Till We Have Faces
In Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the point of view of Psyche's sister, with powerful insight into the nature of human affection and the relationship between human and divine. In the original myth, Psyche is the youngest of three princesses, so beautiful that men begin to worship her instead of Venus. The goddess avenges herself by commanding that Psyche be exposed on a mountain to die, but her son Cupid secretly rescues her, having fallen in love with her. He hides her in a palace where he visits her nightly, but he forbids her to see his face for fear of his mother. After a time Psyche is granted a visit from her sisters; seeing the splendor of her palace, they are jealous. They tell her that her "husband" must be some horrible monster, and they persuade her to disobey the god's command and light a lamp while he sleeps, to see if it is not so. This she does, but he wakes and rebukes her, and she goes into exile to be tested until worthy of her husband. Lewis's retelling makes the god's palace invisible to mortal eyes; thus Psyche's sister Orual, the narrator of the tale, can insist it is not jealousy but concern for Psyche that motivates her to act as she does. Told from Orual's point of view, the story shows her journey to self-discovery and understanding--her quest to find her face, for as she learns, the gods cannot "meet us face to face till we have faces"--until we know our own selves. Faces are thus a strong source of imagery and symbolism in the book. One's face is a reflection of one's soul and true character. It is, symbolically, one's identity. The faces of Orual and Psyche, of Ungit and her son the God of the Grey Mountain, give us insight into their ...
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..., both beautiful.
The faces of the gods do not change; but those of Psyche and Orual do, and in their developing we see the developing of character--the search for identity. Psyche, who was born nearly divinely beautiful, becomes even more so when she is married to the god, and her "brightface" appearance reflects the new joy and maturity created in her character by that union. Orual's character development takes longer, for she fights it; she is unwilling to believe in the god, and even when she sees his face she becomes bitter against him for her loss of Psyche. Yet through great suffering and a long time of facelessness, she too finds her face--her identity--and becomes beautiful in the end. She is finally able to meet the gods face to face, when she has a face of her own.
Work Consulted:
Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces. Harcourt Brace: New York, 1980.
"PSYCHE : Greek Goddess of the Soul | Mythology, Psykhe, W/ Pictures." THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. .
She complains that “everything’s dark about the gods” (Lewis 133), but then, ironically, hides her face. The power and fear she gains through the veil is the opposite of the darkness of the gods. At the end we learn that eventually the gods will step out of the shadows and humanity will at last be “shown how beautiful they always were” (Lewis 315). The gods are concealing their beauty, while Orual uses her veil to try and fabricate it. Even subconsciously she is trying to become like the goddesses, which is a way she could be reunited with Psyche. During this, she hates Ungit. Her opinion is clearly stated when she finds out that she is Ungit and that it “meant that I was as ugly in soul as she; greedy, blood-gorged” (Lewis 292). Her opinion of Ungit, based on Psyche’s sacrifice, is of a horrific, demonic being and it shapes the way she views herself. In a lot of ways, they are the same. Ungit was jealous of Psyche’s beauty, but even more jealous that Cupid loved her. In the same way, Orual is jealous of Psyche’s love for Cupid. After learning who Ungit really is and how she was able to endure some of Psyche’s burden, Orual also learns about herself. Ungit is more beautiful than anyone ever imagined, and still she needs Psyche to travel to the underworld to make her more beautiful (Lewis 312). Orual is never physically beautiful, but by the end of the book she is described as “the most wise, just, valiant, fortunate, and merciful of all princes known in our part of the world” (Lewis 320). Her character changes after she realizes who Ungit really is, forgives her for “stealing” Psyche, and then she finally becomes who she really is without all the pent-up bitterness and sorrow. Although she did not know it at the time, the whole book led up to her becoming like Ungit, powerful and beautiful and good. As Lewis said in one of his greatest works, The Last Battle, “All find what they
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