The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Encyclopedia
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis
. Published in 1950
and set circa 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia
and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the series' internal chronological order, after The Magician's Nephew
. Time
magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. It has also been published in 47 foreign languages.
Lewis dedicated the book to his god-daughter, Lucy Barfield
.
, when four siblings--Peter
, Susan
, Edmund
, and Lucy Pevensie
--are evacuated
from London
to escape the Blitz
. They are sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke
, who lives in a country house
in the English
countryside
.
While the four children are exploring the house, Lucy looks into a wardrobe
and discovers a doorway to a magical world named Narnia
. There she meets a faun
named Mr Tumnus
. He invites her to have tea in his home. There he confesses he planned to report her to the pretend queen of Narnia, otherwise known as the White Witch
but has thought better of it. Upon returning to our world, Lucy's siblings do not believe her story about Narnia. Her older brother Edmund enters the wardrobe and meets the White Witch, who befriends him and offers him magical Turkish delight
which enchants him. She encourages him to bring his siblings to her in Narnia, with the promise that he shall rule over them. Edmund returns with Lucy to the Professor's house, having met her in Narnia. But after returning he lies to Peter and Susan: he denies Lucy's claim that Narnia lies behind the wardrobe.
Eventually all four of the children enter Narnia together while hiding in the wardrobe. They meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who invite them to dinner. The beavers recount a prophecy that the witch's power will fall when two Sons of Adam
and two Daughters of Eve
fill the four thrones at Cair Paravel
. The beavers tell of the true king of Narnia, a great lion named Aslan
who has been absent for many years but is now "on the move again."
Edmund sneaks away to the White Witch. Her castle is filled with stone statues--enemies she has petrified
. The beavers realize where Edmund has gone and abandon their home, leading the children to Aslan. As they travel, they notice that the snow is melting, indicating that the White Witch's spell is breaking. A visit by Father Christmas confirms this. Father Christmas gives the three children and the beavers presents. Peter receives a sword and shield, Susan a horn and bow, Lucy a vial of magical healing liquid, Mrs. Beaver a sewing machine and Mr. Beaver's dam was finally finished.
The children and the Beavers meet with Aslan and his army. Peter engages in his first battle, killing a wolf who threatens Susan.
The Witch approaches to speak with Aslan, insisting that according to "deep magic from the dawn of time" she has the right to execute Edmund as a traitor. Aslan speaks with her privately and persuades her to renounce her claim on Edmund's life. That evening, Aslan secretly leaves the camp, but is followed by Lucy and Susan. Aslan has bargained to exchange his own life for Edmund's. The Witch ties Aslan to the Stone Table and then kills him with a knife. The following morning Aslan is restored to life.
Aslan allows Lucy and Susan to ride on his back as he hurries to the Witch's castle. There he breathes upon the statues, restoring them to life. Peter and Edmund lead the Narnian army in a battle against the White Witch's army but are losing. Aslan arrives with the former statues as reinforcements. The Narnians rout the evil army, and Aslan kills the Witch.
The Pevensie children are named kings and queens of Narnia: King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant. Several years later, now adults and mounted on horseback, the siblings go hunting for a White Stag. They see the lamppost and go towards it. Just beyond the lamppost, branches become coats. The siblings are back in the wardrobe and are children again. They reenter the Professor's house.
Shortly before World War II, many children were evacuated from London to the English countryside to escape attacks on London by Nazi Germany. On 2 September 1939 three school girls: Margaret, Mary and Katherine, came to live at The Kilns in Risinghurst
, Lewis's home three miles east of Oxford
city centre. Lewis later suggested that the experience gave him a new appreciation of children and in late September he began a children's story on an odd sheet which has survived as part of another manuscript:
How much more of the story Lewis then wrote is uncertain. Roger Lancelyn Green thinks that he might even have completed it. In September 1947 C. S. Lewis wrote in a letter about stories for children: "I have tried one myself but it was, by the unanimous verdict of my friends, so bad that I destroyed it."
In August 1948, during the visit of the American writer Chad Walsh, Lewis vaguely talked about completing a children's book which he had begun "in the tradition of E. Nesbit". After this conversation not much happened – until the beginning of the next year. Then everything changed.
In his essay It All Began With a Picture C. S. Lewis continues: "At first I had very little idea how the story would go. But then suddenly Aslan came bounding into it. I think I had been having a good many dreams of lions about that time. Apart from that, I don't know where the Lion came from or why he came. But once he was there, he pulled the whole story together, and soon he pulled the six other Narnian stories in after him.":
On 10 March 1949 Roger Lancelyn Green dined with him at Magdalen College
. After the meal, Lewis read two chapters from his new children's story to Green. Lewis asked Green's opinion of the tale, and Green thought it was good. The manuscript of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was complete by the end of March 1949. Lucy Barfield received it by the end of May. When on 16 October 1950 Geoffrey Bles in London published the first edition, three new Chronicles – Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Horse and His Boy – had also been completed.
, possibly as a result of J. R. R. Tolkien
’s recommendation. Baynes had greatly impressed Tolkien with her illustrations for his Farmer Giles of Ham
(1949). However Baynes claimed that Lewis learned about her work after going into a bookshop and asking for a recommendation of an illustrator who was skilled at portraying both humans and animals. In December 1949 Geoffrey Bles showed Lewis the first drawings for the novel and Lewis sent Baynes a note congratulating her, particularly on the level of detail. Lewis’s appreciation of the illustrations is evident in a letter Lewis wrote to Baynes after The Last Battle
won the Carnegie Medal for best Children’s book of 1956: “is it not rather ‘our’ medal? I’m sure the illustrations were taken into account as well as the text".
The British edition of the novel had 43 illustrations. American editions generally had fewer. The popular United States paperback edition published by Collier between 1970 and 1994, which sold many millions, had only 17 illustrations, many of them severely cropped from the originals, giving many readers in that country a very different experience when reading the novel. All the illustrations were restored for the 1994 worldwide HarperCollins edition, although these lacked the clarity of early printings.
soon after finishing the first novel. He completed the sequel in less than a year, by the end of 1949. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe had not been widely released until 1950; thus his initial enthusiasm did not stem from favourable reception by the public.
While Lewis is known today on the strength of the Narnia stories as a highly successful children’s writer, the initial critical response was muted. At the time it was fashionable for children’s stories to be realistic: fantasy and fairy tales were seen as indulgent, appropriate only for very young readers, and potentially harmful to older children, even hindering their ability to relate to everyday life. Some reviewers thought the tale overtly moralistic, or the Christian elements over-stated — attempts to indoctrinate children. Others were concerned that the many violent incidents might frighten children.
Lewis’s publisher, Geoffrey Bles, feared that the Narnia tales would not sell and might damage Lewis’s reputation and affect sales of his other books. Nevertheless the novel and its successors were highly popular with young readers, and Lewis’s publisher was soon anxious to release further Narnia stories.
The novel was included on Time
s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923.
Narnia is caught in endless winter that has lasted a century when the children first enter. Norse tradition mythologises a "great winter," known as the Fimbulwinter
, said to precede Ragnarök
. The trapping of Edmund by the White Witch is reminiscent of the seduction and imprisonment of Kay by The Snow Queen
in Hans Christian Andersen
's novella of that name.
The dwarves and giants are found in Norse mythology
; faun
s, centaur
s, minotaur
s and dryad
s derive from Greek mythology
. Father Christmas, of course, was part of popular English folklore.
The main story is an allegory of Christ's crucifixion: Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund, a traitor who may deserve death, in the same way that Christians believe Jesus sacrificed himself for sinners. The cross may be suggested by the Stone Table (reminiscent of Neolithic dolmens). As with the Christian Passion, it is women (Susan and Lucy) who tend Aslan's body after he dies and are the first to see him after his resurrection. The significance of the death contains elements of both the ransom theory of atonement
and the satisfaction theory
: Aslan suffers Edmund's penalty (satisfaction), and buys him back from the White Witch, who was entitled to him by reason of his treachery (ransom). In Christian tradition, Christ is associated with the Biblical "Lion of Judah
," mainly on the strength of Revelation 5:5.
There are several parallels between the White Witch and the immortal protagonist of H. Rider Haggard
's She
, a novel greatly admired by C.S. Lewis.
The Story of the Amulet
written by Edith Nesbit also contains scenes that can be considered as sources to sequences presenting Jadis, mostly in The Magician's Nephew
.
The freeing of Aslan's body from the stone table by field mice is reminiscent of Aesop
's fable of "The Lion and the Mouse
." In the fable, a lion catches a mouse, but the mouse persuades the lion to release him, promising that the favor would be rewarded. Later in the story, he gnaws through the lion's bonds after he has been captured by hunters. It is also reminiscent of a scene from Edgar Allan Poe
's story "The Pit and the Pendulum
," in which a prisoner is freed when rats gnaw through his bonds.
made the following changes.
When HarperCollins
took over publication of the series in 1994, they used the British edition for all subsequent editions worldwide.
was a ten-part serial produced by ABC Weekend Television
for ITV
and broadcast in 1967.
In 1979, an animated TV-movie, directed by Peanuts
director Bill Meléndez
, was broadcast and won the first Emmy Award
for Outstanding Animated Program
.
A third television adaptation was produced in 1988 by the BBC
using a combination of live actors, animatronic
puppets and animation. The programme was nominated for an Emmy and won a BAFTA
. It was followed by three further Narnia adaptations.
Stage adaptations include a 1984 version staged at London's Westminster Theatre, produced by Vanessa Ford Productions. The play, adapted by Glyn Robbins, was directed by Richard Williams and designed by Marty Flood.
The Royal Shakespeare Company did an adaptation in 1998, for which the acting edition has been published.
In 2003, there was an Australian commercial stage production which toured the country by Malcolm C. Cooke Productions, using both life-size puppets and human actors. It was directed by notable film director Nadia Tass, and starred Amanda Muggleton, Dennis Olsen, Meaghan Davies and Yolande Brown).
In 2002, the Philippines' Christian-based "Trumpets Playshop" did a musical rendition that Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson (and co-producer of the Walden Media film adaptations), has openly declared that he feels is the closest to Lewis' intent. It starred among others popular young Filipino singer Sam Concepcion as Edmund Pevensie The book and lyrics were by Jaime del Mundo and Luna Inocian. Music was composed by Lito Villareal.
In 2005, the story was adapted for a theatrical film
, co-produced by Walt Disney and Walden Media
. It has so far been followed by two films, the third one co-produced by Twentieth-Century Fox and Walden Media.
Multiple audio editions have been released. The best-known consists of all the books read aloud by Michael York
, Anthony Quayle
, Patrick Stewart
, Kenneth Branagh
, Derek Jacobi
, Alex Jennings
, Lynn Redgrave
, Ian Richardson
, Claire Bloom
and Jeremy Northam
. However, three audio CDs in the form of "radio plays" with various actors, sound effects, and music have also been released, one by the BBC, one by Radio Theatre, and one by Focus on the Family
.
In the film Shadowlands
, based on Lewis' life and his marriage to Joy Gresham
, there is a scene where Joy's son Douglas
opens the wardrobe in Lewis' home, hoping to find Narnia, and is disappointed to find it an ordinary wardrobe.
spoofed The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe in the episode Flood. Punk rocker Vyvyan (Ade Edmondson) enters Narnia while playing hide-and-seek via a wardrobe and meets the White Queen and her dwarf Shirley (David Rappaport
). Like Edmund in the original story the queen offers Vyvyan Turkish Delight only to be met with "No thanks. Got any kebabs?" She then demands to know who broke wind to which Shirley and Vyvyan squabble over who has the most ridiculous name.
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
. Published in 1950
1950 in literature
The year 1950 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Kazuo Shimada wins the "Mystery Writer Of Japan" award for his book Shakai-bu Kisha .*Jack Kerouac has his first novel published....
and set circa 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the series' internal chronological order, after The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
. Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. It has also been published in 47 foreign languages.
Lewis dedicated the book to his god-daughter, Lucy Barfield
Lucy Barfield
Lucy Barfield was the adopted daughter of the British philosopher Owen Barfield and by her baptism the spiritual daughter of the Oxford scholar C. S. Lewis who wrote the second book of the Chronicles of Narnia for her....
.
Plot summary
The story begins in 1940 during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when four siblings--Peter
Peter Pevensie
Peter Pevensie is a major fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Peter appears in four of the seven books; as a child and a principal character in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...
, Susan
Susan Pevensie
Susan Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. Susan is the elder sister and the second eldest Pevensie child. She appears in three of the seven books—as a child in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...
, Edmund
Edmund Pevensie
Edmund "Ed" Pevensie is a major fictional character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. He is a principal character in three of the seven books , and a lesser character in two others .In the live-action films, The...
, and Lucy Pevensie
Lucy Pevensie
Lucy Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. She is the youngest of the four Pevensie children, and the first to find the Wardrobe entrance to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of all the Pevensie children, Lucy is the closest to Aslan...
--are evacuated
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to escape the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. They are sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke
Digory Kirke
Digory Kirke is a fictional character from C. S. Lewis' fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. He is in three of the seven books: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle, and is mentioned in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.In the 2005 film The Chronicles...
, who lives in a country house
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
countryside
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
.
While the four children are exploring the house, Lucy looks into a wardrobe
Wardrobe
A Wardrobe is a cabinet used for storing clothes.Wardrobe may also refer to:* Wardrobe , a full set of multiple clothing items* Wardrobe , part of royal administration in medieval England...
and discovers a doorway to a magical world named Narnia
Narnia (world)
Narnia is a fantasy world created by C. S. Lewis as the primary location for his series of seven fantasy novels for children, The Chronicles of Narnia. The world is so called after the country of Narnia, in which much of the action of the Chronicles takes place.In Narnia, some animals can talk,...
. There she meets a faun
Faun
The faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
named Mr Tumnus
Mr Tumnus
Tumnus is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' series The Chronicles of Narnia. He is featured prominently in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and also appears in The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle. He is close friends with Lucy Pevensie and is the first person she meets in Narnia, as...
. He invites her to have tea in his home. There he confesses he planned to report her to the pretend queen of Narnia, otherwise known as the White Witch
White Witch
Jadis is the main antagonist of The Magician's Nephew and of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' series, The Chronicles of Narnia...
but has thought better of it. Upon returning to our world, Lucy's siblings do not believe her story about Narnia. Her older brother Edmund enters the wardrobe and meets the White Witch, who befriends him and offers him magical Turkish delight
Turkish Delight
Turkish delight or lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon...
which enchants him. She encourages him to bring his siblings to her in Narnia, with the promise that he shall rule over them. Edmund returns with Lucy to the Professor's house, having met her in Narnia. But after returning he lies to Peter and Susan: he denies Lucy's claim that Narnia lies behind the wardrobe.
Eventually all four of the children enter Narnia together while hiding in the wardrobe. They meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who invite them to dinner. The beavers recount a prophecy that the witch's power will fall when two Sons of Adam
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
and two Daughters of Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
fill the four thrones at Cair Paravel
Cair Paravel
Cair Paravel is the fictional castle where the Kings and Queens of Narnia rule in The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the location of the four thrones of High King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, and Queen Lucy The Valiant....
. The beavers tell of the true king of Narnia, a great lion named Aslan
Aslan
Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
who has been absent for many years but is now "on the move again."
Edmund sneaks away to the White Witch. Her castle is filled with stone statues--enemies she has petrified
Petrifaction in mythology and fiction
Petrifaction, as definied as turning people to stone, is also a common theme in folklore and mythology, as well as in some works of modern fiction.-Historical:...
. The beavers realize where Edmund has gone and abandon their home, leading the children to Aslan. As they travel, they notice that the snow is melting, indicating that the White Witch's spell is breaking. A visit by Father Christmas confirms this. Father Christmas gives the three children and the beavers presents. Peter receives a sword and shield, Susan a horn and bow, Lucy a vial of magical healing liquid, Mrs. Beaver a sewing machine and Mr. Beaver's dam was finally finished.
The children and the Beavers meet with Aslan and his army. Peter engages in his first battle, killing a wolf who threatens Susan.
The Witch approaches to speak with Aslan, insisting that according to "deep magic from the dawn of time" she has the right to execute Edmund as a traitor. Aslan speaks with her privately and persuades her to renounce her claim on Edmund's life. That evening, Aslan secretly leaves the camp, but is followed by Lucy and Susan. Aslan has bargained to exchange his own life for Edmund's. The Witch ties Aslan to the Stone Table and then kills him with a knife. The following morning Aslan is restored to life.
Aslan allows Lucy and Susan to ride on his back as he hurries to the Witch's castle. There he breathes upon the statues, restoring them to life. Peter and Edmund lead the Narnian army in a battle against the White Witch's army but are losing. Aslan arrives with the former statues as reinforcements. The Narnians rout the evil army, and Aslan kills the Witch.
The Pevensie children are named kings and queens of Narnia: King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant. Several years later, now adults and mounted on horseback, the siblings go hunting for a White Stag. They see the lamppost and go towards it. Just beyond the lamppost, branches become coats. The siblings are back in the wardrobe and are children again. They reenter the Professor's house.
Chapters
- Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe
- What Lucy Found There
- Edmund and the Wardrobe
- Turkish Delight
- Back on This Side of the Door
- Into the Forest
- A Day with the Beavers
- What Happened After Dinner
- In the Witch's House
- The Spell Begins to Break
- Aslan is Nearer
- Peter's First Battle
- Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time
- The Triumph of the Witch
- Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time
- What Happened about the Statues
- The Hunting of the White Stag
Character list
- Lucy PevensieLucy PevensieLucy Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. She is the youngest of the four Pevensie children, and the first to find the Wardrobe entrance to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of all the Pevensie children, Lucy is the closest to Aslan...
is the youngest Pevensie child. She is the first to discover the land of Narnia when she slips through the magical wardrobe in the professor's house. When Lucy tells her three siblings, they don't believe her: Peter and Susan think she is just playing a game, but Edmund persistently ridicules and teases her about it. After the restoration of Narnia, Lucy is crowned Queen of Narnia with her sister Susan, and becomes known as Queen Lucy the Valiant. - Edmund PevensieEdmund PevensieEdmund "Ed" Pevensie is a major fictional character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. He is a principal character in three of the seven books , and a lesser character in two others .In the live-action films, The...
is the second-youngest of the Pevensie children. In Narnia he meets the White Witch, who plies him with treats (Magical Turkish DelightTurkish DelightTurkish delight or lokum is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios and hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; the cheapest are mostly gel, generally flavored with rosewater, mastic, or lemon...
) and smooth talk. Tempted by the White Witch's promise of power and seemingly unending supplies of Turkish Delight, Edmund betrays his siblings. He eventually regrets his actions and repents. After he helps Aslan and the good denizens of Narnia defeat the White Witch, he is crowned King of Narnia with his brother and becomes known as King Edmund the Just. - Susan PevensieSusan PevensieSusan Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. Susan is the elder sister and the second eldest Pevensie child. She appears in three of the seven books—as a child in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...
is the second-oldest of Pevensie children. She does not believe in Narnia until she actually goes there. She is crowned Queen of Narnia, and becomes known as Queen Susan the Gentle. - Peter PevensiePeter PevensiePeter Pevensie is a major fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Peter appears in four of the seven books; as a child and a principal character in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...
is the oldest of the Pevensie siblings. At first, Peter disbelieves Lucy's stories about Narnia, but changes his mind when he sees it for himself. He is hailed as a hero for his part in the overthrow of the White WitchWhite WitchJadis is the main antagonist of The Magician's Nephew and of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' series, The Chronicles of Narnia...
. He is eventually crowned High King of Narnia, and becomes known as King Peter the Magnificent. - AslanAslanAslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
, a lion, is the true ruler of Narnia. He sacrifices himself to save Edmund, but is resurrected in time to aid the denizens of Narnia and the Pevensie children against the White Witch and her minions. - The White WitchWhite WitchJadis is the main antagonist of The Magician's Nephew and of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' series, The Chronicles of Narnia...
is the land's self-proclaimed queen. She tyrannizes Narnia through her magically imposed rule. Her spell on Narnia has made it "always winter but never Christmas" for a hundred years. When provoked, she turns creatures to stone with her wand. She fears the fulfillment of a prophecy that "two sons of Adam" and "two daughters of Eve" will come to Narnia and help Aslan overthrow her. Her name Jadis appears in one proclamation in this book, and Lewis's later prequel The Magician's NephewThe Magician's NephewThe Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
tells of her origin and how she came to the Narnian world. - Tumnus, a faun, is the first person Lucy meets in Narnia. Tumnus befriends her, despite the White Witch's standing order to kidnap any human who enters Narnia. After getting to know Lucy, he changes his mind about handing her over to the witch. He is betrayed accidentally by Edmund, who tells the White Witch that Lucy met a faun. The witch arrests Tumnus and turns him to stone. He is later restored to life by Aslan.
- The ProfessorDigory KirkeDigory Kirke is a fictional character from C. S. Lewis' fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. He is in three of the seven books: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle, and is mentioned in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.In the 2005 film The Chronicles...
is a kind gentleman who takes the Pevensie children in when they are evacuated from London. He is the only one who believes that Lucy did indeed visit Narnia and tries to convince the others of her veracity. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe hints that he knows more of Narnia than he wants to tell. He is identified in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as Professor Kirke, and appears as a young boy, Digory Kirke, a main character in the prequel The Magician's NephewThe Magician's NephewThe Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
in which he is present at Aslan's creation of Narnia. - Mr and Mrs BeaverMr and Mrs BeaverMr. and Mrs. Beaver are fictional characters from C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. They are the first Narnian creatures Peter and Susan Pevensie meet in Narnia, Lucy had previously met Mr. Tumnus whilst Edmund had encountered the White Witch and a dwarf...
are friends of Tumnus. They hide Peter, Susan, and Lucy and lead them to Aslan. - The Dwarf is the White Witch's servant. Unnamed in the book, he is called Ginnarbrick in the film, where he has a more significant role.
- MaugrimMaugrimMaugrim is a fictional wolf, a servant of White Witch in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. He is captain of the witch's Secret Police...
(Fenris Ulf in some editions), a wolf, is the chief of the White Witch's secret police. She sends him to hunt down the Pevensie children. He tries to kill Susan but is killed by Peter. - Father ChristmasFather ChristmasFather Christmas is the name used in many English-speaking countries for a figure associated with Christmas. A similar figure with the same name exists in several other countries, including France , Spain , Brazil , Portugal , Italy , Armenia , India...
arrives when the Witch's magical hold over Narnia begins to break. He gives gifts to Peter, Susan and Lucy but not to Edmund, who is with the witch. The gifts, which include the sword Peter uses to slay Maugrim, ultimately help the children defeat the White Witch. Mrs Beaver receives a better sewing machine and Mr. Beaver gets his dam completed. - Mrs. Macready is the housekeeper for the Professor.
- Giant Rumblebuffin is a character who was turned to stone by the White Witch. Aslan restores him to life. He breaks down the gate of the Witch's castle and crushes some of her army.
Writing
Lewis described the origin of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in an essay entitled It All Began with a Picture :
"The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: 'Let's try to make a story about it.'"
Shortly before World War II, many children were evacuated from London to the English countryside to escape attacks on London by Nazi Germany. On 2 September 1939 three school girls: Margaret, Mary and Katherine, came to live at The Kilns in Risinghurst
Risinghurst
Risinghurst is an outlying residential area of Oxford, England, just outside the Eastern Bypass Road which forms part of the Oxford ring road. It is about east of the centre of Headington and east of Oxford city centre....
, Lewis's home three miles east of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
city centre. Lewis later suggested that the experience gave him a new appreciation of children and in late September he began a children's story on an odd sheet which has survived as part of another manuscript:
"This book is about four children whose names were Ann, Martin, Rose and Peter. But it is most about Peter who was the youngest. They all had to go away from London suddenly because of Air Raids, and because Father, who was in the Army, had gone off to the War and Mother was doing some kind of war work. They were sent to stay with a kind of relation of Mother's who was a very old professor who lived all by himself in the country."
How much more of the story Lewis then wrote is uncertain. Roger Lancelyn Green thinks that he might even have completed it. In September 1947 C. S. Lewis wrote in a letter about stories for children: "I have tried one myself but it was, by the unanimous verdict of my friends, so bad that I destroyed it."
In August 1948, during the visit of the American writer Chad Walsh, Lewis vaguely talked about completing a children's book which he had begun "in the tradition of E. Nesbit". After this conversation not much happened – until the beginning of the next year. Then everything changed.
In his essay It All Began With a Picture C. S. Lewis continues: "At first I had very little idea how the story would go. But then suddenly Aslan came bounding into it. I think I had been having a good many dreams of lions about that time. Apart from that, I don't know where the Lion came from or why he came. But once he was there, he pulled the whole story together, and soon he pulled the six other Narnian stories in after him.":
On 10 March 1949 Roger Lancelyn Green dined with him at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. After the meal, Lewis read two chapters from his new children's story to Green. Lewis asked Green's opinion of the tale, and Green thought it was good. The manuscript of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was complete by the end of March 1949. Lucy Barfield received it by the end of May. When on 16 October 1950 Geoffrey Bles in London published the first edition, three new Chronicles – Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Horse and His Boy – had also been completed.
Illustrations
Lewis’s publisher, Geoffrey Bles allowed him to choose the illustrator for the novel and the Narnia series. His choice was Pauline BaynesPauline Baynes
Pauline Diana Baynes was an English book illustrator, whose work encompassed more than 100 books, notably those by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. She was born in Hove, Sussex....
, possibly as a result of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
’s recommendation. Baynes had greatly impressed Tolkien with her illustrations for his Farmer Giles of Ham
Farmer Giles of Ham
"Farmer Giles of Ham" is a Medieval fable written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1937 and published in 1949. The story describes the encounters between Farmer Giles and a wily dragon named Chrysophylax, and how Giles manages to use these to rise from humble beginnings to rival the king of the land...
(1949). However Baynes claimed that Lewis learned about her work after going into a bookshop and asking for a recommendation of an illustrator who was skilled at portraying both humans and animals. In December 1949 Geoffrey Bles showed Lewis the first drawings for the novel and Lewis sent Baynes a note congratulating her, particularly on the level of detail. Lewis’s appreciation of the illustrations is evident in a letter Lewis wrote to Baynes after The Last Battle
The Last Battle
The Last Battle is the seventh and final novel in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. It won the prestigious Carnegie Medal in Literature in 1956.-Plot summary:In The Last Battle, Lewis brings The Chronicles of Narnia to an end...
won the Carnegie Medal for best Children’s book of 1956: “is it not rather ‘our’ medal? I’m sure the illustrations were taken into account as well as the text".
The British edition of the novel had 43 illustrations. American editions generally had fewer. The popular United States paperback edition published by Collier between 1970 and 1994, which sold many millions, had only 17 illustrations, many of them severely cropped from the originals, giving many readers in that country a very different experience when reading the novel. All the illustrations were restored for the 1994 worldwide HarperCollins edition, although these lacked the clarity of early printings.
Reception
Lewis very much enjoyed writing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and embarked on the sequel Prince CaspianPrince Caspian
Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia is a novel for children by C. S. Lewis, written in late 1949 and first published in 1951. It is the second-published book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, although in the overall chronological sequence it comes fourth.-Plot summary:While standing on a...
soon after finishing the first novel. He completed the sequel in less than a year, by the end of 1949. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe had not been widely released until 1950; thus his initial enthusiasm did not stem from favourable reception by the public.
While Lewis is known today on the strength of the Narnia stories as a highly successful children’s writer, the initial critical response was muted. At the time it was fashionable for children’s stories to be realistic: fantasy and fairy tales were seen as indulgent, appropriate only for very young readers, and potentially harmful to older children, even hindering their ability to relate to everyday life. Some reviewers thought the tale overtly moralistic, or the Christian elements over-stated — attempts to indoctrinate children. Others were concerned that the many violent incidents might frighten children.
Lewis’s publisher, Geoffrey Bles, feared that the Narnia tales would not sell and might damage Lewis’s reputation and affect sales of his other books. Nevertheless the novel and its successors were highly popular with young readers, and Lewis’s publisher was soon anxious to release further Narnia stories.
The novel was included on Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923.
Allusions
Professor Kirke is based on W.T. Kirkpatrick, who tutored a 16-year-old Lewis. "Kirk," as he was sometimes called, taught the young Lewis much about thinking and communicating clearly, skills that would be invaluable to him later.Narnia is caught in endless winter that has lasted a century when the children first enter. Norse tradition mythologises a "great winter," known as the Fimbulwinter
Fimbulwinter
In Norse mythology, Fimbulvetr , commonly rendered in English as Fimbulwinter, is the immediate prelude to the events of Ragnarök.-Summary:...
, said to precede Ragnarök
Ragnarök
In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
. The trapping of Edmund by the White Witch is reminiscent of the seduction and imprisonment of Kay by The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is a fairy tale by author Hans Christian Andersen . The tale was first published in 1845, and centers on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda....
in Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories. These include "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling."...
's novella of that name.
The dwarves and giants are found in Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
; faun
Faun
The faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
s, centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
s, minotaur
Minotaur
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...
s and dryad
Dryad
Dryads are tree nymphs in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies 'oak,' from an Indo-European root *derew- 'tree' or 'wood'. Thus Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general...
s derive from Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. Father Christmas, of course, was part of popular English folklore.
The main story is an allegory of Christ's crucifixion: Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund, a traitor who may deserve death, in the same way that Christians believe Jesus sacrificed himself for sinners. The cross may be suggested by the Stone Table (reminiscent of Neolithic dolmens). As with the Christian Passion, it is women (Susan and Lucy) who tend Aslan's body after he dies and are the first to see him after his resurrection. The significance of the death contains elements of both the ransom theory of atonement
Atonement (ransom view)
The ransom view of the atonement, is one of several doctrines in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ. The first major theory of the atonement, the ransom theory of atonement originated in the early Church, particularly in the work of Origen...
and the satisfaction theory
Atonement (satisfaction view)
The satisfaction view of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed circles...
: Aslan suffers Edmund's penalty (satisfaction), and buys him back from the White Witch, who was entitled to him by reason of his treachery (ransom). In Christian tradition, Christ is associated with the Biblical "Lion of Judah
Lion of Judah
The Lion of Judah was the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible .-Lion of Judah and Judaism:...
," mainly on the strength of Revelation 5:5.
There are several parallels between the White Witch and the immortal protagonist of H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
's She
She (novel)
She, subtitled A History of Adventure, is a novel by Henry Rider Haggard, first serialized in The Graphic magazine from October 1886 to January 1887. She is one of the classics of imaginative literature, and with over 83 million copies sold in 44 different languages, one of the best-selling books...
, a novel greatly admired by C.S. Lewis.
The Story of the Amulet
The Story of the Amulet
The Story of the Amulet is a novel for children, written in 1906 by English author Edith Nesbit.It is the final part of a trilogy of novels that also includes Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet . In it the children re-encounter the Psammead—the "it" in Five Children and It...
written by Edith Nesbit also contains scenes that can be considered as sources to sequences presenting Jadis, mostly in The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
.
The freeing of Aslan's body from the stone table by field mice is reminiscent of Aesop
Aesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
's fable of "The Lion and the Mouse
The Lion and the Mouse
The lion and the mouse is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 146 in the Perry Index. In the Renaissance the fable was provided with a sequel condemning social ambition.-The fable in literature:...
." In the fable, a lion catches a mouse, but the mouse persuades the lion to release him, promising that the favor would be rewarded. Later in the story, he gnaws through the lion's bonds after he has been captured by hunters. It is also reminiscent of a scene from Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's story "The Pit and the Pendulum
The Pit and the Pendulum
"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The...
," in which a prisoner is freed when rats gnaw through his bonds.
Differences between the British and American editions
Prior to the publication of the first American edition of Lion, LewisC. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
made the following changes.
- In chapter one of the American edition, the animals that Edmund and Susan express interest in are snakes and foxes rather than the foxes and rabbits of the British edition.
- In chapter six of the American edition, the name of the White Witch's chief of police is changed to "Fenris Ulf" from "MaugrimMaugrimMaugrim is a fictional wolf, a servant of White Witch in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. He is captain of the witch's Secret Police...
" in the British. - In chapter thirteen of the American edition, "the trunk of the World Ash TreeYggdrasilIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
" takes the place of "the fire-stones of the Secret Hill".
When HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
took over publication of the series in 1994, they used the British edition for all subsequent editions worldwide.
Adaptations
The story has been adapted three times for television. The first adaptationThe Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe (TV series)
The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe is a ten-part serial adaptation of C. S. Lewis's fantasy novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, that aired on ITV in 1967.-Background:...
was a ten-part serial produced by ABC Weekend Television
Associated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and broadcast in 1967.
In 1979, an animated TV-movie, directed by Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
director Bill Meléndez
Bill Melendez
José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...
, was broadcast and won the first Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Animated Program
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
.
A third television adaptation was produced in 1988 by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
using a combination of live actors, animatronic
Animatronics
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals , plants and even mythical creatures...
puppets and animation. The programme was nominated for an Emmy and won a BAFTA
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
. It was followed by three further Narnia adaptations.
Stage adaptations include a 1984 version staged at London's Westminster Theatre, produced by Vanessa Ford Productions. The play, adapted by Glyn Robbins, was directed by Richard Williams and designed by Marty Flood.
The Royal Shakespeare Company did an adaptation in 1998, for which the acting edition has been published.
In 2003, there was an Australian commercial stage production which toured the country by Malcolm C. Cooke Productions, using both life-size puppets and human actors. It was directed by notable film director Nadia Tass, and starred Amanda Muggleton, Dennis Olsen, Meaghan Davies and Yolande Brown).
In 2002, the Philippines' Christian-based "Trumpets Playshop" did a musical rendition that Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson (and co-producer of the Walden Media film adaptations), has openly declared that he feels is the closest to Lewis' intent. It starred among others popular young Filipino singer Sam Concepcion as Edmund Pevensie The book and lyrics were by Jaime del Mundo and Luna Inocian. Music was composed by Lito Villareal.
In 2005, the story was adapted for a theatrical film
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Andrew Adamson and based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of...
, co-produced by Walt Disney and Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...
. It has so far been followed by two films, the third one co-produced by Twentieth-Century Fox and Walden Media.
Multiple audio editions have been released. The best-known consists of all the books read aloud by Michael York
Michael York (actor)
Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...
, Anthony Quayle
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle, CBE was an English actor and director.-Early life:Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, in Lancashire to a Manx family....
, Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
, Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
, Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
, Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings is an English actor whose roles have included Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen .-Early years:...
, Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
, Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
, Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom
Claire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
and Jeremy Northam
Jeremy Northam
Jeremy Philip Northam is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Ivor Novello in the 2001 film Gosford Park, as Dean Martin in the 2002 television movie Martin and Lewis, and as Thomas More on the Showtime series The Tudors...
. However, three audio CDs in the form of "radio plays" with various actors, sound effects, and music have also been released, one by the BBC, one by Radio Theatre, and one by Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
.
In the film Shadowlands
Shadowlands (film)
Shadowlands is a 1993 British biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough. The screenplay by William Nicholson is based on his 1985 television production and 1989 stage adaptation of the same name. The original television film began life as a script entitled I Call it Joy written for Thames...
, based on Lewis' life and his marriage to Joy Gresham
Joy Gresham
Joy Davidman was an American poet and writer, and a radical communist and atheist until her conversion to Christianity in the late 1940s. Her first husband was the writer William Lindsay Gresham. They had two children together: David and Douglas. Her second marriage was to C. S...
, there is a scene where Joy's son Douglas
Douglas Gresham
Douglas Gresham is an American-born British biographer and film producer, resident in Malta, and one of the two stepsons of C. S. Lewis.- Personal life :...
opens the wardrobe in Lewis' home, hoping to find Narnia, and is disappointed to find it an ordinary wardrobe.
Spoofs
1980s UK comedy show The Young OnesThe Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
spoofed The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe in the episode Flood. Punk rocker Vyvyan (Ade Edmondson) enters Narnia while playing hide-and-seek via a wardrobe and meets the White Queen and her dwarf Shirley (David Rappaport
David Rappaport
David Stephen Rappaport was an English actor, probably one of the best known dwarf actors in television and film...
). Like Edmund in the original story the queen offers Vyvyan Turkish Delight only to be met with "No thanks. Got any kebabs?" She then demands to know who broke wind to which Shirley and Vyvyan squabble over who has the most ridiculous name.
See also
- The Chronicles of NarniaThe Chronicles of NarniaThe Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
- AslanAslanAslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
- The White WitchWhite WitchJadis is the main antagonist of The Magician's Nephew and of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' series, The Chronicles of Narnia...
- Peter PevensiePeter PevensiePeter Pevensie is a major fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Peter appears in four of the seven books; as a child and a principal character in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...
- Susan PevensieSusan PevensieSusan Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. Susan is the elder sister and the second eldest Pevensie child. She appears in three of the seven books—as a child in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...
- Edmund PevensieEdmund PevensieEdmund "Ed" Pevensie is a major fictional character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. He is a principal character in three of the seven books , and a lesser character in two others .In the live-action films, The...
- Lucy PevensieLucy PevensieLucy Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. She is the youngest of the four Pevensie children, and the first to find the Wardrobe entrance to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of all the Pevensie children, Lucy is the closest to Aslan...
External links
- Glen H. GoodKnight. (2010). Narnia Editions & Translations. Internet Resource.