adults there, before having to ...
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What evidence do scholars offer on both sides as to the authorship of "The Dark Tower"?
The Dark Tower is an incomplete manuscript posthumously attributed to C. S. Lewis. There has been widespread controversy about whether it was actually written by C. S. Lewis.
What evidence do ...
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Was the N.I.C.E. director modelled on H. G. Wells?
Wikipedia claims that the character of Horace Jules in C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength - ostensibly the Director and boss of the N.I.C.E. organisation, in reality a figurehead manipulated by those ...
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What is the symbolism of Ransom's heel wound?
In Perelandra, the second book of CS Lewis's planets trilogy, the protagonist Ransom is wounded in the heel by the Un-Man/Weston. We learn in the third book, That Hideous Strength, that the wound ...
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How long did the Pevensies rule in Narnia?
The books imply that the Pevensies were in Narnia for years (or perhaps even decades) in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Is there any indication of exactly how long they were gone?
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Religious symbolism of the Telmarines?
The religious symbolism in C.S. Lewis's Narnia books is well known and, in many cases, very clear: Aslan is Jesus, the Calormenes are a very stereotypical portrayal of Muslims, the Dwarfs may ...
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What is the symbolism of Eustace's arm ring?
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace put a cursed arm ring on, which resulted in him becoming a dragon.
Does the arm-ring itself have any special symbolism (e.g. he was entrapped by his own ...
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Does the blackness in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader have any religious significance?
In Chapter 12, "The Dark Island", of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the ship reaches a patch of mysterious blackness in the ocean. Nobody wants to enter it, but after a speech from the ever-...
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How does Emeth's presence in Aslan's Country in The Last Battle fit in with the rest of C. S. Lewis's theology?
In The Last Battle, Emeth was a soldier from Calormene who worshiped Tash. Apparently, he thought that Tash was basically like Aslan, so Aslan interpreted Emeth's worship of Tash as actually being ...
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Why is the Emperor Beyond the Sea named that?
Closely related: Why does the Emperor-Over-the-Sea play such a small role in the Chronicles of Narnia?
Why is the Emperor Beyond The Sea in The Chronicles of Narnia named that? What sea is he beyond, ...
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Is there a consensus on Lindskoog's accusations toward Walter Hooper?
In the late 1980s, Kathryn Lindskoog created quite a stir in the "C.S. Lewis community" by attacking the authenticity of many of the works posthumously released by the Lewis estate. In a ...
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Son of Adam but not Eve? Daughter of Eve but not Adam?
Throughout The Chronicles of Narnia the humans are referred to as "Son of Adam" for a male, and "Daughter of Eve" for a female. I'm assuming that the characters in Narnia don't think that females only ...
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Does The Chronicles of Narnia promote deism?
Very related: Why does the Emperor-Over-the-Sea play such a small role in the Chronicles of Narnia?
Also related: Why is the Emperor Beyond the Sea named that?
The Chronicles of Narnia refer to Aslan'...
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What sort of bookshops sell The Works of Aristotle?
In the beginning of The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis' narrator states:
However far I went I found only dingy lodging houses, small tobacconists, hoardings from which posters hung in rags, windowless ...
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When did the Pevensies forget their origins?
At the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe we find out that the Pevensies do not remember their English past, nor even how they came to Narnia in the first place:
So they alighted and tied ...
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Why did people appear to remember what was going on at the time they left England when they returned from Narnia?
Very closely related: Why don't people in the Chronicles of Narnia have trouble "transitioning" back to their old life after extended times in other worlds?
When the Pevensies ...
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For and Against different Reading Orders for Narnia
There are two common reading orders for the Chronicles of Narnia:
The original publication order:
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
...
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What is the source for C.S. Lewis' quote "A good book should be entertaining"?
What is the source for C.S. Lewis' quote "A good book should be entertaining"?
I am looking for a written source from the author and/or attempting to discover if he wasn't just recorded by ...
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Is there any significance in the cry "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi" in Prince Caspian?
In Prince Caspian, there's a passage where Aslan apparently uses his power to summon up the spirit of Old Narnia, leading to the eventual defeat of the Telmarines with very little bloodshed. A wild ...
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What are "smoking-room stories"?
I recently started reading C.S. Lewis's book That Hideous Strength, the third in his Space Trilogy (and I'm devouring it - what a story!) The following passage, from when Mark first meets Miss "...
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Why are the bears bulgy?
Among the diverse characters introduced in Prince Caspian during Caspian's tour of the Old Narnians are three bears known as the "Bulgy Bears". What exactly does it mean for them to be bulgy? It's not ...
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How does Bacchus fit into the Christian allegory of Narnia?
The setting and story of The Chronicles of Narnia are strongly linked to Christianity: Aslan, who sacrifices himself for a traitor in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before returning to life, ...
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Do the Round Table crew in "That Hideous Strength" actually contribute anything to events?
I recently finished reading That Hideous Strength, and despite my great enjoyment of most of the story, I felt let down by the ending. It was so ... unsatisfying ... to resolve all the conflict by
In ...
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Does Uncle Andrew consider himself an Übermensch in The Magician's Nephew?
The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche rather prominently includes the idea of the Übermensch ("overman" or "superman"), who were exempt from the ordinary rules of morality in some sense. Is this what ...