The Fiction of C. S. Lewis: Mask and Mirror

162 Pages·1993·15.047 MB·English

by  Kath Filmer (auth.)

THE FICTION OF C. S. LEWIS
Also by Kath Filmer
THE VICTORIAN FANTASISTS (editor)
TWENTIETH-CENTURY FANTASISTS (editor)
The Fiction of
C.S. Lewis
Mask and Mirror
Kath Filmer
Departmeltt of Eltglis/l
The Ultiversity of Queells[a"d, Brisballe, Australia
First published in Great Britain 1993 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-22537-8 ISBN 978-1-349-22535-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-22535-4
First published in the United States of America 1993 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-08667-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Filmer, Kath, 1943-
The fiction of C. S. Lewis: mask and mirror I Kath Filmer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-08667-1
I. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), I 898-1 963-Fictional works.
I. Title.
PR6023.E926Z6466 1993
823'.9 I 2-{!c20 92-24844
CIP
© Kath Filmer 1993
Soficover reprint of the hardcover 15t edition 1993
AU rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this puhlication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this puhlication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
II 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
To Frank (Owen)
for caring
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
1 Lewis's Supernaturalism: Light and Darkness 9
2 Good, Evil and the Notion of the Self in Lewis's
Adult Fiction 28
3 Images of Good and Evil in the Narnian Chronicles 43
4 Lewis's Political Fictions 53
5 Political Issues in Lewis's Juvenile Fiction 77
6 Facing the Feminine: Women in Lewis's Early
Fiction 88
7 Masking the Misogynist in Narnia and Glome 104
8 Women as Saints and Slatterns in Lewis's Shorter
Fiction 121
9 So Who Was C. S. Lewis? 132
Notes 139
Bibliography 144
Index 150
vii
Acknowledgements
My research into C. S. Lewis's fiction has spanned nearly twelve
years, and I have had a great deal of assistance from a very great
number of people during that period. lowe thanks to Dr David
Lake, who first encouraged me to carry out the research; to C. S.
Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham, and his wife Merrie; to Walter
Hooper,literary trustee of the C. S. Lewis estate, who agreed that I
might summarise the unpublished novel fragment from The Lewis
Papers; to Lyle Dorset and his staff at the Marion E. Wade Center,
Wheaton, Illinois; and to Dr Bruce L. Edwards Jr., and his wife Joan.
All of them were helpful to me in the early years of my research.
Some of my overseas travel was made possible by the Walter and
Eliza Hall Travelling Scholarship, which I was awarded in 1983.
In 1988, I was a Research Fellow at Hatfield College, Durham; I
owe much to the college for the opportunity to think through many
of my original ideas; and I am greatly indebted to the Rev. Dr
David Jasper, Director of the Centre for the Study of Literature and
Religion, to Stephen Prickett, Regius Professor of English Language
and Literature at the University of Glasgow, and to the Rt. Rev.
Alastair Haggart and his wife Mary, for encouragement, friendship
and interest in this project.
I also held a Research Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced
Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh during
the Michaelmas Term of 1990, and although the main purpose of
my visit was to analyse television news, I was also able to do further
research for this project during my time there. I have very happy
memories of many kindnesses from Professor Peter Jones, his wife
Jean, Anthea Simon, Julie Dhanjal and Jim Rogan of the Institute,
and the best of landladies, Evelyn Carruthers, and I extend sincere
thanks to them all.
As always, I am indebted to The Inner Ring: The Mythopoeic
Literature Society of Australia, for the warm fellowship and friend
ships it has given me. Every delegate to everyone of its conferences
in the past ten years has in some sense stimulated my interest in
this project and I thank them all, but particularly Dr Michael Tolley,
Associate Professor Norman Talbot, Dr Virginia Kenny, and Dr John
Strugnell. They are good colleagues and good friends.
viii
Acknowledgements ix
One of the great pleasures of recent years has been for me the
experience of reviewing books for local papers. I am especially
grateful to John Cokley of The Sunday Mail, who has been kind
enough to let me keep an eye on new books about Lewis; and
as always, I have a great debt to Lyn Baer, who began by being
a research assistant and is now a friend. 'Thank you' is a poor thing
to say for all she has done for me. Her help with proof reading has
been invaluable. I am also indebted to Angela Tuohy for all kinds
of assistance.
And to Kon and Jenny; Rae, Karl and Alanna; Michael, Susan and
Laura, thank you for not worrying too much about my disappearing
for long periods into my computer room, and for being there when
I came out.
And to Frank, the Welsh Wizard: you brought me magic. This
book is my thanks.
Introduction
He has probably made several turns in his grave by now. No
author has attracted so much attention, been the centre of so much
controversy, been so lionised or so denigrated, as C. S. Lewis.
Acclaimed on the one hand as a twentieth-century 'apostle',
despised as a thundering fundamentalist, made patron saint of
some right wing think-tanks, denounced as a reactionary, Lewis
has left a literary legacy which cannot be ignored.
And indeed, no-one could possibly claim that it has been ignored.
There are innumerable books about Lewis, including four biogra
phies (by William Griffin, George Sayer, and A. N. Wilson; and the
original biography by Roger Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper,
the second edition of which was released during 1988). As well,
there have been books such as those by Clyde S. Kilby (The Christian
World of C. S. Lewis and Images of Salvation in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis),
and Michael J. Christensen (c. S. Lewis on Scripture: Thoughts on the
Nature of Biblical Inspiration, the Role of Revelation and the Question
of Inerrancy) which are concerned with Lewis's religious beliefs.1
But even a comprehensive survey of the books about Lewis is not
the whole picture. There are also huge and still growing numbers
of articles, scholarly papers, reviews, periodicals and discussion
groups devoted to the works of Lewis, not to mention a very
great number of masters' and doctoral theses, term papers and
assignments. The first question which comes to mind - mine as
much as anyone else's - is why another look at a man whose life
and work has been under such close scrutiny?
My reason is a simple one, and one of which I think Lewis would
approve. While I have felt much admiration for some of the other
books about Lewis, I have had a feeling of vague dissatisfaction
about all of them. There seems to be a universal tendency to
hagiography pervading them; Lewis is held up for admiration
by those who have enjoyed his works and a certain quality of
critical reading seems to have been minimised in order to extol
Lewis's 'Christian' message. I am therefore writing the book I have
wanted to read; one which takes a look at Lewis in the only reliable
way now open to us - the man as revealed in his own writings. I
want to take a fresh look at Lewis's fiction, since, pace contemporary
1