Bareface : a guide to C.S. Lewis's last novel / Doris T. Myers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Myers, Doris T.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Eros (Greek deity) in literature.

Mythology, Greek, in literature.

Psyche (Greek deity) in literature.

Psychology in literature.

Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Till we have faces.

Lewis, C. S.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

C. S. Lewis wanted to name his last novel "Bareface." Now Doris T. Myers's Bareface provides a welcome study of Lewis's last, most profound, and most skillfully written novel, Till We Have Faces. Although many claim it is his best novel, Till We Have Faces is a radical departure from the fantasy genre of Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters and has been less popular than Lewis's earlier works. In Bareface, Myers supplies background information on this difficult work and suggests reading techniques designed to make it more accessible to general readers. She also presents a fresh approach to Lewis criticism for the enjoyment of specialists.   Previous studies have often treated the novel as mere myth, ignoring Lewis's effort to present the story of Cupid and Psyche as something that could have happened. Myers emphasizes the historical background, the grounding of the characterizations in modern psychology, and the thoroughly realistic narrative presentation. She identifies key books in ancient and medieval literature, history, and philosophy that influenced Lewis's thinking as well as pointing out a previously unnoticed affinity with William James. From this context, a clearer understanding of Till We Have Faces can emerge.   Approached in this way, the work can be seen as a realistic twentieth-century novel using modernist techniques such as the unreliable narrator and the manipulation of time. The major characters fit neatly into William James's typology of religious experience, and Orual, the narrator-heroine, also develops the kind of personal maturity described by Carl Jung. At the same time, both setting and plot provide insights into the ancient world and pre-Christian modes of thought.   Organized to facilitate browsing according to the reader's personal interests and needs, this study helps readers explore this complex and subtle novel in their own way. Containing fresh insights that even the most experienced Lewis scholar will appreciate, Bareface is an accomplishment worthy of Lewis's lifelong contemplation.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: "Bareface"-Why a Book about a Book?

Part I. Chapter by Chapter

Book One. The Way It All Happened

Chapter 1. Welcome to Glome

Chapter 2. Enter Psyche

Chapter 3. Hard Times in Glome

Chapter 4. Psyche the Accursed

Chapter 5. The Condemnation of Psyche

Chapter 6. Fighting for Psyche

Chapter 7. The Night before the Offering

Chapter 8. Psyche Is Gone

Chapter 9. Life without Psyche

Chapter 10. Over to the Other Side

Chapter 11. Mixed Emotions

Chapter 12. Guesses-And a Glimpse

Chapter 13. Orual's Soul-Searching

Chapter 14. Back to the Mountain

Chapter 15. Meeting the God

Chapter 16. Waiting and Building

Chapter 17. The Queen Grows Stronger

Chapter 18. The Eve of the Battle

Chapter 19. Triumph and Sorrow

Chapter 20. The Queen's Resumé

Chapter 21. What Happened in Essur

Book Two. What Really Happened

Chapter 1. Reality Check

Chapter 2. Who Is Ungit?

Chapter 3. The Book at the Bottom of the Soul

Chapter 4. Face to Face at Last

Conclusion: The Soul's Journey

Part II. Further In

Apuleius and Lewis

Chronology of Lewis's Life

Glome, A Real Place-More or Less

The Holy-Lewis and Otto

James and Conversion

Myth-A Definition

Names in Glome

The New Psychology

Pagan Religion

Plato-Banished from Glome

Stoicism-The Faith of the Fox

Time in Till We Have Faces

Part III. Glossary

Further Reading

Works Cited

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-244) and index.

ISBN:

9780826264466

0826264468

OCLC:

297925009