Space Trilogy #2


Although often when asked about his writings, Lewis will claim that they are in fact not allegory but inspired or simply influenced by parts of myth. However, in the case of Perelandra, the second entry in the Space Trilogy, this simply will not take as the story written by Lewis is clearly a retelling or reassertion of the fall of man, if man had a bit more help in the matter. This allegory is clear with the Queen clearly playing the part of Eve within this retelling and Professor Weston inhabiting the demonic tempter that is trying to bring about demonic succession as it was on earth. With Ransom though, divine intervention is had, and temptation avoided which brought around a true paradise in the form of Venus. This specific allegory is interesting though as it asserts the importance of this story for man as well as far as myth goes. This interested me due to the stance that Lewis takes within his essay, Myth Became Fact, in which he details that myth is not the concrete facts that some assert; rather, myth is something of a sense of the truth that actually took place.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heidegger (I Guess)

In "The Origin of the Work of Art," Martin Heidegger characterizes the essence of art as work which contributes to the unconcealment ( aletheia ) of reality, i.e. the literal (or perhaps literary, given his emphasis on poetry) construction of truth. This philosophy/ontology seems quite compatible with Lewis's bit in "Myth Became Fact," wherein he describes myth as reality. Heidegger describes unconcealing as the existential project of the Dasein, i.e. the human being, and artistic manifestation of the aesthetic impulse is a prime way of doing this: realizing and bringing-forth qualities of Being, facilitating the dialectical relationship between world and earth. Poetry is a privileged art form for Heidegger, given the profound intertwining of language with the human condition (the Dasein ). "Language is the house of the truth of Being," says Heidegger. Thus, Lewis's proclamation that myth, i.e. narrative, i.e. a particular manifestation of poetic a...
Read more

The Liberal Arts Experience

When I was applying for colleges, I was for more concerned about getting accepted to any  school rather than any particular kind of college. So when it fell to a choice between CNU and Radford after my other 5 choices rejected me outright, it was an easy choice. But that choice was really between two liberal arts institutions. I always thought of those liberal arts classes as some sort of natural phenomena. Most people don't question why the sun has the appearance of rising every day, it's just a part of their lives. Something they accept and live with. So it was also with the fulfillment of my liberal learning classes. I didn't choose them any more than I chose to go to CNU. And with an attitude like that, I can't help but wonder if I was putting in enough effort to get any qualitative experiences out of them. An old English teacher of mine once said that we'll become real scholars when we start taking charge of our own education, and that idea has sort of stuck wi...
Read more

Inklings About Inklings

It seems quite strange to be reading a more autobiographical work about Lewis after spending all this last semester studying his fiction. Being empirically minded it feels like I've done things in reverse - perhaps I should have known the man before I came to know his myth. A poet might say they're one and the same, and perhaps so, but understanding the man can make the myth deeper. Of course, having thought about that concept for one moment longer, it can probably go both ways. I just recalled a band, as well as a series of t.v. shows that were made worse for me by having a greater understanding of the people behind them. So it may be just as well. Regardless, I was interested to learn that Lewis had an early fascination with Norse fiction, and was an avid reader his whole life. Many of his professors would go on to remark that they had never met a man more well-read in the classics. Also I found it quite interesting that after getting a degree in Philosophy, he could not find...
Read more