A Guide
A01=Doris T. Myers
Ancient Literature
Author_Doris T. Myers
Bareface
C.S. Lewis
Category=DSBH
Category=DSK
Characterizations
Criticism
Cupid
Doris Myers
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Fantasy
Fantasy Genre
Genre
Historical
Historical Background
History
Influence
Influential
Lit
Literature
Maturity
Medieval Literature
Modern Psychology
Modernist
Modernist Technique
Myers
Myth
Narrative
Novel
Philosophy
Psyche
Psychology
Reading Techniques
Realistic
Religious
Scholar
Study
Twentieth-Century
Twentieth-Century Novel
Product details
- ISBN 9780826221483
- Weight: 426g
- Publication Date: 29 Jan 2018
- Publisher: University of Missouri Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
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.
Doris T. Myers is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She is the author of several books, including C. S. Lewis in Context.
