The Role Of Psyche In C. S Lewis Till We Have Faces

The book, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, shows how Screwtape uses subtlety and psychology when he is tempting human beings into sin. He plays with the patient’s imagination, emotions, will, and intellect. Also, he shows great shrewdness when encouraging sin that does not appear to be sin. Screwtape shows effective psychology in encouraging the patient to displace intellect and will in prayer with imagination and emotion, and he shows subtlety in encouraging gluttony of delicacy, pride in humility, and superiority in being part of an elite Christian social circle.

In the story “Till We Have Faces,” CS Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche through the eyes of Psyche's older sister, Orual. Using the viewpoint of Orual gives a different view into the story since her relationship with the gods is nonexistent in the beginning. The gods have taken the only one she loves, Psyche, and Orual, ultimately, uses the book as a complaint aimed towards the gods because she is jealous. Throughout the story, there are many glimpses into the jealous nature of Orual. When we first see Orual, it seems that her jealousy is stemming from wanting to be as beautiful as Psyche and blaming the gods for her ugliness, however later on, after Psyche is taken from the gods, her jealousy seems to stem from Psyche no longer needing

Till We Have Faces by C.S.Lewis is a remarkable twist on the story of Cupid and Psyche, and details the thoughts and actions of Orual, Psyche's oldest sister. Orual, unlike her sister, is skeptical about the divine nature of the gods of the kingdom; when she does become convinced, she retains a grudge against them for taking her beloved sister away from her. One of the events most critical to the message of Lewis's piece is the moment when the gods call Orual to bring forth her complaints against them, because of Orual's consequent uncovering of her true feelings. Since her youth Orual had been convinced that she had shown the most selfless and treasuring love towards Psyche, and that the gods' stealing of her younger sister had been the

     Orual says she had suffered much at the hands of the gods, but what most torments her is the loss of her previous sister Istra (Psyche), in which loss Orual shares responsibility and blame: this loss of Psyche results primarily from Orual's jealously and rage at the gulf

In addition, the story of Oedipus Rex is another outstanding tragic literature. However, compared to Tim O’Brien’s writing style, Sophocles’ work inspires the emotions of pity and fear, and not depression. Normally a person with status, the tragic hero can be placed with sins of the gods or be a victim of given situations. Their fate often establishes an advanced social rank, often based upon exile. Tragedy illustrates the manner in which pride can overturn even the strongest characters, as it makes the readers aware of human suffering.

Thesis statement: The book Till we have faces by C.S Lewis talked about Orual, a ugly and sinful princess eventually saw the truth and become beautiful and sinless by her sister Psyche’s sacrifice.

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

In many countries around the world, ignorance carries a considerable weight in politics, households, between friends, and in other vicinities. This ignorance can be depicted as blindness of the mind. In the Greek philosopher Sophocles’ play, Oedipus the King, Oedipus’ family and friends share their blindness in the fact that they love Oedipus and don’t have a desire to know the truth of his ruined past. They keep things from Oedipus and end up withholding the actualities of life from themselves in the process. Sophocles urges the reader that the love people clutch to can cause people to lose sight of the truth. He then expands on the blindness, demonstrating the idea that when the truth comes out, it pulls the love a person feels for another into darkness with it. Love is fragile, and can be easily destroyed by the opening of the eye, causing families to crumble underneath.

Lewis presents his father as a great father figure. Some proof I have found that would suggest that his father was giving him some encouraging words when it came down to him putting on the cheer uniform. Here is one of the ways his sexuality makes him think twice about things as Lewis gets mad because the game is slowly approaching and he does not want to wear the uniform his father begins to share some words with him. His father says, “You have never felt beautiful” mind you this should be something that a mother would normally say to her daughter (333). Lewis then looks at his father I did not really say much, his father goes on to say, “I will dress you in a skirt and a sweater and nice underwear and you will feel beautiful’’ (333). With

“You are your own enemy” (Guthrie, Oedipus Rex, 22:43). In the film adaptation of Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” (1957), Sir Tyrone Guthrie portrays the characters as truth seekers that are ignorant when trying to find King Laius’ murderer. On the other hand, Sigmund Freud’s hypothesis of Sophocles’ work introduces us to “The Oedipus Complex” (1899) which states that as we’re young we grow infatuated with our opposite sex parent and feel resentment towards our same-sex parent. These two pieces have adapted mirror like meanings of Sophocles’ tragic play. Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Sigmund Freud explore this through the use of ethos, irony, social distance, and the visualization of state of mind in order to show the manifestation Oedipus undergoes

Sophocles formed the foundation upon which all modern theatre is based, and one great example of his plays is Oedipus the King. The play is about the city of Thebes, which is agonized, and Oedipus is to punish the killer of the former king Laius. King Oedipus of Thebes sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to identify the cause of the mysterious plague that has struck the city and he islater informed by the prophet that Oedipus himself is the killer. Likewise, in the “Allegory of the Cave,” Plato distinguishes between people who mistake sensory knowledge for the truth and people who really do see the truth. In both textss, the main character lacked the knowledge about their surroundings, and this ignorance is what viciously drives them along in the story. In Oedipus the King and The Allegory of the Cave the method of recognition is illustrated, where the characters lack of knowledge leads him or her to meet consequences and obstacles after acknowledging the truth.

The tragedy of Oedipus Rex exemplifies the corruption of the higher classes and the differing values of the Athenian society. The play represents the enduring themes of the flawed nature of humanity as well as the limits of free will. Oedipus, the new king sought to prevent the disturbing prophecy from occurring, in the processes accidently fulfilling the inevitable; murdering his father and marrying his mother. Through the twisting plot of the play emerged with themes that defined the era, the beliefs and ideas of the Athenians are shown in the ideas of corruption, knowledge, and fate.

The myth of Eurydice is a sad story in which two lovers are separated by death. After his love dies, Orpheus journeys into the underworld to retrieve her, but instead loses her for good. Playwright Sarah Ruhl takes the myth of Eurydice and attempts to transform this sad tale into a more light-hearted story. However, despite humorous lines and actions throughout the play, the melancholy situation of the actual tale overwhelms any comicality present. Although meant to be funny, Sarah Ruhl's “Eurydice” can be seen as a modernized tragedy about two lovers who are separated forever by a twist of fate.

Tragedy can either be the darkest part of life for one person or it can be a learning opportunity for the other person. Of all the tragedies written in the literate, “Oedipus the King” written by ‘Sophocles’ is one of the oldest and the most prominent tragedy written till date. It is the story of the king, who is brutally left to die by his own parents, luckily survived, unknowingly killed his own father and married his mother. Although this story was written 2000 years ago, but it still has a great significance in the modern world. Of the most powerful tragedies of the time, “Oedipus the king” discloses such values and situations as parental aggression, child abandonment, self-confidence, ability to handle trauma, and parent-child intimate relationship that people are struggling with in today’s world. Sophocles reveals these behaviours and incidents through the actions of Oedipus.

The Grecian myth of Orpheus is a well known tragic tale about love and loss. It is the subject of many operas and movies, each one’s focus on the musicians struggle to rescue his wife from the Underworld and the heartbreak that follows soon after. In Sarah Ruhl’s retelling of the story we have our focus shifted to Orpheus’ wife; Eurydice. In this production we given the details of what she had been through before Orpheus’ descent, filling in her own story of life and death. After she dies on her wedding night she is reunited with her father who greets her warmly, though she has forgotten him during her dip in the unnamed river Lethe. Her father patiently guides her through her new life in the Underworld, teaching her about her forgotten past and what it means to be alive again. Orpheus, heartbroken, begins sending letters out into the oblivion hoping that they may reach his wife. When Eurydice discovers the letters, her father kindly reads them to her in which Orpheus claims that he will burst through the gates of hell to save his beloved. When he does however, he is greeted by the Lord of the Underworld who allows him to take Eurydice on one condition; walk home and do not look back. Eurydice then finds herself in turmoil as she must decide on whether to stay with her father or return with her husband. After some coaxing from her father she follows Orpheus but just as they reach the end she calls out - causing Orpheus to turn around and consequently killing her a