What Is Sexism In C. S. Lewis The Chronicles Of Narnia

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In C.S. Lewis’ sixth book, our heroine Jill Pole sets out on her first adventure into Narnia. She sees giants, evil witches, a green serpent and many more creatures. Accompanied by Puddleglum and Eustace Scrubb, the trio set out on a journey to find the Prince Rilian. Although the three friends go on their adventure together, Puddleglum, Scrubb, and other male characters do most of the grunt work. The Chronicles of Narnia have been criticized for being sexist over recent years. The slander that this book has received is happening now because societal definitions of sexism have changed since this book was written. The Silver Chair was published in 1953, while all accusation of sexism started in the 1990’s. There are small instances of sexism in C.S. Lewis’ novel, The Silver Chair. …show more content…

When published, men and women had completely different roles in society than they do now. Men in the 1950’s were the war heroes and leaders of our country. The family was headed by the father. He payed the bills and disciplined the kids. Any of the sexist writing in this book would not have been viewed as harmful to the integrity of women during C. S. Lewis’ lifetime. One justifiable example occurs when the trio first set off for their journey. As they pack their backpacks Jill carries the least amount of necessary materials and only a knife instead of a sword. This can be seen as sexist because the scene goes as: He and Scrubb both had swords, but Jill had to be content with her knife. There would have been a quarrel about this, but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said “Ah, there you are. I thought as much. That’s what usually happens on adventures.” (Lewis

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