T. S. Lewis Till We Have Faces

Rooted deep in many of the works of C.S. Lewis are themes of Christianity and the relationship between man and the spiritual world. His last novel, written in the mid 1950s, Till We Have Faces, is one of the most intellectual works of C.S. Lewis. Considered by Lewis as his best work, it is a retelling of the classical mythical story of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Orual, the older sister of Psyche. Masterfully written, Lewis prompts the reader to identify with Orual and view her as the victim. Lewis then shows the faults of Orual and in the process reveals our own faults and those of society. As an upcoming freshman, I believe that college students would profit from Till We Have Faces, because it opens the readers eyes to the spiritual

Throughout the novel Orual states that she is complaining to the gods for them not helping her with her relationship with Psyche although it was Orual’s own wrongdoings that diminished the relationship. Orual refuses to believe that Psyche has a god for a husband and is living in his palace because she cannot see it for herself. When she does see it she blames the gods by stating, “That moment when I either saw or thought I saw the House- does it tell against the gods or against me? Would they (if they answered) make it a part of their defense? say it was a sign, a hint, beckoning me to answer the riddle one way rather than the other? I’ll not grant them that. What is the use of a sign which is itself only another riddle?” (Lewis 133). She blames the gods for answering her questions about Psyche because they were not straightforward like she wants them to be. Due to Orual being pigheaded about the gods her actions are affected by her

     C.S. Lewis’s book Till We Have Faces is about the myth of Psyche and Cupid. However, in the original tale Psyche is a very naive girl who is greatly influenced by her two wicked older sisters. In this rendition of the tale, Psyche’s sisters are not evil and Psyche is not a mindless fool as she has been portrayed in earlier tales.

In Lewis’s novel Till We Have Faces Orual’s misunderstanding of justice leads her to seek – but fail to obtain – her justice from the gods showing how her possessive love is ugly while true love is beautiful. Orual’s quest and misunderstanding of justice begins with the removal of Psyche from her life. Orual sees Psyche as her child from the moment she is born since Psyche’s mother dies while giving birth.

18.Pandora and Psyche are similar because of their curiosity. Pandora opened the box because she was curious as to what was inside it after being told not to open it. Psyche was not allowed to see her husband's face because they had to trust each other. However, got the best of her and she lost Cupid. This shows that they are both very similar because they both became curious causing them problems. These stories reveal that ancient Greek women are not trustworthy and are curious.

God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance” (93). Unlike the creature, Adam was created after the image of God as a perfect, human being. In contrast, Victor abandons the creature because of his hideous appearance which emphasizes Victor’s narcissistic judgment. This demonstrates the false preconception of physical appearance in relation to good and evil. Despite his beautiful appearance, Adam deceives God by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge despite specifically being told not to which emphasizes the false preconception of physical appearance and

Orual could only recall the Springs and Summers of her childhood with Psyche but describes them as if they were the most wonderful days of her life. Time seemed to fly by faster than they ever did for Orual, maybe because she was a kid, or because this was before she started to lose Psyche to the gods. As she reminisces about the trees, the way their branches danced in the skies, and how the shadows floated along the ground, she suspiciously transfers the spotlight to "their shadows flowing water-like over all the hills and valleys of Psyche 's body" (23). As if she was not entertained by nature itself but more of the burning love she has for Psyche. The thing that Orual can remember most was just the beauty of Psyche. She goes on to admit that she wished to be more to Psyche than she already was. Orual seems to get carried away while writing about her memories of Psyche that she goes as far as telling the reader that she wished she was a boy, so Psyche could fall in love with her. Orual has a deeper love for Psyche at such a young age that is more than just sisterly love. The way C.S. Lewis repeated the words "I wanted," shows the reader first taste of the storge love Orual has for Psyche. The reader now gets a sense of devotion Orual shows to Psyche. Orual seems to be attached to her step-sister at a young age, maybe because Psyche was everything that Orual wanted to be; that being

The influence of Jungian psychology in his writing is extensive and is thus a good and legitimate approach to analyzing Orual as a developing character. Not only was Lewis’ writing heavily influenced by Jung, but psychology is a useful criticism in itself for understanding works where characters have clear psychological issues. Orual can be seen as a woman with characteristic issues that come about in her loss of a sister, lack of a mother, bad relationship with her father, and so on. Along with that, this story is written from her point of view. If she cannot understand what is happening to her, the only way for a reader to understand is to pry away at the small cues from her subconscious to try to analyze and understand her behavior

Topic Sentence: The old Orual never understand her need for redemption, and she is full of sin. Claim from Part 1: Orual can not see the truth because she pushed all her fault to Psyche, her beautiful and sinless sister, and never wants to face the truth. Integrated support from Part 1: When Psyche shows to Orual that she is hoping to be sacrificed, Orual argues: “‘Oh, cruel, cruel!’ She wailed. ‘Is it nothing to you that you leave me alone? Psyche, did you ever love me at all?’” (Lewis 83) Analysis: Orual’s selfish and possessive are exposed

Similarity, to the Odysseus, In the Beginning Eve was tempted to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree. .Furthermore both characters

Psyche was born a mortal, her father was a king, and she had two sisters. Her beauty was so great it seemed as if she was a goddess, some even said the goddess Venus could not compare with her. Her sisters were very jealous of her beauty, and so was Venus. Venus went to cupid and told him to make her fall in love with “the vilest and most despicable creature there is in the whole world”. However, Cupid did not do what his mother told him to, but when he looked at Psyche he fell in love.

Peter Christen Asbjornsen’s East of the Sun and West of the Moon is a Norwegian fairy tale that revolves around the journey of a young woman who is unknowingly married off to a prince trapped in the form of a polar bear. She is forbidden see him at night and is put through an impossible trial once she discovers his identity. Likewise, Apuleius’ version of Cupid and Psyche tells of Psyche, a beautiful young woman, who finds herself unknowingly married to Cupid. She too is forbidden from discovering his identity by night however, her curiosity leads her to uncover the truth and she is put through various trials in order to win back Cupid. To tell these remarkable tales, Asbjornsen and Apuleius both implement eerily similar themes to present an

Three myths that share interesting similarities include Cupid and Psyche, Baucis and Philemon, and Ceyx and Alcyone. Although there are multiple differences, the similarities could possibly exist to prove that the gods shall reward true love- even through tragedy. In every story, the gods allow each couple to live together forever in peace. For Baucis and Philemon, they live as a tree growing from two trunks after their death. In the case of Ceyx and Alcyone, the gods pity Alcyone’s suffering after Ceyx’s death, and turn both into birds so they can fly together forever. Cupid and Psyche are finally are able to live together in peace when Psyche is overcome by deep sleep after peeking in Proserpine’s box.

Cupid and Psyche has been evaluated as being an unnerving and awkward version of the myth. David’s painting depicts a vulgar and adolescent Cupid as he is sneaking away just before sunrise. Traditionally, the god of love would be presented as an idealized and noble youth; however, in this painting David chose to show a ruddy juvenile who sneers at the observer as if to display his conquest. Cupid lacks the elegance and beautiful youthfulness, usually attributed to the gods in art; in fact, David was known for the virtuous and perfected male form that dominates most of his previous works. The male form demonstrated by Cupid “was seen to be completely at odds with the standards David and his circle had long employed for depicting young male gods.” (Thompson).

The myth of Cupid and Psyche is a charming and bittersweet tale. Psyche is one of three sisters of a king. She is the most beautiful woman alive, even more beautiful than Aphrodite. Every male would admire her looks, and that got Aphrodite vexed. Aphrodite sent her son, Cupid, to shoot Psyche with an arrow to make