The Chronicles of Narnia

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The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels by C. S. Lewis. It is considered the classic literature of children and is the work of the most famous author, has sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages. Written by Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and originally published in London between 1950 and 1956, The Chronicles of Narnia has been adapted several times, complete or partially, for radio, television, stage and film.

Located in the fictional world of Narnia, the world of magic fantasy, mystical animals, and talking animals, this series tells the adventures of various children who play a central role in the history revealed from that world. Except in the Horse and the Son, the protagonists are all children of the real world, miraculously transported to Narnia, where they are summoned by the Aslan lion to protect Narnia from evil and return the throne to his line right. The books span the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in The Magician's Nephew to its destruction in The Last Battle.

The inspiration for this series is taken from various sources; In addition to adapting many traditional Christian themes, Lewis is free to borrow characters and ideas from Greek and Roman mythology as well as from traditional English and Irish tales.

The books have greatly influenced the literature of adult fantasies and children since World War II. Lewis's exploration of themes not normally found in children's literature, such as religion, and the perceived care of books on issues including race and gender, has caused some controversy.

Video The Chronicles of Narnia

Background and concepts

Although Lewis was originally pregnant what would become the Chronicles of Narnia in 1939 (a picture of a Faun with a parcel in snowwood having a history dating back to 1914), he did not finish writing the first book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe until 1949. The Magician's Nephew , the second book from the back to be published, but the last to be written, was completed in 1954. Lewis does not write books in the order in which they were originally published, are also not published in the order of their present chronological presentations. The original illustrator, Pauline Baynes, created pen and ink drawings for the Narnia books that are still used in today's edition. Lewis was awarded the Carnegie Medal of 1956 for The Last Battle, the last book in the story. Co-author Roger Lancelyn Green first called the series as "The Chronicles of Narnia", in March 1951, after he read and discussed with Lewis who had just finished his fourth book The Silver Chair , originally titled Night under Narnia .

Lewis describes the origin of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in an essay entitled "Everything Begins with Images":

The Lion all started with a picture of a Faun carrying umbrellas and parcels in snowy wood. This picture has been on my mind since I was about sixteen years old. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: 'Let's try to make a story about it.'

Shortly before the start of World War II, many children were evacuated to the English countryside to anticipate attacks on London and other large urban areas by Nazi Germany. As a result, on September 2, 1939, three school girls, Margaret, Mary, and Katherine, came to live at The Kilns in Risinghurst, Lewis's house three miles east of downtown Oxford. Lewis then suggested that the experience gave him a new appreciation of the children and by the end of September he began the story of children on a strange piece of paper that had survived as part of another text:

This book is about four children whose names are Ann, Martin, Rose, and Peter. But this is about the youngest Peter. They all had to leave London suddenly because of air strikes, and because Dad, who was in the Army, had gone to War and Mother did some sort of war work. They were sent to live with a kind of relationship of Mother who is a very old professor who lives alone in this country.

In "It's All Started With Pictures" C. S. Lewis continues:

At first I did not know how the story. But suddenly Aslan came there. I think I have dreamed a lot about lions at that time. Besides, I do not know where Lion came from and why he came. But once he was there, he pulled the whole story together, and soon he drew six more Narnia stories afterwards.

The manuscript for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was completed in late March 1949.

Name

The name Narnia is based on Narni, Italian, written in Latin as Narnia . Green writes:

When Walter Hooper asked [C. S. Lewis] where he found the word 'Narnia', Lewis showed him the Classic Little Atlas of Murray, ed. G.B. Grundy (1904), obtained when he read his classic work with Mr. Kirkpatrick in Great Bookham [1914-1917]. On the 8th plate of Atlas is a map of ancient Italy. Lewis has underlined the name of a small town called Narnia, just because he likes his voice. Narnia - or 'Narni' in Italian - is in Umbria, halfway between Rome and Assisi.

Maps The Chronicles of Narnia

Publishing history

The Chronicles of Narnia's seven books have been in continuous publication since 1956, selling over 100 million copies in 47 languages ​​and with editions in Braille.

The first five books were originally published in the UK by Geoffrey Bles. The first edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released in London on October 16, 1950. Despite three more books, Prince Caspian , The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Horse and His Boy , are complete, they were not released immediately at the time, but appeared (together with The Silver Chair ) one at a time in each - the following year (1951-1954). The last two books ( The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle ) were published in the United Kingdom originally by The Bodley Head in 1955 and 1956.

In the United States, publishing rights are first owned by Macmillan Publishers, and then by HarperCollins. Both publish the hardcover and paperback editions of the series during their tenure as publishers, while at the same time Scholastic, Inc. producing paperback versions for sale primarily through direct mail order, book club, and book fair. Harper Collins also published several editions that collected a single volume containing the full text of the series. As noted below (see read order ), the first American publisher, Macmillan, numbered the books in publication, but when Harper Collins won the rights in 1994, on the advice of Lewis's stepchild they used the series this' internal chronological order. Scholastic replaced the numbering of its paperback edition in 1994 to reflect Harper Collins.

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Books

The seven books that compose The Chronicles of Narnia are presented here in the order of the original publish date:

The Lion, the Witch and Clothes Wardrobe (1950 )

The Lion, the Witch, and the Clothes Wardrobe , completed in late March 1949 and published by Geoffrey Bles in England on October 16, 1950, tells the story of four ordinary children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie , who had been evacuated to the English countryside from London in 1940 after the outbreak of World War II. They find a cupboard at Professor Digory Kirke's house that leads to the magical land of Narnia. The Pevensie children helped Aslan, the talking lion, save Narnia from the wicked White Witch, who had ruled over the land of Narnia for a century of eternal winter without Christmas. Children become kings and queens in this newfound land and build the Golden Age of Narnia, leaving inheritance to be rediscovered in later books.

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951)

Done after Christmas 1949 and published on October 15, 1951, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia tells the story of the journey of the two Pevensie children to Narnia. They were pulled back by the power of Susan's horn, which was blown by Prince Caspian to call for help when he needed it. Narnia, because they know it, no more, for 1,300 years have passed and their castle is in ruins, while all Narnians have retreated so far in themselves that only Aslan's magic can wake them up. Caspian had fled into the forest to escape from his uncle, Miraz, who had seized the throne. The children set out to rescue Narnia again.

The Dawn Treader Shipping (1952)

Written between January and February 1950 and published on 15 September 1952, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader sees Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their piggish cousin Eustace Scrubb, returning to Narnia. Once there, they join the Caspian journey on the Dawn Treader ship to find the seven nobles who were banished when Miraz took over the throne. This dangerous journey brought them face to face with many miracles and dangers as they sailed to Aslan's country on the edge of the world.

Done in early March 1951 and published September 7, 1953, The Silver Chair is the first Narnian book that does not involve Pevensie children, and focuses on Eustace. A few months after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Aslan called Eustace back to Narnia with his classmate Jill Pole. They were given four marks to help them in searching for the son of Prince Caspian, Rilian, who disappeared ten years earlier in an attempt to avenge his mother's death. Fifty years have passed in Narnia; Eustace was still a child, but Caspian, barely grown up on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is now old. Eustace and Jill, with the help of Puddleglum the Marsh-shake, face danger and betrayal in their quest to find Rilian.

Horses and Boys (1954)

Beginning in March and completed in late July 1950, His Horse and His Son was published on September 6, 1954. This story occurred during the reign of Pevensies in Narnia, an era that began and ended. in the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe . A boy named Shasta and a horse talking named Bree, both of which are tied in Calormen country, are the protagonists. By "coincidence", they meet and plan their return to Narnia and freedom. Along the way they meet Aravis and his single horse Hwin who also escapes to Narnia.

The Magician's Nephew (1955)

Completed in February 1954 and published by Bodley Head in London on May 2, 1955, the prequel The Magician's Nephew brought the reader back to the origins of Narnia where we learn how Aslan created the world and how evil first entered. I t. Digory Kirke and his friend Polly Plummer stumble into a different world by experimenting with the magic ring created by Uncle Digory. In the dying world of Charn they awaken Queen Jadis, and they witness the creation of the Narnian world (where Jadis later became the White Witch). Many of the old questions about the world are answered as a result. The story was made in 1900, when Digory was a 12-year-old boy. He was a middle-aged professor when he hosted the Pevensie children at The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 40 years later.

The Last Battle (1956)

Done in March 1953 and published September 4, 1956, The Last Battle tells the end of the world of Narnia. Jill and Eustace return to rescue Narnia from Shift, a monkey, who deceives Puzzles, a donkey, into an imitator of Aslan's lion, which sparks a battle between Calormen and King Tirian. This leads to the end of Narnia, revealing the true Narnia that Aslan brought to them.

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Order reading

Fans of this series often have strong opinions about the order of reading the book. The problem revolves around the placement of The Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy in this series. Both are set significantly earlier in the Narnian story than their publication sequence and fall somewhat beyond the main story arc connecting the others. The reading order of the other five books is not disputed.

When first published, the books were not numbered. The first American publisher, Macmillan, mentions it according to their original publishing sequence, while some early English editions determine the internal chronological order. When Harper Collins took over the series rights in 1994, they adopted an internal chronological order. To make the case for an internal chronological order, Lewis's stepdaughter, Douglas Gresham, quoted Lewis's 1957 response to a letter from an American fan who was arguing with his mother about the order:

I think I agree with your [chronological] order to read more books than with your mother. The series was not planned before because he thought. When I write The Lion I do not know I will write again. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still do not think there will be any more, and when I have done The Voyage I feel pretty sure it will be last but I find I am wrong. So it probably does not really matter where anyone reads it. I'm not even sure that all the others are written in the same order in which they were published.

In the adult edition of the 2005 edition of Harper Collins, publishers cite this letter to affirm Lewis's preference for the numbering they adopted by including this notice on the copyright page:

Although the Magician's Nephew was written several years after C. S. Lewis first started The Chronicles of Narnia, he wanted the book to be read as the first book in the series. Harper Collins is happy to present these books in the order Professor Lewis likes.

Paul Ford cites some scholars who have weighed this view, and continued, "most scholars disagree with this decision and find it at least faithful to Lewis's innermost intentions." Scholars and readers who appreciate the original order believe that Lewis is just being friendly to his young correspondent and that he can change the order of books in his lifetime if he wants to. They maintain that many of the Narnian wonders come from the way the world is gradually presented in The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe - that mysterious cabinets, as narrative tools, are a much better introduction. to Narnia rather than Magical Nephew , where the word "Narnia" appears in the first paragraph as something familiar to the reader. In addition, they say, it is clear from the text itself that The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe is meant to be read in advance. When Aslan was first mentioned in the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , for example, the narrator said that "None of the kids knows who Aslan, more than you" - which makes no sense if someone has read The Magician's Nephew . Other similar textual examples are also quoted.

Doris Meyer, author of CS Lewis in Context Bareface: Guide to CS Lewis , writes that rearranging stories chronologically "reduces the impact of individual stories" and "obscures literary structures whole". Peter Schakel devotes an entire chapter to this topic in his book Imagination and Art in CS Lewis: Journey to Narnia and the Otherworld , and in Reading by Heart: The Way to Narnia he writes:

The only reason to read the first nephew's nephew is for a chronological sequence of events, and that, as every storyteller knows, is quite unimportant as an excuse. Often the initial incidents sequentially have a greater impact or effect as flashbacks, which are told after later events that provide background and set perspective. So that's [...] with Chronicles . Art, archetypes, and Christian thought patterns all make it better to read books in the order of their publications.

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Main characters

Aslan

Aslan, The Great Lion, is an eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe , and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the rest of the book. He is also the only character who appears in all seven books. Aslan is a talking lion, King of Beast, son of Emperor-Over-the-Sea. He is a wise, compassionate, magical authority (both temporal and spiritual) that serves as a mysterious and kind guide to the visiting human children, as well as being a Narnian guardian and savior. C. S. Lewis describes Aslan as an alternative version of Jesus as a form in which Christ may have appeared in an alternative reality.

Pevensie Family

The four Pevensie brothers are the main human protagonists of The Chronicles of Narnia . Various combinations of some or all of them appear in five of the seven novels. They were introduced at The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (though we did not learn their surnames until The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ), and eventually became King and Queen of Narnia reigned as a tetrarchy. Though introduced in the series as children, siblings grew into adulthood while ruling in Narnia. They again became children once they returned to their own world, but appeared as adults in The Horse and His Boy during their Narnian rule.

The four appear in the The Lion, the Wizard, and the Wardrobe and the Caspian Prince ; in the latter, however, Aslan tells Peter and Susan that they will not return, because they are too old. Susan, Lucy, and Edmund appear on The Horse and His Boy - Peter is said to go against a giant on the other side of Narnia. Lucy and Edmund appear on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, where Aslan tells them, too, that they are too old. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy appear as Kings and Queenss in Aslan's Country on The Battle of The Last Battle; Susan does not. Asked by a child in 1958 if he would write another book titled "Susan of Narnia" so that the whole Pevensie family would be reunited, CS Lewis replied: "I am so glad you liked the Narnia books and love to write and tell me. there's no point just asking me to write more When the story comes to my mind I have to write it, and when they do not, I can not!

Lucy Pevensie

Lucy is the youngest of the four Pevensie brothers. Of all the Pevensie children, Lucy is the closest to Aslan, and of all the human characters who visit Narnia, Lucy is probably the most believing person in Narnia. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe he started the story by entering Narnia through the closet, and (with Susan) witnessing Aslan's execution and resurrection. She was named Queen Lucy the Valiant. In Prince Caspian he was the first to see Aslan when he came to guide them. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it was Lucy who broke a transparent spell in Dufflepuds. As an adult at The Horse and His Boy he helped fight Calormenes at Anvard. Despite minor characters in The Last Battle , many concluding chapters are seen from his point of view.

Edmund Pevensie

Edmund is the second son to enter Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where he falls under the spell of the White Witch. As an example of a Christian theme of treachery, repentance, and subsequent redemption through blood sacrifice, he betrays his brothers, but soon realizes his true nature and evil intentions, and is redeemed by the sacrifice of Aslan's life. He was named King Edmund the Just. In Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader she supports Lucy; at The Horse and His Boy he led the Narnian delegation to Calormen and, later, the Narnian army broke the siege on Anvard.

Susan Pevensie

In The Lion, the Witch, and Clothes Ward Susan accompanied Lucy to see Aslan die and rise again. She's named Queen Susan the Gentle. In Prince Caspian , however, he is the last of the four to believe and follow Lucy when the latter is summoned by Aslan to guide them. As the adult queen at Horse and Son he was approached by Prince Rabadash of Calormen but refused his marriage proposal, and his angry response led the story to its climax. In The Last Battle , we are told that he has stopped believing in Narnia and remembering it only as a childhood game.

Peter Pevensie

Peter is the eldest son of Pevensie. In The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe he kills Speaking Wolves to save Susan, and leads the Narnians against White Witch. Aslan named him the High King, and he is known as Peter the Magnificent. At Prince Caspian he dueled with the usurers of King Miraz to restore the Caspian throne. In The Last Battle it is Peter who Aslan entrusted with the task of closing the door to Narnia for the last time.

Eustace Scrubb

Eustace Clarence Scrubb is a cousin of Pevensie sons, and Jill Pole's classmate at their School House Experiment. He was described initially as a child and a bully, but came to correct his bad behavior when his greed turned him into a dragon for a while. His grief for having to live as a dragon caused him to reflect on how terrible he was, and he soon became a better person so Aslan turned him back into a boy. In later books, Eustace appeared as a much better man, though he was still a bit fierce and arguing. Nonetheless, he became a hero along with Jill Pole when the couple managed to free Prince Rilian who was missing from the grip of a wicked wizard. She appeared on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and Last Battle.

Jill Pole

Jill Pole has nothing to do with the other kids who enter Narnia. He is Eustace Scrubb's classmate and neighbor. He appears on The Silver Chair, where he is a character point of view for most of the action, and is back in The Battle. At The Silver Chair Eustace introduced it to the world of Narnia, where Aslan gave her the task of memorizing a series of signs that would help her and Eustace in their quest to find the lost son of Caspian. In The Last Battle he and Eustace accompanied King Tirian in his ill-advised Narnian defense against Calormen.

Digory Kirke

Digory Kirke is the character mentioned in the title of The Magician's Nephew. He first appeared as a minor character in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, known only as "The Professor", who hosted the Pevensies when they were evacuated from London and defended Lucy's story which has been found. a country behind the closet. In the young Digory's Nephew Nephew, thanks to his uncle's magical experiment, accidentally brought Jadis from his dying moment from Charn to the newly created world of Narnia; To correct his mistake Aslan sent him to take a magic that would protect Narnia and heal his dying mother. He's back at The Last Battle .

Polly Plummer

Polly Plummer appeared on The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle. He is the next door neighbor of young Digory Kirke. He is deceived by a wicked witch (who is Digory's uncle) to touch the magic ring that transported it to Wood between the World and left it there stranded. The evil uncle persuades Digory to follow him with a second magic ring that has the power to bring him back. This forms the adventure of this couple to another world, and they witness the creation of Narnia as described in the Magical Nephew .

(Mr) Tumnus

Tumnus, called "Mr. Tumnus" by Lucy, is a prominent faun in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and also appears in The Horse and His Boy and < i> The Last Battle . He was the first creature that Lucy encountered in Narnia, as well as the first Narnia introduced in the series; he invites him to his home in order to betray him to Jadis, but quickly repents and befriends him. In The Horse and His Boy he devised a Narnia escape plan to escape from Calormen. He returned for a short dialogue at the end of The Last Battle . Tumnus is a faun in snowy wood, a mental image that, according to Lewis, was the initial inspiration for the entire Narnia series.

Prince Caspian/Caspian X

Prince Caspian, later King of Caspian X of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel and Emperor of The Lone Islands - also called "Caspian the Seafarer" and "Caspian the Navigator" - were the second book title characters in this series, first introduced as the nephew and young heir of King Miraz of Narnia. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia is set 1300 years after the reign of the High King Peter and his brothers, when Old Narnia has been encouraged to hide by Caspian's ancestor, Telmarines. Caspian is also a central character in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and appears briefly at the beginning and end of The Silver Chair.

Trumpkin

Trumpkin the Dwarf is the narrator of several chapters Prince Caspian ; he was one of the survivors of Caspian and a prominent figure in the "Old Narnia" rebellion, and accompanied the Pevensie children from the Cair Paravel ruins to the Old Narnia camp. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader we learned that Caspian had made him a Regent in Narnia when he was far away at sea, and he appeared briefly in this role (now old and deeply deaf) at The Silver Chair .

Reepicheep

Reepicheep the Mouse is the leader of the Talking Mice of Narnia in Prince Caspian . Absolutely fearless, disrespectful, obsessed with honor, he was seriously injured in the final battle but was healed by Lucy and Aslan. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , his role is greatly expanded; he became a visionary and also a fighter, and eventually his desire to seclude himself to Aslan's Country destroyed the last three charms of the Lords Lost, thus achieving the ultimate goal of the quest. Lewis identifies Reepicheep as "special" which exemplifies the last book theme of "spiritual life".

Puddleglum

Puddleglum the Marsh-swayed to guide Eustace and Jill in their quest at The Silver Chair. Though always pessimistic, he provides sound excuses and thus intervenes critically in the climactic charm scene.

Shasta/Cor

Shasta, later known as the Cor of Archenland, is the main character in The Horse and His Boy. Born as the eldest son and heir of King Lune of Archenland, and twin brother of Corin Prince, Cor was kidnapped as a baby and raised as the son of a fisherman in the country of Calormen. Learning that he would be sold as a slave early in his Horse and Son, Shasta fled to freedom, rescued Archenland and Narnia from the invasion, learned his true identity, and returned it to his inheritance. Shasta grew up to be the King of Archenland Land, married Calormene Tarkheena Aravis, and the next (and most famous) king of Archenland, Ram the Great.

Aravis

Aravis, the daughter of Kidrash Tarkaan, is a character in The Horse and His Boy . Escaped from a forced bond with a disgusting Ahoshta, he joined Shasta on his way and overheard the story of Rabadash, the crown prince of Calormen, to attack Archenland. He later married Shasta, now known as the Prince of Cor, and became the queen of Archenland by his side.

Bree

Bree (Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah) is Shasta's mount and mentor at The Horse and His Boy . A Horse Talk of Narnia, he walked to Calormen as a foal and was captured. He first appeared as a noble war horse Calormene; when the nobility bought Shasta as a slave, Bree arranged and did escape with them. Though friendly, he was also pointless and boasted until his encounter with Aslan at the end of the story.

King Tirian

The last Narnian king is a point of view character for many The Last Battle . After rashly killing a Calormen for persecuting Narnian Talking Horse, he is imprisoned by Shift's evil ape but freed by Eustace and Jill. Together they fought faithfully to the end and were welcomed at Aslan's Kingdom.

Antagonist

White Witch/Jadis

Jadis, commonly known during his reign of Narnia as the White Witch, is the principal criminal of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew - the only antagonist to appear in more than one book of Narnia. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe , he is the magician responsible for the freezing of Narnia which resulted in a Hundred Years of Winter; he transforms his enemies into a statue and kills Aslan on the Stone Table, but is killed by him in battle after his resurrection. In The Magician's Nephew he awakens from a magical sleep by Digory in Charn's dead world and accidentally brought to Victorian London before being transported to Narnia, where he steals an apple to give him the gift of immortality..

King Miraz

King Miraz is the main villain Prince Caspian . Before the opening of the book he had killed King Caspian IX, father of the titular Prince Caspian, and captured his throne as the king of the Telmarine invaders in Narnia. He raised Caspian as his heir, but tried to kill him after his own son was born. As the story continued, he led the Telmarine war against the Old Narnia uprising; he was defeated in a single battle by Peter and then killed by one of his own nobles.

Lady of Green Kirtle

Lady of the Green Kirtle is the main villain of The Silver Chair, and is also referred to in the book as "Queen of the Land" or simply as "the Witch". He ruled the underground empire through the control of the unseen mind. Before the The Silver Chair he has killed Kaspian's Queen and then persuaded and kidnapped his son, Prince Rilian. He meets the protagonists in their quest and sends them astray. Confronted by them later, he tries to enslave them miraculously; when it fails, he attacks them in the form of a snake and is killed.

Pangeran Rabadash from Calormen

Prince Rabadash, heir to the Calormene throne, is the main antagonist of The Horse and His Boy. Headed hot, arrogant, and entitled, he brought Susan Pevensie, with a small entourage including Edmund Pevensie, to Calormen in the hope of marrying her. When Narnia escaped from his grip, he attacked Archenland with the aim of building a base to attack Narnia and bring Susan back, but his plan was thwarted by Shasta and Aravis who warned Archenlander. He was captured by Edmund and turned into a donkey by Aslan as punishment.

Moving ape

Shift is the most prominent criminal of The Last Battle . He is an aging Talking Ape - Lewis does not explain what kind of ape, but illustrations Pauline Baynes describes him as a chimpanzee. He persuades nana Donkey Puzzle to pretend to be Aslan (wear lion skin) to seize control of Narnia, and proceed to cut the forest, enslave the Other Animals, and invite Calormenes to attack. He lost control of the situation for being too soluble in alcohol, and was eventually swallowed up by the god god Calormen, Tash.

The title character

• Magical Nephew - Digory Kirke
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Aslan, Jadis
• Horses and Boys - Bree, Shasta
• Prince Caspian - Prince Caspian

Main character appearance

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Narnia universe

The main setting of the Chronicles of Narnia is the Narnian world built by Lewis and, in The Magician's Nephew, the world that contains the city of Charn. The world of Narnia and Charnian itself is considered only as two in countless worlds that encompass our own universe, the main world of the main protagonists. This part of the world may be, though rare, and can be achieved in various ways. Narnia itself is described as being inhabited by various creatures, most of which will be recognized for those familiar with European mythology and the fairy tales of England and Ireland.

Population

See also: Narnian Beings and List of Characters The Chronicles of Narnia

Lewis's stories are filled with two different types of characters: Humans from the Earth-reading world, and the Narnians and their descendants created by Aslan. This is a typical work involving a parallel universe. The majority of the characters from the reader world play the role of the protagonists of various books, although some are mentioned only briefly depending on the chronology. Lewis does not limit himself to only one source of inspiration; on the contrary, it borrows from many sources, including ancient Greek and German mythology, as well as Celtic literature.

Geography

The Chronicles of Narnia describes the world in which Narnia exists as one of the main land surrounded by oceans. The capital of Narnia is located on the eastern edge of the mainland on the coast of the Great Eastern Ocean. This ocean contains islands explored in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . On the mainland Lewis locates the Narnian, Archenland, Calormen, and Telmar countries, along with other regions not described as states. The author also gives a glimpse of the more fantastic locations that are in and around the main world of Narnia, including the edge and the underworld.

There are several maps of the Narnia universe available, including what many considered "official", a colorful version published in 1972 by book illustrator Pauline Baynes. This is currently not printed, although smaller copies can be found in the latest hardcover edition of HarperCollins 2006 The Chronicles of Narnia . Two other maps were produced as a result of the popularity of the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe . One, "Rose Map of Narnia", is based loosely on the Baynes map and has Narnia trivia printed in reverse. The others, made in an ancient monochromatic style reminiscent of Tolkien Middle-earth maps, are available in print and in an interactive version of the movie DVD. The last map only describes the country of Narnia and not the entire world of Lewis.

Cosmology

A recurring plot device in The Chronicles is the interaction between the various worlds that make up the multiverse Narnia. Various methods are used to start these cross-overs which generally serve to introduce characters to the land of Narnia. Narnia cosmology is not internally consistent like Tolkien Middle-earth's contemporary Lewis, but it is enough to remember the more tale atmosphere of the work. During the series we learned in passing, the Narnian world is flat and geocentric and has a different star from Earth, and that the passage of time does not correspond directly with the passage of time in our world.

History

See also: Narnian timeline and History of Narnia

The Chronicles covers the entire history of the Narnian world, illustrates the process of making it, offering a snapshot of life in Narnia as its history unfolds, and how it finally crumbles. As is often the case in children's series, the children themselves, usually from our world, play an important role in all these events. The history of Narnia is generally divided into the following periods: the creation and the period shortly thereafter, the rules of the White Witch, the Golden Age, the invasion and rule of Telmarines, their subsequent defeat by Caspian X, the rule of King Caspian and his descendants, and the destruction of Narnia. Like many stories, narration is not necessarily always presented chronologically.

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Influences

Lewis's Life

Lewis's early life had parallels with the The Chronicles of Narnia . At the age of seven, he moved with his family to a big house on the outskirts of Belfast. The long hallway and empty rooms inspired Lewis and his brother to create trusting worlds while exploring their home, an activity reflected in Lucy's discovery of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe . Like Caspian and Rilian, Lewis lost his mother at an early age, spending most of his youth in an English boarding school similar to those attended by Pevensie children, Eustace Scrubb, and Jill Pole. During World War II many children were evacuated from London and other urban areas due to German air strikes. Some of these children, including Lucy (Lewis's godson), lived with him at his home in The Kilns near Oxford, just as Pevensie lived with The Professor in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Influences of mythology and cosmology

Drew Trotter, president of the Center for Christian Studies, notes that film producers The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and Clothes Ward felt that the book plot adheres to the "monomyth" pattern pattern described in Joseph Campbell Hero with a Thousand Faces .

Lewis is widely read in medieval Celtic literature, an influence that is reflected throughout the book, and the most powerful in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The entire book imitates one of the immigrants, a kind of Old Irish traditional tale that combines Christian elements and Irish mythology to tell the story of a hero's sea journey to the Otherworld. The Irish Middle Ages also had a tradition of high kings who ruled kings and queens or lower princes, as in Narnia. The term Lewis "Liquid," as in Cair Paravel, also reflects "Caer", or "fortress" in Welsh. The Reepicheep small boat is a coracle, a ship traditionally used in the Celtic region of the British Isles. Some creatures in books such as the one-foot Dufflepuds reflect elements of Greek, Roman, and Medieval mythology while other Narnian beings borrowed from Greek and Germanic mythology: for example, the centaurs of the first and the dwarves of the latter.

Michael Ward's 2008 book Planet Narnia proposes that each of the seven books related to one of the seven known celestial bodies or "planets" known in the Middle Ages according to the geocentric model of Ptolemaic cosmology (the theme for which Lewis got used to his work again). At that time, each of these heavenly bodies was believed to have certain attributes, and Ward argued that these attributes were intentionally but subtly used by Lewis to complement the story elements of each book:

In The Lion [the child protagonist] becomes king under the sovereign Jove; in their Prince Caspian hardened under a powerful Mars; on The "Dawn Treader" they drink light under Sol's quest; at The Silver Chair they learn obedience under Luna's subordinates; at The Horse and His Boy they came to love the poetry under the eloquent Mercury; at The Magician's Nephew they get the fruits that give life under the fertile Venus; and in The Last Battle they suffered and died under the terrible Saturn.

Lewis's interest in the symbolism of medieval and Renaissance astrological literature is more clearly referred to in other works such as his studies of the medieval cosmology of The Discarded Image, and in his early poetry and in the Trilogical Space The Narnian scholar Paul F. Ford discovers Ward's assertion that Lewis intends the Chronicles to be the embodiment of medieval astrology that makes no sense, although Ford discusses an early (2003) version of Ward's thesis (also called Planet Narnia , published in the Times Literary Supplement ). Ford argues that Lewis did not start with a coherent plan for the books, but Ward's book answers this by stating that astrological associations grow in writing:

Jupiter is... favorite planet [Lewis], part of the "custom furniture" of his mind... The Lion is the first example of "the idea that he... wants to try ". The Caspian Prince and The "Dawn Treader" naturally follows because Mars and Sol are both connected in thought with the benefits of Alexander's technique.... at some point after it begins Horse and Son he decided to treat the seven planets, because seven such treatment of his idea would mean that he had "worked it out".

Quantitative analysis of the images in various books The Chronicles provides a wide range of support for Ward's thesis: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair , Horse and Son , and Magical Nephew do use concepts related to, respectively, Sol, Luna, Mercury, and Venus, far more often than likely predicted, but the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe <,> Prince Caspian , and The Last Battle failed in statistical correlation with the planets they proposed..

The effect of literature

George MacDonald's "Phantastes" (1858) influenced the structure and setting of "The Chronicles". It is the work of "balm for the soul".

The White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has many features, both appearance and character, with the evil Duessa of Edmund Spenser Faerie Queene , a Lewis work studied in detail details. Like Duessa, she faked herself as Queen; he led Edmund's heresy with false temptations; he turns people into stone when Duessa turns them into trees. The two criminals dressed in plush robes and installed their conveyance with bells. In The Magician's Nephew Jadis takes the echo of Satan from John Milton Paradise Lost: he climbs the wall of the heavenly garden with an insult to the command to enter only by gate, and begins to tempt Digory when Satan tempt Eve, with lies and half truth. Similarly, Kirtle Green Mistress at The Silver Chair recalled the two female Errour snakes in The Faerie Queene and Satan transform into snake at Paradise Lost.

Lewis read Edith Nesbit's children's book from childhood and loved it very much. He described The Lion, the Witch and Clothes Ward around his time of completion as the "children's book in the E. Nesbit tradition". The Magician's niece specifically has a strong resemblance to Nesbit's The Story of the Amulet (1906). This novel focuses on four children living in London who discovered the magical talisman. Their father is away and their mother is sick, just like Digory. They managed to transport the ancient Babylonian queen to London and she was the cause of the riots; likewise, Polly and Digory transport Queen Jadis to London, sparking a very similar incident.

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Influence on other works

Influences on literature

The Chronicles of Narnia has been a significant influence on the literature of adult fantasies and children in the post-World War II era. In 1976, scholar Susan Cornell Poskanzer praised Lewis for his "powerful fantasies". Poskanzer argues that children can relate to Narnia books because heroes and heroine are realistic characters, each with their own distinctive voice and personality. Furthermore, the protagonists become powerful kings and queens who decide the fate of the kingdom, while adults in the Narnia books tend to be clowns, which by reversing the normal order of things that are pleasing to many young people. However, Poskanzer criticized Lewis for what he regarded as a haphazard scene of violence, which he felt disturbed the children. Poskanzer also notes that Lewis presents his Christian message quite subtly to avoid dull children with openly preaching.

Examples include:

Philip Pullman's fantasy series, His Dark Materials, was seen in response to The Chronicles . Pullman is a self-described atheist who completely rejects the spiritual themes that penetrate The Chronicles, but the series still addresses many of the same issues and introduces several similar types of characters, including talking animals. In another parallel, the first books in each series - Pullman Northern Lights and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - are both open with a young girl hiding in a closet.

Neil Gaiman's novel horror horror Coraline has been compared to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, since both books involve young girls traveling to the wizarding world through doors in new houses and against evil with the help of talking animals. The comic book series Sandman also features a "dream island" in Narnia in a story arc titled A Game of You . When the island has not been tidied by its creator, Morpheus, the inhabitants march into the shadow of his robes in a scene visually similar to Aslan's assessment of the Narnians in the Last Battle.

Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables makes reference at least twice to a king called "The Great Lion", a thin veiled reference to Aslan. This series does not explicitly refer to any characters or works that do not exist in the public domain.

Katherine Paterson's novel Bridge to Terabithia has Leslie, one of the main characters, revealing to Jesse his love for Lewis's books, then lending him The Chronicles of Narnia so he can learn how to behave like a king. His book also displays the name of the island "Terabithia", which sounds similar to Terebinthia, the island of Narnia that appears in Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . Katherine Paterson himself admits that Terabithia probably came from Terebinthia:

I thought I had made it up. Then, rereading the Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis, I realized that I might have got it from Terebinthian island in the book. However, Lewis probably got the name from the Bible's Terebinth tree, so we were both pinched from somewhere else, perhaps unconsciously. "

The story of science fiction writer Greg Egan "Oracle" describes a parallel universe in which a writer nicknamed Jack (Lewis's nickname) has written a novel about the fictional "Nesica Kingdom", and whose wife is dying of cancer aligned Lewis's wife Joy Davidman's death. Some Narnian allegories are also used to explore issues of religion and faith versus science and knowledge.

Lev Grossman The Magicians is a contemporary dark fantasy about a very talented young man who is obsessed with Fillory, the magical land of his favorite childhood books. Fillory is a covert substitute for Narnia, and obviously the author expects it to be experienced as such. Not only is the land home to many talking animals and mythical creatures, it is also accessed through the grandfather clock at the home of an uncle to whom five English children were sent during World War II. In addition, the land is ruled by two sheep like Aslan named Ember and Umber, and terrorized by The Watcherwoman. He, like the White Witch, froze the land on time. The plot of the book revolves around a place like "wood between the world" from The Magician's Nephew , a cross-road world where water puddles lead to another land. This reference to The Magician's Nephew is echoed in the title of the book.

JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, says that he is a fan of Lewis's childhood works, and cites the influence of The Chronicles in his work: "I find myself thinking about the clothing route for Narnia when Harry is told that he must throw himself at the barrier at King's Cross Station - it's late and he's on the Nine and Three-Quarters platform, and there's a train for Hogwarts. "However, he struggles to emphasize the difference between Narnia and his world:" Narnia is really, "whereas in Harry's books you go into a world in a world that you can see if you happen to Belong to a lot of humor comes from a collision between magic and the everyday world. In general there is not much humor in the book -Narnia's book, although I admire them when I was a kid.I'm so stuck I do not think CS Lewis mainly preaches.Read them now I find that the message s the ubliminal is not too subliminal. "The New York Times author Charles McGrath noted the similarities between Dudley Dursley, the irritating son of Harry's guard, and Eustace Scrubb, the spoiled boy who tortured the main character until he was redeemed by Aslan.

Influences on popular culture

Like a long-lived popular work, contemporary culture is replete with references to Aslan lions, traveling through the wardrobe and mentioning directly The Chronicles. Examples include:

Charlotte Staples Lewis, the character first seen at the start of the fourth season of the TV series Lost , is named in reference to C. S. Lewis. Lost producer Damon Lindelof says that this is a hint towards the show will take during the season. The Ultimate Lost and Philosophy book, edited by William Irwin and Sharon Kaye, contains a comprehensive essay on Lost motion plots based on The Chronicles.

SNL Digital Short both by Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell featuring a funny hypnotic hip hop song titled Chronicles of Narnia (Lazy Sunday) , which focuses on players' plans to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion , the Wizard, and the Wardrobe in a cinema. It was depicted by magazine's slate as one of the most culturally significant plays for many years, and an important comment about rap status. The Swedish Christian metal band Narnia, whose songs are mainly about the Chronicles of Narnia or the Bible, features Aslan on all of their album covers. To anticipate the screening of the film on December 9, 2005, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, various Christian artists released a collection of songs based on The Chronicles of Narnia .

During the interview, the main creator of the Japanese anime and game series Digimon said that he was inspired and influenced by The Chronicles of Narnia.

Influence on music

The Roar of Love adalah album konsep tahun 1980 oleh band Christian 2nd Chapter of Acts berdasarkan The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe .

The song "Continue, Deeper In" from The Waterboys' Space-to-Roam album is heavily influenced by The Chronicles of Narnia , with the title coming from inside The Last Battle . C. S. Lewis is recognized in liner notes as an influence.

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Christian Themes

A convert to Christianity in the future, Lewis has written numerous works on Christian apologetics and other literature on Christian-based themes before writing the Narnia books. Aslan's character is widely accepted by literary scholars as based on Jesus Christ. Lewis initially did not plan to incorporate Christian theological concepts into his Narnia stories. Lewis argues that the Narnia books are not allegorical, preferring to refer to their Christian aspect as "assumption".

The Chronicles have, consequently, great Christian followers, and is widely used to promote Christian ideas. However, some Christians objected that The Chronicles promote "soft paganism and occultism" for recurrent pagan images and themes.

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Criticism

Allegations of gender stereotypes

In the years that followed, both Lewis and The Chronicles have been criticized (often by other authors of fantasy fiction) for stereotyped gender roles, although other authors defend Lewis in this field. For example, Lucy gets a healing pot and a dagger, while Peter gets a sword. Most of the allegations of sexism center on Susan Pevensie's description in the Last Battle when Lewis writes that Susan "is no longer a friend of Narnia" and is interested in "nothing at this time except for nymphs and lipsticks and invitations".

Philip Pullman, contrary to Lewis in many fields, calls the "Narnia" stories "monumental underestimating women". His interpretation of Susan's section reflects this view:

Susan, like Cinderella, is undergoing a transition from one phase of her life to another. Lewis did not approve of that. He does not like women in general, or sexuality at all, at least on stage in his life when he wrote the Narnia books. He was frightened and surprised by the idea of ​​growing up.

In the short story of fantasy writer Neil Gaiman "The Problem of Susan" (2004), an old woman, Professor Hastings, deals with the sadness and trauma of the death of her whole family in a train accident. Although the girl's name is not revealed, the details of the whole story strongly implies that this character is Susan Pevensie's parents. The story is written for mature audiences and deals with issues of sexuality and violence and through it Gaiman presents a critique of Lewis's treatment of Susan.

Other authors, including fan magazine editor Andrew Rilstone, oppose this view, citing "lipsticks, nylons and invitations" quotes taken out of context. They maintained that in the Last Battle, Susan was expelled from Narnia explicitly because she no longer believed. At the end of the final battle Susan was still alive with her unspecified final destiny. Moreover, in Horse and Son Susan's maturity and sexual maturity are portrayed in a positive light, and therefore argue to be an impossible reason for its exclusion from Narnia.

Lewis's supporters also cite the positive role of women in the series, including Jill Pole at The Silver Chair, Aravis Tarkheena at The Horse and His Boy, Polly Plummer at Witches' Niece, and especially Lucy Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe . Alan Jacobs, an English professor at Wheaton College, asserts that Lucy is the most admirable human character and that generally girls come better than boys in the entire series (Jacobs, 2008: 259). In his contribution to The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy, Karin Fry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, notes that "the most sympathetic female character in The Chronicles consistent people who question the traditional roles of women and prove their worth to Aslan through actively engaging in adventure like boys. "Fry went on to say:

Characters have positive and negative things to say about male and female characters, showing the similarities between the sexes. However, the problem is that many positive qualities of female characters seem to be the ones they can rise above their feminine... The superficial nature of the stereotyped women's interests is condemned.

Allegations of racism

In addition to sexism, Pullman and others also accuse the Narnia series of cultivating racism. On the alleged racism in The Horse and His Boy, editor of the newspaper Kyrie O'Connor wrote:

It's too horrible. Although the virtues of storytelling of this book are unbelievably great, you do not have to be bluestocking political correctness to find some of these fantasies anti-Arab, or anti-Eastern, or anti-Ottoman. With all the stereotypes, mostly played for belly laughter, there are times when you want to re-enter this story into the closet.

Gregg Easterbrook, writing on The Atlantic, calls the Calormenes "standins for Muslims", while novelist Philip Hensher raises special concerns that a reader may get the impression that Islam is a "satanic cult". In denial of this allegation, at an address for CS Lewis conference, Dr. Devin Brown argues that there are too many differences between Calormen and Islam religions, especially in the field of polytheism and human sacrifice, since Lewis's writings are regarded as critical of Islam.

Nicholas Wanberg argues, echoing the claim by Mervyn Nicholson, that the accusations of racism in the books are "oversimplification", but he insists that the stories use beliefs about human aesthetics, including equating dark skin with evil, traditionally associated with racism think.

Critics also denied whether Lewis's work presented a positive or negative view of colonialism. Nicole DuPlessis sided with anticolonial views, claiming "the negative effects of colonial exploitation and the theme of animal rights and environmental responsibility are emphasized in the Lewis constructions of living communities." Through a negative example of an illegitimate ruler, Lewis constructs a 'right' relationship between man and nature, exemplify the rulers like Caspian who fulfill their responsibilities to the environment. "Clare Etcherling countered with his claim that" invalid 'rulers' are often very dark-skinned "and that the only" legitimate ruler is Adam's son and daughter and

Source of the article : Wikipedia