Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by CS 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 (non-believer) and Psyche (believer). The second, and much shorter section of the novel, which breaks off with the dying Queen Orual's last utterance, proclaims the Queen's great realizations. She now understands why there can be no answer, no justification, from the gods and her charges against them : "How can they speak to us face to face, she asks, till we have faces?" (TWHF, pg. 201)
Throughout the book Orual expresses her love for Psyche, as well as her fear of loosing Psyche. The sin of jealousy and obsessive love leads Orual to resist yielding to the higher love destined for Psyche, and ultimately to destruction of the object of her love and the hardening of Orual's soul to the point of self-induced misery and guilt for the rest of her days.
Orual first feels the pain of the great gulf after the kingdoms subjects begin to perceive that the Princess Psyche is something more than a mortal, that she is somehow touched by the gods. Her beauty is remarkable, certainly, but it is not only her beauty that convinces the kingdom of her uniqueness. A certain radiance and artless perfection seem to emanate from the young women. The sick soon begin flocking in hordes to the palace gates to be touched by the "goddess". Psyche is praised and revered throughout the kingdom. Until, that is, the harvests turn meager ad the masses look for a scapegoat. Only one answer presents itself: a blood sacrifice. A perfect sacrifice. Psyche, the princess, the goddess. Orual raves in protest, nearly mad with pain, and falls into a temporary state of senselessness over the impending sacrifice of her beloved sister.
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...shadow. We toiled together over those burning sands, she with her empty bowl, I with my book of poison." (TWHF, pg.300)
In the end, however, Orual is allowed some comfort and redemption. She learns that Psyche has felt little emotional distress and anguish over the years, that her pain has all been of the physical variety. Orual instead has borne all the anguish. Orual learns as well, with her last breath, why the gods give no answer to her accusations, why these is no explanation for her suffering here in this world. "I know now, Lord, why you utter now answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions doe away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against the words. Long did I hate you, long did I fear you." (TWHF, pg. 301)
Here ends Queen Orual's "life's work", which she has realized, is itself the answer to her questions: "To have have heard myself making [the complaint] was to be answered." (TWHF, pg.294)
The Queen's body, still clutching the scroll is discovered by a priest, and the scroll is placed in the temple for safekeeping until it can be transported to the cultural and intellectual Mecca of Greece.
This key characteristic that Orleanna acquires has made her grieving process much easier than Materia's. Although Orleanna claims responsibility for Ruth May's death, she begs God for forgiveness everyday and knows that she is not meant to go to Hell for her sins because God will forgive her. This is a more positive grieving because she is closer to God and her daughter now. Alternatively, Materia's guilty conscience tells her that God will never forgive her for what she has done. She feels exiled from Him and she convinces herself that the only way this sin can be forgiven is to kill herself. Her husband, James finds Materia's body and "he turns off the gas, hauls his late wife upstairs and onto their bed, scrunches her rosary into her hands, then calls the doctor and the priest" (MacDonald 138). Materia's decision to kill herself is a form of sin in itself. She is also leaving behind her family to do what she thinks will set her free, which is a selfish decision. As both mothers are religious, they turn to religion to help them grieve. Orleanna asks God for forgiveness, whereas Materia plays God and ends her life to escape persecution from
The Epic of Gilgamesh follows the journey of the hero Gilgamesh, ruler of Uruk, who is two-thirds a God and just one part human. We are introduced to Gilgamesh as a tyrant who covets women and sends young men to battle or to endure heavy-labored work. As he is two-thirds a God, Gilgamesh is the strongest in the land, preventing anyone from challenging him as ruler. He is a dictator and has more power than he can use, so in the pursuit of entertainment that could live up to his God-like standards, he often causes great trouble in Uruk. The people of the city know they cannot satiate his appetites, so they turn to the only beings who have more power than Gilgamesh: the Gods. The people pray to the all-powerful Gods to create an equal for G...
In this essay, I hope to provide answers to how the actions of Hippolytus and Phaedra relate to the gods, whether or not the characters concern themselves with the reaction of the gods to their behavior, what the characters expect from the gods, how the gods treat the humans, and whether or not the gods gain anything from making the humans suffer. Before we can discuss the play, however, a few terms need to be defined. Most important would be the nature of the gods. They have divine powers, but what exactly makes the Greek gods unique should be explored. The Greek gods, since they are anthropomorphic, have many of the same characteristics as humans.
Just like with the setting, the same can be said about the plot: no questions are truly answered. In the story, the narrator—whoever he is—never fully discloses the details of the lady’s illness. Instead of providing a vivid description of what’s wrong with the lady, he simply states, “She succumbed . . . to the prostrating power of the destroyer,” (418). By leaving out specific details of the lady’s “destroyer,” the reader is left in the dark, along with the narrator, who doesn’t appear to know much more than what is written. The narrator divulges a lot of information for things that are unimportant, but all key plot elements are kept secret, creating a tone of mystery. If the narrator knows what’s going on with the lady, more likely than not, he would tell the reader because he hasn’t left out any other details. Not only does the narrator leave out specific details, he also recognizes that he’ll never know much about what’s going on; he lets the reader know this by saying, “The lady, at least while living, would be seen by me no more,” (418). By acknowledging that he’s never going to see her again while living, he’s also admitting that he’s not sure what’s going on with her; he’s saying that he can’t understand the lady because he doesn’t know the illness she suffers with. If the narrator
C.S Lewis’ last work, Till We Have Faces, tells the love story of Cupid and Psyche through the eyes of Psyche’s unattractive sister, Orual. Orual spends the majority of her life dealing with the loss of Psyche after she was sacrificed to the gods. Another problem Orual faces is the struggle of running a country on her own while having a very unattractive face. Because of Orual’s “ugliness”, she dons a veil over her face, and holds a grudge with the gods after the banishment of her sister when she attempted to see the face of Cupid. After the book’s conclusion, the reader is still left with the question about what the book’s true meaning is. By using the symbolism of these two events, what was C.S Lewis trying to convey? C.S Lewis is using
...per suffered from psychological health problems and was to cope with it and also with the husband who has placed her in a solitary environment with the thoughts that it will facilitate her rehabilitation. In the end, instead of being cured, the narrator her mental state deteriorated and she became totally insane.
Ophelia has been driven to madness from the loss of her father and her lover. Without her two largest sources of care, she starves for help, love, and affection, thus affecting her mind. Polonius, her father, warns that “This is the very ecstasy of love,/ Whose violent property fordoes itself/ And leads the will to desperate undertaking” (2,1,102-104). He is warning is daughter that love is a dangerous emotion which can drive a person insane from withdrawal.
As a result, she met emotions she did not think existed, felt a huge hollow and felt like a walking dead. Her confused days and sleepless nights became a ritual; therefore, the only life she knows was a torturous hell
In analyzing Hamlet, the Oedipus Complex is clearly apparent to the reader. As a child, Hamlet always expressed the warmest fondness and affection for his mother. This adoration contained elements of disguised erotic quality, especially seen in the bed chamber scene with his mother. The Queen's sensual nature and her passionate fondness of her son are two traits that show her relationship with Hamlet goes beyond the normal mother-sun relationship. Nonetheless though, Hamlet finds a love interest in Ophelia. His feelings for Ophelia are never discussed fully in the play, but it is evident to the reader that at one time he loved her because of the hurt he feels whe...
In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the protagonist Oedipus faces the realization of an ancient prophecy. Based on the prophecy, Oedipus is to kill his father and espouse his mother, Jocasta. Little to his knowledge, Oedipus has already fulfilled the prophecy. Initially, Oedipus’ emotions controlled him and his pride consumed him, only making him blind to the truth that he is the source of pollution in Thebes. Oedipus is a dynamic character who realizes his true fate. Once Oedipus fully becomes self-aware, he is no longer consumed by pride, and he no longer relies on his emotions.
In the year 360 BCE, the famous philosopher Plato released his perplexing book The Republic, which brings to light philosophical ideas relating to ignorance, and it's effects upon people individually, or grouped together with a “mob mentality”. His brilliant writing is accompanied by numerous archetypes, but the one that catches the eye is the dark and light motif which he uses quite subtly, yet, is also quite clear in his allegory of The Cave. This motif of light and dark introduces the idea of our own personal darkness consuming us, which are our “chains” - the chains which hold us back from living happily, or our “sun”. However, some of us have the keys to our shackles, and choose to stay with their darkness, because within our cave of ignorance, it is familiar. I am one of these people, along with many others, yet no matter how painful it may be, breaking free from these shackles will remove the burden upon our backs, and allow us to see the light from outside our caves.
Again she justified her thoughts of suicide by a quote of religious text. Towards the end of the quotation she is happy to meet with her master again. Rowlandson mentions that she was “wonderfully revived” by his thoughtfulness. Then she ended that with more religious text to vindicate to Natives gentleness.
Oedipus is a story about a few basic human emotions. Among them are rage, passion, humility, and guilt. The Ancient Greeks understood these emotions well; their society was based upon the logical emotions, but always threatened by the violent ones. Oedipus was at first told that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother. Fearful of himself, he fled showing a lack of humility away from his home, thinking that his problems would be solved. Later on, he gets into a tumultuous fight with a passerby on the road to Thebes. Enraged, he kills the man and his servants; this turned out to be a big mistake. After saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx, he marries and then passionately sleeps with the queen. Towards the end of the play, he realizes that he has indeed killed his father and married his mother, thus echoing the lack of humility that first drove him away from his adopted parents.
The characters in the movie, Black Orpheus, are significantly altered from the Greek myth. In the myth, Orpheus and Eurydice are together from the beginning and are completely in love. Everyone is happy for their love and the only thing that stands in their way is death. In the movie, however, this is notably changed. Orpheus begins as a streetcar conductor that was engaged to Mira, giving the idea that Orpheus was in love with another woman. We quickly see that this is not the case as Orpheus is always very curt and rude with his fiancée. They are slated to get married, but there is an eerie feeling in the air that something is about to go wrong.
For Oedipus, prophecy is not the main source of his fall towards society; rather, his hubris blinds himself from recognizing his personal sin in the world, thus leading to his demise. Sophocles even skillfully uses a metaphor through the words “ as led by a guide” to further explain the “supernatural being” that ultimately decides the tragic fate of the family of Oedipus. In addition, through the death of Jocasta, the reader is immediately attuned of Oedipus’ raging moment of violence and will be petrified by the overwhelming power of the gods, thus realizing the importance of being cautious before making a final choice. Indeed, after an individual settles on a decision, the gods take control of the person’s fate, hurling numerous consequences to him if he makes the wrong decision. Moreover, as Oedipus suddenly becomes the unintended victim of the gods through his sinful decision to execute Laius, he is forced to relinquish his predominate impetus for pridefulness in exchange for a heart of deep realization and forgiveness. At the end of the play, Oedipus sacrifices everything in order to remove his guilt through the consequences of his atrocious actions witnessed by the gods. After Oedipus realizes the astringent fate he was destined to encounter through his sinful murder of Laius, he immediately attempts to take responsibility for his