TILL WE HAVE FACES C.S. LEWIS The first person narrative in the ancient kingdom of Glome, a land ruled by a tyrannical king and religious goddess Ungit. Narrated by Princess (later Queen) Orual. The first section of this novel presents itself as an open complaint against the gods, particularly the god of the Grey Mountain, who brought Orual such pain and distress over the years, yet offer no answers or explanations to justify the suffering. 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 dividing herself …show more content…
Psyches new godly husband keeps his face veiled and only comes to her in the night. Orual first takes her sister for mad, but eventually is convinced the perhaps she should leave Psyche to her new found joy, to the love of her husband. But her jealousy and obsessive love step in , grudging Psyche her happiness, her love. Orual is unable to comprehend, much less approve, of any love for Psyche that usurps her own. Orual, predictably, resents the gods for the gulf now so plainly separating her from Psyche. "…the world had broken in pieces and Psyche and I were not in the same piece. Seas, mountains, madness, death itself, could not have removed her from me to such a hopeless distance. Gods, and again gods, and always gods…they had stolen her." (TWHF, pg.120-121) Psyche pleads with Orual to open her spiritual eyes and see the palace now standing all around her in dazzling splendor; and Orual is indeed tempted. In the end, though, jealousy wins the day. Orual delivers Psyche an ultimatum: either expose this "gods" face this night, or Orual will kill herself. To this threat Psyche reluctantly acquires, broken with sorrow. Everything, she knows, is now changed, horribly changed, altered forever. She will betray her god to satisfy her sisters love-need. "’I know what I do,’ Psyche informs Orual. ‘I know that I am betraying the best of lovers and that perhaps, before sunrise, all my happiness may be destroyed forever.’" (TWHF,
This book report discusses the plot, significant characters, setting (e.g., time of the story took place, historical background), problems and resolutions, themes or messages of the story. A reflection of the author’s writing style will be presented followed by a conclusion.
This novel generally embraces the view of Omakayas, the narrative escapes a “univocal perspective” by slipping into the thoughts of surrounding characters and creatures in order to dramatize motives that Omakayas has refused to envision or understand (Bloom, 1998). For example, after portraying Omakayas’ anger at her brother Pinch, the narrative shifts to Pinch’s point of view: “It was hard being Big Pinch, harder than his sisters would ever know” (Erdrich,
Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his
Throughout the years, there have been many interpretations of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus. However, one of the most interesting interpretations of the play would have to be one that uses the theories of Sigmund Freud to analyze the actions of the characters. The use of various aspects of Freudian theory such as the id, ego, superego, and the Oedipus Complex reveals Oedipus and his behaviors throughout the course of the play.
As we move forward the narrator reveals how Gebel(the ruler of Gola) was disgusted as soon as she finds that the visitors from Detaxal are “simple minded males”(101)
Orual is portrayed clearly as being ugly and constantly being called ugly by other people, including some that were close to her, like her father. This made Orual feel more and more insecure about her looks. This is something that Orual doesn’t want to have to deal with, so if she is veiled than no one can see her face, then they can’t recognize her ugliness. This builds up Orual’s confidence in herself and helps her interact further with people without the fear of them recognizing her ugliness. This also affects people Orual socializes with. People began to grasp other more important qualities in Orual, rather than her face. She realized that she was being treated different by men, that they thought she was beautiful based on other traits, besides her face. “From the very first (it began that night in the garden with Trunia) as soon as my face was invisible, people began to discover all manner of beauties in my voice.” (Lewis 228) This affects the way Orual interacts with people as a queen and in general because she has a newfound sense of confidence in herself while
The book is titled "Till We Have Faces" because the moral of the story is to overcome who you think you are to acknowledge who you really are. In order to find beauty and happiness, you have to possess self-knowledge to fully grasp the essence of the gods. In particular, Orual was reluctant to accept her grief and insecurities, hiding them along with her identity with her veil. It was only until she experienced visions she realized she was selfish and bitter. Because of this newfound understanding, she was able to finally comprehend the gods' nature, gifting her with the joyful beauty of Psyche. Orual's veil she wore was symbolic of her refusing to accept her actual self by hiding her face. Once she admitted her flaws to the gods, her figurative
Though Orual did not agree with her beloved sister being sacrificed, it was something the Priest decided that would ultimately benefit the kingdom. She demanded to go with Psyche to say her last goodbyes, “....I was determined to go with Psyche to the Mountain and the holy Tree, unless they bound me with chains (77).” Psyche was willing to be sacrificed when she knew she would help everyone she loved, even when she felt miserable, “‘...my arms were as heavy as lead (106).’” Even when she was being tied to the tree, “‘...and they were fastening me to the Tree with iron round my waist (107).’” she wasn’t focused on herself and her own pain. When being tied to the Tree, Psyche explained how many animals surrounded her, “‘And they came nearer and nearer in a great circle, but never very near, and mooed at me (109).’” Once Psyche was set free, she described the great wind around her, “‘And then the wind was
Both the reader and the characters develop similar problems in dealing with the chaos around them. Like Pynchons' reader's, Oedipa is forced to either work toward interpreting the trail of seemingly indecipherable clues being tossed in her wake or forgo it all and walk away in bewilderment. Like the reader by deciding to go on, however aimlessly, she is forcibly drawn out of the complacency of her own existence; into a chaotic system of intrigue that reaches far beyond her normal scope of understanding. In the same turn, like Oedipa the reader's role is also based on interpreting numerous symbols and metaphorical clues as a means of stumbling upon a legible conclusion that will stop the madness. Each of them arriving at a different conclusion or none at all solely depended upon how far the use of our perceptions will allow us to go. Unfortunately both Oedipa and the reader (myself included) are overwhelmed by the myriad of inconsistencies and masked innuendo saturating this book from cover to cover. Unable to sufficiently distinguish between what is real and relevant and what is unreal and irrelevant, both are left feeling disconcerted and
Orual is writing a book as her complaint against the gods and all the wrong that they have done to her. Through her narrative she demonstrates to the reader her erroneous thinking, which she realizes later in her life. . She sees her own face in the second section of the book when the veil in front of her spiritual face is removed and her true self is exposed. She realizes that she was not as righteous as she believed herself to be. The things that she thought were right had been wrong. She hurt a lot of people with
The central female in the lai of Guigemar is a young “lady of high birth” (46) who is trapped in a tower by her older, jealous husband, Meriaduc. When a wounded Guigemar sails “into the harbour” (46), she becomes smitten and commits adultery. The young lady and Guigemar are not adulterous for the sake of sexual gratification; they are both tortured by love in a pure and noble form, evidenced later by their pledges to love no one but each other. Even through Guigemar and the lady’s separation, “never would he take a wife, for love or money,” (51), further demonstrating the virtue and goodness of their love. On the part of the lady, her love for Guigemar is even more virtuous because she is trapped perpetually by a cruel master.
She cannot come to terms with the fact that her son was brought back crippled. She questions why there is evil in the world and why good people have to suffer. Oriel does not understand why God had punished her since she was such a devoted and hard working woman. She becomes disappointed and angry with
A passage in unit 3, pages 121- 160,was about a man named, Orpheus, who was the son of the Muses and a Thracian prince. His sad story begins happily when he waits for his bride to be, to marry him. But tragically his bride dies after being stung by a viper and he quickly gets on a boat, to go to the underground world to get his bride back. As it says," O Gods who rule the dark and silent world, To you all born of a woman needs must come. All lovely things at last go down to you. You are the debtor who is always paid. A little while we tarry up on earth. Then we are yours forever and forever. But I seek one who came to you too soon. The bud was plucked before the flower bloomed. I tried to bear my loss. I could not bear it. Love was too strong a god.
This is the woman she might have become – warm, tolerant and imaginative. Instead she becomes jagged, benighted and imaginative. . . .Ophelia is made mad not only by circumstance but by something in herself. A personality forced into such deep hiding that it has seemed almost vacant, has all the time been so painfully open to impressions that they now usurp her reflexes and take possession of her. She has loved, or been prepared to love, the wrong man; her father has brought disaster on himself, and she has no mother: she is terribly lonely. (73-74)
Talking about God or the gods can be a very confusing and frustrating subject. Some people find that they can connect with God and “hear his voice”, but for most of us it just has not happened. Throughout the story, Orual struggles with trying to communicate to the gods, and they never answer her. She keeps asking them for a sign, and when she least expects it, they communicate with her. The gods will only communicate to her on their terms, but she has the attitude that they need to speak with her on her terms. This attitude has affected her actions and choices throughout the story. The struggle to communicate with a higher being is very difficult for some people; sometimes we just need a “sign”.