Once a King or Queen of Narnia, Always a King or Queen of Narnia, What does it mean to be royal in Narnia? |
Nov 2 2008, 12:11 AM
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Madame Pince's House Elf![]() Posts: 4,715 Joined: 5:46pm January 28, 2005 Location: In HP Book Club 5, awaiting Deathly Hallow's release. |
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ROYAL IN NARNIA? At the end of The Horse and his boy, set during the joint reigns of the High King Peter, then fighting giants in the North, Queen Susan, the Gentle, King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy, the Valiant, King Lune of Archenland, between Calormen and Narnia, tells Shasta that he is the heir to the throne. King Lune, always a Narnian ally, shares these thoughts about kingship with Shasta: 'The king's under the law, for it's the law makes him a king. Hast no more power to start away from thy crown than any sentry from his post.' King Lune then goes on to say: 'For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there is hunger in the land...to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land' Unlike Rabadash, the heir to the Calormene throne, Prince Corin is ecstatic to be let out of being king. Corin says 'princes have all the fun'. Whereas Rabadash risks losing his throne by invading Archenland in an attempt to recover the person of Queen Susan, recently escaped from Tashbaan, where she and her brother King Edmund were 'guests' of the Tisroc. The Tisroc (may he live forever) has eighteen other sons should anything happen to Rabadash. Shasta has already met three of the four Pevensie monarchs. King Edmund mistook him for Prince Corin, and so he became privy to his and Queen Susan's plans to escape, along with their entourage. When riding to the relief of Anvard, King Edmund, Queen Lucy and their army also collect Shasta along the way. And Aravis also witnesses a meeting between Ahoshta, her intended husband, the Tisroc and Rabadash. What do we learn about the way the four Pevensie children rule as Kings and Queens of Narnia? What does it mean to be royal in Narnia? What is your opinion of the Tisroc and Rabadash as rulers? How do you think these characters and their court regard royalty and its duties? Does what King Lune say about kingship apply to all of these rulers as well as himself? Or does King Lune show us an impossible ideal for the supreme ruler for any country? What is the symbolism in Shasta, who ran away from being sold as a slave in Calormen, becoming King of Archenland? Why is Aravis an ideal consort for him? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the conclusion of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, when the four Pevensies return to our world, once again children, Professor Kirke tells them; 'Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen of Narnia. Bear it well, bear it well'. In Prince Caspian all four Pevensie children return to Narnia, having been summoned there by Queen Susan's horn, part of her original Narnian Christmas present. Their job in Narnia is to aid and assist Prince Caspian, the true heir to the Narnian throne, which has been usurped by Caspian's uncle Miraz. Yet the Pevensies, themselves, have been, and still remain, kings and queens of Narnia. Why was Miraz regarded as more of a tyrant than his Telmarine predecessors? In what ways do you think any of those Telmarine predecessors could have been measured against King Lune's ideals about Kingship? What is the significance and symbolism of Peter Pevensie being the one to fight King Miraz in single combat? Why not Prince Caspian himself, who wanted to avenge his father? Why does Aslan ask Prince Caspian if he feels himself sufficient to take up the kingship? And why on receiving his answer does he tell Prince Caspian "Good...If you felt yourself sufficient it would be proof that you were not". These questions are only to start discussions about anything and everything to do with kingship and leadership in Narnia. This post has been edited by WaggaWaggaWerewolf: Nov 2 2008, 02:27 PM -------------------- Check out Book Number 5 POA edition. |



Nov 2 2008, 12:11 AM
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