Portrayal of Gender in Narnia |
 Sep 5 2008, 03:19 PM
Post
#1
|
|
One Half of the DDD  Posts: 8,957 Joined: 5:31pm August 30, 2006 Location: Siriusly Dreaming Somewhere   |
The Narnia books were written in England between 1950 and 1956 at a time when the world was recovering from the World War II, during which many women had gone to work in factories, buses, farms etc doing jobs that men had done but had given up to go to war. After the war, when the men came home, the women were expected to go back to being quiet little housewives, staying at home to keep house and look after children.
The Magician's Nephew is set some years, about sixty years (according to the literary references at the beginning of the story), earlier than that, at the time in history when women were being arrested for demanding the right to vote - the first women's suffrage group was set up in 1866. Aslan asks the Cabby whether he would like to stay in Narnia and Cabby replies that he's a married man and that, if she was there, neither of them would want to leave. Helen (Nellie) isn't even there at that point and yet he makes the decision for her. Aslan calls out and brings her to Narnia, whereupon the Cabby still replies for her, thanking Aslan on his own and his wife's behalf and answers for her on ruling the animals and caring for their children, she doesn't speak but appears to agree with him. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe seems to be set in the same time that its written and yet the attitude to gender doesn't seem to have changed. When Father Christmas arrives he gives gifts to the children: a sword and shield to Peter, telling him to "bear them well"; a bow and arrows and an ivory horn to Susan; a bottle of restorative and a dagger to Lucy. Despite the bow and arrows and the dagger being items of war he tells both girls that he doesn't intend either of them to be involved in the battle for which he's equipped Peter. Susan and Lucy's main role is expected to be to call for help and tend the wounded. At the end of L,W,W the four children are made kings and queens of equal standing, which is in keeping with royal ranking, a king does have equal status to a queen and yet a king or queen's heir is their eldest son, followed by subsequent sons and their sons, only when there are no sons does a princess become heir. Why, after treating the girls in his story as subservient and not able to fight, does Lewis give them equal status with the boys at the end of the book? What do you think of the way gender if portrayed in these first two books? Did it reflect attitudes of the time or was it old-fashioned even then? This post has been edited by Dreamteam: Sep 6 2008, 06:01 AM --------------------  March's Book Nook: The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge/Skellig by David Almond "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" |
 |
 
 
|
