Beauty In C. S. Lewis 'Till We Have Faces'

Till We Have Faces is a fiction novel that was written by C.S. Lewis. It is 313 pages, and was copyrighted in 1984. This novel is about an ugly women, named Orual, whose youngest sister Psyche is revered as a god. Their father sacrifices Psyche because of this. Although, Psyche survives and hides in the mountains claiming that a God saved her and visits her at night as her lover even though she has never saw him. Thus, leading Orual to think Psyche is insane and her wanting to somehow stop her to keep her sane.

Jane has gotten used to cruelty and biased behavior towards her average looks, and develops a miserable self-esteem that believes the only possible way to describe her exterior is “plain”. This self-esteem prevents her from even beginning to recognize that anyone could appreciate her or find her beautiful in any manner. The society’s typical reactions and judgments shaped Jane’s self-esteem, and prevented her from receiving equal treatment as that of a beautiful woman.

The element of fog has been long recognized as a major symbol in That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. Most scholars view the fog as a symbol of Mark feeling trapped (Cheaney) but in addition to that, it is believed that the fog is symbolizing a dark period of time where the town of Edgestow is being overtaken. The fog that begins to cover Edgestow symbolizes much more than just a thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere. The fog, made of water, is a kind of darkness which can be felt.

In Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis uses symbolism to portray character traits of Orual to the reader. Once Orual has received her fate from the gods, that she shall also be Psyche, she made the faint decision to veil herself. She believes it will work to protect her from the fate of the gods and she realizes that she is able to act in different ways and get more things done than she was previously. Lewis uses the presence of the veil to reveal the many qualities of Orual, like her purity, gender, and her insecurities. The veil helps to affect the transformation of Orual to the queen and works to reveal more internal character traits.

Regarding the obvious consequences of beauty standards, Natalie DiBlasio provokes anger and sympathy in the reader by providing emotional stories. She first presents her experience with two baby girls, both beautiful and new to the world. However, looking at their innocent faces, DiBlasio realized that “in a few short years, someone is going to have to teach them how to love themselves - because it

Many people in today’s society believe that his or her own way of thinking is the best for everyone and every situation. This is not the case if one or both parties are stubborn and will only agree with his or her terms. Orual from Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis has a difficult personality that renders her ability to understand the gods of the 700 to 450 B.C. time period she thinks have wronged her for not listening to her when in fact she is the one to have not listened. In the novel Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis the character Orual has an obstinate attitude that influences her actions and relationships with those she loves and reflects on how people behave in modern civilization and its consequences.

When she beholds her appearance in the mirror, she could scarcely understand the atrocity before her. Her

As the popular saying goes: if you love something, set it free. This is used as a test of sorts to find out if love is true love. This distinction between different kinds of love is important because sometimes love can hurt everyone that is involved. Artists choose many methods to get this idea across in their works. One of them, C.S. Lewis, chose to convey this message using beauty and justice.

Roland Barthes once said that “Literature is the question minus the answer.” This is a statement that applies nearly perfectly to some novels: for example, Atonement questions what redemption really is and The Picture of Dorian Gray questions what beauty really is, but neither novel provides a definite answer to their respective questions. It cannot be universally applied in its entirety, however; though Till We Have Faces is centered around a difficult question, it does end with a definite answer. C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces uses the Greek gods as a symbol to ask why the Judeo-Christian God – the God C. S. Lewis believed in – never seems to speak clearly and holds the answer in the meaning of the work as a whole: the hidden truth

The novel, “Till We Have Faces” by C.S Lewis, is a reiteration of the famous myth of Cupid and Psyche. In this first partitioned piece of the novel, the book takes perspective from the ugly stepsister; Orual, who lives in the kingdom of Glome (Connects to Hellenistic Greece). Orual has a single parent: her father, who takes no pride in associating himself with either of his daughters. Additionally, Orual has a wise old slave named Fox who plays as the deuteragonist. Psyche is introduced into the novel as the tragic hero. Soon after Psyche is introduced, the kingdom of Glome begins to crumble: plagues curse the land, a lack livestock, and grain along with a drought that outlasted any other. Psyche is said to be the poison tainting their land, and they must offer her up to the god’s to restore peace, “We must find the Accursed. And she must die by the rite of the Great Offering” (Lewis 54).

All humans have an imagination. Frye speaks upon how those who read literature and analyze it has a well-educated imagination. However, those who are left, do not have an imagination or it is easily influenced. In Chapter 6, Frye says “ Advertising is one example, though an obvious one, of the deliberate creation of an illusion in the middle of real life.” (85) Frye interprets advertising as an illusion in life that a purpose. This connects to the beauty industry, specifically cosmetics displays the perfect image that the public must embody. However, it is known there is the chance of becoming the perfect face of beauty is impossible. The illusion made by the beauty industry is made for the purpose of showing what all society believes is

Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis is a book about love and insecurity with beauty. Lewis compares the inner beauty to the outer beauty. The story is about Orual who is the narrator of the novel and the queen. Orual is a very ugly person and is always reminded of this. Orual is an ugly person inside and out. Because of her ugliness, she is insecure about anyone loving her and angry. Therefore, when anyone loves her, she is very possessive of them and jealous. The three people Orual loves are Psyche, the Fox, and Bardia. She ends up hurting the people she loves by ruining their lives. With Psyche, Orual had her husband banished. Bardia was worked to death. She approved of the Fox not returning to his home. She was selfish in her love for them

One of the biggest insecurities for Orual, is her ugliness. The King, her father, shows no shame when it comes to telling her how ugly she is. On page 26 of the book, when telling Orual and the Fox they must keep Redival with them at all times he says to Orual, “And you, goblin daughter, do what you’re good for, you’d best. Name of Ungit! If you with that face can’t frighten the men away, it’s a wonder” (Lewis 2012). Growing up with the constant remarks of being ugly, one might seek resentment towards those who are beautiful, especially, when one’s sibling is getting all the attention for how beautiful she is. When her sister Istra, or Psyche, is born, she sees a difference in the way that people treat her and how they treat Psyche. “Orual

Women nowadays can easily identify themselves through Dorian. We tend to be more obsessed with our appearance than we dare to admit. To what extent are we willing to go to meet society’s standards of beauty? In this research paper, I will argue how the search for pleasure and beauty make us greedy. I will emphasize the facts that made the protagonist who he is throughout the book, and highlight the aspects of the book that best relate to the

In Sontag’s “A Woman’s Beauty” the structure the author uses for the story has a dramatic impact on the readers. In the story, Sontag structures the essay base on many historical events and other religious ideas to support her idea, how a woman sometime is only judge by her appearance. Specifically, Sontag uses three ideas in the story to support her argument. First is in history what the Greeks believe in a woman’s beauty. Second, Sontag discuss about how the Christian religion plays a major role in shaping how a woman is judge only base on her beauty. In the end, Sontag talks about in today’s society how woman are still judge by her beauty. However, in the end Sontag mentions how the society should stop judging a woman only base on her beauty.