Myth Retold and Fulfilled: Converting Myth into Religion in C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces

C.S. Lewis is generally not considered to be an author of brilliantly influential and deeply profound literature. Many know him for his children's books, The Chronicles of Narnia. He is better known for these and other non-fiction books such as Mere Christianity than he is for his fiction; his more mature and esoteric work. He wrote primarily during what most scholars would consider the end of the Modernist era, and his final novel, Till We Have Faces, reflects it wonderfully. Modernism is characterized by a search for deeper meanings throughout life, generally sought out by a return to the archaic. Lewis' retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche certainly qualifies. Lewis does not simply retell the myth in his own words; rather he uses the form of the myth to convey his own beliefs about Christianity, thus drawing attention to the arching and inseperable parallels between myth and religion.

While biographical information alone cannot solely be used to interpret a piece of literature, it is vital that Lewis' religious affiliation be known when analyzing his work. Lewis was an atheist for the majority of his life, but later became a devout Christian. He studied many of the world's religions in his search for God and came to know, as Doris T. Myers states, “the pagan myths that seem to foreshadow Jesus and [as well as accept] the Gospel as fact” (“In Context” 190). It is within this context that the work must be analyzed in order to fully understand it.

In the beginning of the novel, strong religious references are cemented with the reader. The story is narrated by Orual: daughter of King Trom and half-sister of Psyche. While it is important to remember that “Lewis's story is a "novel," not an allegory, which should remind readers that things in [Lewis’s] fiction are meaningful in themselves just as much as they may mean other things” (Arnell 1), the reader cannot help but make allegorical associations. Orual can be identified with the whole of humanity. She struggles with the question of faith. She feels that her ugliness, her sin in allegorical terms, separates her from others in the novel. The main events in the beginning (her father's new marriage, the arrival of the Fox, her discovery of her own ugliness):

point to three major themes of the book: Orual's need for love, her struggle with the faith of the Old Priest versus the enlightenment of the Fox, and the meaning of Glome's paganism within the larger context of the Incarnation of Christ. (“Bareface” 14)

In the first chapter, Orual states, “I…have not much to fear from the anger of gods…I will accuse the gods, especially the god who lives on the Grey Mountain” (Lewis 3), establishing her struggle with faith. Myers tells us that Orual “sees herself as a plaintiff against the god, but she does not hope for a divine answer” (“Bareface” 14). Lewis is drawing the reader's attention to Orual's hopeless outlook and struggle with faith in order to parallel the struggles that he himself faced as a young man. It also brings to mind the feelings that so many of his generation had: can religion provide the answers for the most profound of life's questions? Lewis would argue, yes.

The other major allegorical reference is made through the characters of Psyche and the Fox. Both represent aspects of Jesus: Psyche, the compassionate and the Fox, the philosophical. Psyche is described as beautiful from the moment she is born. Orual tells us that, “She made beauty all around her. When she trod on mud, the mud was beautiful; when she ran in the rain, the rain was silver” (Lewis 22). She catches the attention of everyone whom she meets. Jesus, who radiated spiritual beauty, captured people’s hearts in the same way.

Psyche also has a desire to help all people. She nurses Fox back to health after he nearly dies from a fever that has plagued Glome. Following this, the word spread quickly through the kingdom and “Within two days half the city was at the palace gate,” shouting, “ 'Heal us, heal us. The Princess with the healing hands!' “ (Lewis 30-31). The similarities between these events and events from Jesus' life are obvious. She is like Christ in her “determination to touch people who need healing” (“Bareface” 24). Her ministry, like Christ's, is “physically demanding…Her willingness to sacrifice herself is equaled only by her compassion for other people” (“Bareface” 24). Psyche also becomes a sacrifice at the hands of her own father, leaving Orual riddled with guilt through the rest of the novel. This, again, is used to demonstrate a fallacy in humanity's, particularly Christians', view of Jesus' sacrifce: it is not guilt, but gratitude, thankfulness and even reverence that Orual should have.

The Fox is brought to the kingdom by the King to be a tutor for Orual. Myer’s points out that “In the Fox, Lewis shows us a man who aspires to be a true Stoic but falls short of his goal,” and that, “The Fox is ashamed of his emotions; Jesus accepted his” (“Bareface” 20). The Fox seems to contrast Jesus in many ways, yet in the end, they are comparable. Jesus most certainly was not “Stoic.” Lewis tells us he was “a man of delicate sensibilities who wept at the grave of Lazurus and sweated blood in Gethsemane” (qtd. in “Bareface” 20). This is the opposite of the Stoic man that the Fox attempts to be. He, as do most men, wants to be a man of noble bravery. As Myers points out, “when [Fox] says, ‘The body is shaking. I needn’t let it shake the god within me’ (Lewis 18)[...]Parodixically, in his fear, his failure to be a perfect Stoic, the Fox was a precursor to Jesus” (“Bareface” 20). This comparison parellels Lewis’s belief that people do not need to aspire to stoicism; rather, they should follow Jesus’ example of humbleness.

Myth and religion are inseperable for Lewis. He calls “the Incarnation [of Jesus] ‘myth become fact’ “ (“In Context 190). Lewis used pagan myths in order to explain and “foreshadow” the coming and crucifixion of Christ. It was useful to do this because it connected the archaic and fantastical to the fundamentals of Lewis’ own beliefs, thereby bringing a certain familiarity and credibility to Christianity. Lewis wanted the reader to realize that Christianity is not an isolated belief system; it has values that can be applied in every walk of life.

Works Cited

Arnell, Carla A. “On Beauty, Justice, and the Sublime in C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces.” Christianity and Literature 52.1 (2002): 23.

Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold. New York: Harcourt Inc., 1956.

Myers, Doris T. Bareface: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s Last Novel. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2004. 13-24.

---. C.S. Lewis in Context. Kent: Kent State University Press, 1994. 190.