A year ago yesterday, the following was posted to the now defunct Examiner.com.
Women and C S Lewis: What his life and
literature reveal for today's culture
Narnia author C. S. Lewis was often
critical of progress, and once referred to himself as a "dinosaur."
But his views on women were more progressive than many understand. At least
that is what the writers of the new anthology, "Women and C. S.
Lewis," assert.
Those who know of Lewis only through
the Chronicles
of Narnia could easily jump to the
conclusion Lewis was sexist on the basis of a few passages. The words of Father
Christmas in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" about how
"battles are ugly when women fight," and the fact the White Witch is
female are two examples commonly brought up as arguments for Lewis' alleged
sexism – or even misogyny. And Susan's supposed exclusion from heaven because
of "nylons and lipstick" in "The Last Battle" put the nail
in the coffin on the matter for some.
However, Section Two, which examines
how Lewis portrays women and girls in his fiction, provides many examples to
counter this view. The problem with "the problem with Susan" is the
critics are not examining the applicable passages very closely. Susan is not
excluded from heaven; her fate remains uncertain because life on earth goes on.
And she is absent not because she is interested in boys and other things girls
of her age normally think about, but because she is interested in nothing else.
Susan and Lucy are excluded from the battle in LWW, but in "The Last
Battle," Jill Pole has a major role to play. And there are certainly many
positive roles given to female characters, as well as negative roles for males.
Many critics point to "Till We
Have Faces" as Lewis' crowning achievement in fictional writing. Lewis
writes the book from the first person point of view of the female protagonist.
While many presume the book was written in collaboration with his late-in-life
bride Joy Davidman, the writers of the anthology point out what a remarkable
feat it was, requiring sensitive insights no misogynist would be capable of,
collaboration or not.
Besides Joy Davidman, a brilliant
writer in her own right, Lewis had close relationships with several highly
intellectual and talented women, who greatly influenced him. His mother, whom
he lost when he was not quite ten, had degrees in Mathematics and Logic—very
rare for a woman in the late nineteenth century. Although Lewis himself
struggled with math, his mother also taught him French and Latin at a young
age. Other friendships include Stella Aldwickle and Elisabeth Anscombe.
Aldwickle was the founder of the Oxford University Socratic Club. Anscombe was
also a member of the Club, and was a profound influence on Lewis; she was the
impetus for his rewrites for the second edition of "Miracles."
Besides his wife, perhaps the most
famous female friendship Lewis had was with Dorothy L. Sayers, mostly through
written correspondence. Lewis was so impressed by her radio play, "The Man
Born to be King" about the life of Christ, he made a habit of reading
through it every Lent. Lewis did disagree with her on the subject of the
ordination of women, but his respect for her intellect and talent is evident.
Some of Lewis' views certainly did
not match with what most would consider feminist today, but the authors of this
book would argue he was a positive influence toward more progressive views of
women in his day – and even in our day. New York Times Best Selling author
Randy Alcorn points to Lewis as the influence which inspired him to "speak
out for women."
In the Conclusion to the book,
co-editor Carolyn Curtis sums up the findings of the book, which included a
variety of perspectives: complementarian and egalitarian, conservative and
progressive.
We conclude that both Lewis' life choices and
his writings take a high view of women, noting that the direction of his
attitudes about women continues higher as his life goes on. Said differently,
as he aged and matured, he grew in faith. Likewise, as he aged and matured, his
views of women grew "higher."
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