Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels

In 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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Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels

In 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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Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels

Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels

by Elizabeth Baird Hardy
Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels

Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels

by Elizabeth Baird Hardy

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Overview

In 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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780786483631
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date: 11/21/2014
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 196
File size: 4 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Baird Hardy is an English instructor at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, where she was chosen as the 2006 outstanding faculty member. She lives in western North Carolina.
Elizabeth Baird Hardy is an English instructor at Mayland Community College in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, where she was chosen as the 2006 outstanding faculty member. She lives in western North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     
A Note on Citations     
Introduction     

I. The Depiction of Evil: Women of Power and Malice     
II. The Depiction of Evil: Men, Mortals, Monsters, and Misled Protagonists     
III. Girls Whose Heads Have Something Inside Them: The Characterization of Women     
IV. An Inside Bigger Than Its Outside: Setting and Geography     
V. Knowing Him Better There: Spirituality and Belief     

Conclusion     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     
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