Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an Irish author and scholar, born into a Protestant family in Belfast, though mostly resident in England. Lewis is known for his work on medieval literature and for his Christian apologetics and fiction, especially the children's series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia.
Lewis had a passion for "dressed animals" as a boy, falling in love with Beatrix Potter's stories and often writing and illustrating his own animal stories. He and his brother, Warnie, together created the world of Boxen, which was inhabited and run by animals. Lewis loved to read, and as his father's house was filled with books, he felt that finding a book he hadn't read was as easy as finding a blade of grass. He also had a mortal fear of spiders and insects as a child, so they often haunted his dreams. As a teenager, he was wonderstruck by Richard Wagner and the songs and legends of the North. They intensified a longing he had within him, a deep desire he would later call "joy." He also grew to love nature—the beautiful scenes in nature reminded him of the stories of the North, and the stories of the North reminded him of the beauties of nature. In his teenage years, his writing moved away from the tales of Boxen, and he began to use different art forms (poetry and opera) to try and capture his newfound interest in Norse mythology and in the natural world. In 1916 Lewis won a scholarship to University College, Oxford while World War I was raging. Because he was Irish, Lewis was exempted from the draft, but against his father's wishes he enlisted in the British Army in 1917. He was commissioned as an officer in the third Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry. Lewis arrived at the front line in the Somme Valley in France on his nineteenth birthday, where he met his fellow Irishman, Paddy Moore. Lewis and Moore agreed that if either of them was killed, the other would take care of his family. Moore was killed in action and Lewis kept his promise. After the war, Lewis sought out Paddy's mother, who lived with him until the end of her life. Many scholars believe that she is the basis of the characters of "the Patient's mother" in the Screwtape Letters and Mrs. Macready in the Narnia books. Lewis was wounded during the Battle of Arras, and suffered some depression, due in part to missing his Irish home. On his recovery, he was assigned duty in England. He was discharged in December 1918, and returned to his studies. He received a First in Honour Moderations (Greek and Latin Literature) in 1920, a First in Greats (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1922, and a First in English in 1923. "My
Irish Life" From his youth, Lewis had immersed himself in Irish mythology and literature and expressed an interest in the Irish language. He later developed a particular fondness for W. B. Yeats, in part because of Yeats’s use of Ireland’s Celtic heritage in poetry. In a letter to a friend Lewis wrote, "I have here discovered an author exactly after my own heart, whom I am sure you would delight in, W. B. Yeats. He writes plays and poems of rare spirit and beauty about our old Irish mythology." He was surprised to find his English peers indifferent to Yeats and the Celtic Twilight movement. In describing his time at Oxford he wrote, “I am often surprised to find how utterly ignored Yeats is among the men I have met: perhaps his appeal is purely Irish — if so, then thank the gods that I am Irish.” Perhaps to help cope with his environment, Lewis even expressed a somewhat tongue in cheek chauvinism toward the English. Describing an encounter with a fellow Irishman he wrote, “Like all Irish people who meet in England we ended by criticisms of the inevitable flippancy and dullness of the Anglo-Saxon race. After all, ami, there is no doubt that the Irish are the only people… I would not gladly live or die among another folk.” Lewis did indeed live and die among another folk, due to his Oxford career and often expressed a certain regret at having to leave Ireland. Throughout his life, he sought out the company of his fellow Irish living in England and visited Ireland regularly. He called this “my Irish life”. Early in his career, Lewis considered sending his work to the major Dublin publishers. In a letter to a friend he wrote, "If I do ever send my stuff to a publisher, I think I shall try Maunsel, those Dublin people, and so tack myself definitely onto the Irish school." After his conversion to Christianity, his interests gravitated towards Christian spirituality and away from Celtic mysticism. Career as a scholar Lewis was a prolific writer and a member of the literary discussion society The Inklings with his friends J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield. Career as a writer of fiction The Pilgrim's Regress. His first novel after becoming a Christian was The Pilgrim's Regress, his take on John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress which depicted his own experience with Christianity. The book was panned at the time. Most people had not had Lewis's experience and couldn't relate. Space Trilogy. His "Space Trilogy" or "Ransom Trilogy" novels dealt with what Lewis saw as the then-current dehumanizing trends in modern science fiction. The first book, Out of the Silent Planet, was apparently written following a conversation with his friend J. R. R. Tolkien about these trends. Lewis agreed to write a "space travel" story and Tolkien a "time travel" one. Tolkien's story, The Lost Road, a tale connecting his Middle-earth mythology and the modern world, was never completed. Lewis's character of Ransom is generally agreed to be based, in part, on Tolkien. The minor character "Jules," from That Hideous Strength, is an obvious caricature of H. G. Wells. Many of the ideas presented in the books, particularly in That Hideous Strength, are dramatizations of arguments made more formally in Lewis's The Abolition of Man. Works on heaven and hell. The Great Divorce is a short novel about imagined conversations in the foothills of Heaven between the saved and the potentially damned. The title is a reference to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. This work deliberately echoes two other more famous works with a similar theme: the Divine Comedy of Dante Aligheri, and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Another short novel, The Screwtape Letters, consists of letters of advice from an elderly demon to his nephew. In the letters, Screwtape, the elder demon, instructs his nephew, Wormwood, on the best ways to tempt a particular human and secure his damnation. Non-Christian works. Lewis's last novel was Till We Have Faces. Many believe (as he did) that it is his most mature and masterful work of fiction, but it was never a popular success. It is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the unusual perspective of Psyche's sister. It is deeply concerned with religious ideas, but the setting is entirely pagan, and the connections with specific Christian beliefs are left implicit. Before Lewis's conversion to Christianity, he published two books: Spirits in Bondage, a collection of poems, and Dymer, a single narrative poem. Both were published under the pen name of "Clive Hamilton". Career as a writer on Christianity He has become popularly known as The Apostle to the Sceptics because he originally approached religious belief as a sceptic, and he was converted by the evidence. Consequently, his books on Christianity examine common difficulties in accepting Christianity, such as "How could a good God allow pain to exist in the world?", which he examined in detail in The Problem of Pain. Lewis also wrote an autobiography entitled Surprised by Joy, which describes his conversion. (It was written before he met his wife, Joy Gresham.) His essays and public speeches on Christian belief, many of which were collected in God in the Dock and The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, remain popular today for their insights into faith. His most famous works, the Chronicles of Narnia, contain many strong Christian messages. These are often mistaken for allegory, but, as Lewis himself said, are certainly not allegory. Lewis is said to have stated that he wrote the novels when he wondered what it would be like if Jesus Christ was incarnated on another world or planet to save the souls of those inhabitants. Trilemma According to the argument, most people are willing to accept Jesus Christ as a great moral teacher, but the Gospels record that Jesus made many claims to divinity, either explicitly ("I and the father are one." — John 10:30*) or implicitly, by assuming authority only God could have ("…the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…" — Matthew 9:6*). Assuming that the Gospels are accurate, Lewis said there are three options: .
Jesus was telling falsehoods and knew it, and so he was
a liar. Thus, Lewis maintained that one cannot argue Jesus was merely a great moral teacher because his moral teachings would be invalidated by virtue of either his lying or his insanity. On the other hand, if he was divine, he must clearly be more than merely a great moral teacher. * Quotes are from the New International Version of the Bible. Portrayals of Lewis' life
A bronze statue of Lewis looking into a wardrobe stands in Belfast's Holywood Arches. Many books have been inspired by Lewis, including A Severe Mercy by his correspondent Sheldon Vanauken. The Chronicles Of Narnia has been particularly influential. Modern children's authors like Daniel Handler (A Series of Unfortunate Events) and Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl) have been influenced more or less by Lewis's series. JK Rowling has said that the name of Cedrick Diggory (a character in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) is an homage to Digory Kirk (a character in Lewis's Narnia books, most especially The Magician's Nephew). Authors of adult fantasy literature such as Tim Powers have also testified to being influenced by Lewis's work. Most of Lewis's posthumous work has been edited by his literary executor, Walter Hooper. An independent Lewis scholar, the late Kathryn Lindskoog, argued in several books that Hooper's scholarship is not reliable and that he has made false statements and attributed forged works to Lewis. (See The Dark Tower.) Scholars in the field of Lewis studies are divided over whether these charges have been settled at all, and if so in whose favor. Bibliography Nonfiction Fiction
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Early life
Lewis taught as a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, for nearly
thirty years, from 1925 to 1954, and later was the first Professor
of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge
and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Using this position,
he argued that there was no such thing as an English Renaissance.
Much of his scholarly work concentrated on the later Middle Ages,
especially its use of allegory. His The Allegory of Love (1936)
helped reinvigorate the serious study of late medieval narratives
like the Roman de la Rose. Lewis wrote a preface to John Milton's
poem Paradise Lost, which is still one of the most important criticisms
of that work. His last academic work, The Discarded Image, an Introduction
to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964), is a summary of
the medieval world view, the "discarded image" of the
cosmos in his title.
The
Chronicles of Narnia. This is a series of seven fantasy novels
for children that is by far the most popular of Lewis's
works.
The books have Christian themes and describe the adventures
of a group
of children who visit a magical land called Narnia. The Lion,
the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was the first published
and the
most popular book of the series, has been adapted for both
stage and screen.
The Chronicles of Narnia borrow from Greek and Roman mythology
as well as traditional English and Irish fairy tales. Lewis
reportedly based his depiction of Narnia in the novels on
the geography
and scenery of the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern
Ireland.
Lewis cited MacDonald as an influence in writing the series.
The books were published in an order different from that
they take
place
in. In chronological order, the seven books are: The Magician's
Nephew, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Horse and
His Boy, Prince
Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair,
and The Last Battle. Many people feel that the books should
be read
in order
of publication. Lewis himself was not particular.
Lewis's death and legacy
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