[Child of the 7th Age]

William Cloud Hickli -

There is a much larger problem here that no one seems to be addressing. It is impossible to judge the depiction of Susan without considering the wider issue of how Lewis generally represents women. I enjoy Lewis immensely and have done so since childhood. I have many of his fiction and non-fiction books sitting on my shelf.

However, I love these works in spite of the way Lewis portrays female characters or even discusses women in some of his non-fiction works. (Passages in the Four Loves are also suggestive, but I don't have a copy at home.) I remember being taken aback even as a child when I read the Narnia tales and found out what happened to Susan. Something in my eleven year old head howled "unfair". I was the furthest kid you could imagine from lipstick and party invitations, but I wasn't quite sure that I could measure up to Lucy in spiritual depth and had a bad feeling that otherwise (like Susan) I would be thrown into a literary pit.

I had a similar queasy feeling when I encountered Jane in That Hideous Strength. I don't have a copy handy right now so I would have a hard time coming up with specific quotes, but I always had the feeling that Lewis simply took Ephesians 5: 22-25 concerning the headship of men over women and went at it from that viewpoint, with little subtlety. Others will feel very comfortable with this, but I do not.

It's only when you get to Till We Have Faces that Lewis seems capable of portraying females with some insight and depth. This is one of my favorite books. Orual is a compelling, complex character. There is no simple right or wrong here. We are shown how Orual grows in wisdom, self knowledge, and ability to love. It's my understanding that this was written late in Lewis's career....after he had met and loved Joy. That experience must have transformed him as I see an enormous difference between Orual (and even Psyche) and his earlier females. Lucy is a compelling personality, but there is no depth in her characterization or, in another direction, that of the later Susan. And I say this while acknowledging that there is a difference between writing a story for a juvenile or adult audience. Whatever Tolkien's personal views on the role of women (a subject for debate), I do not see this same simplicity in Tolkien's females that I do in those of Lewis. But Tolkien had the advantage of Edith and Priscilla for many long years.