Misogyny in The Chronicles of Narnia and the Response in His Dark Materials

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2014
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Haverford College. Department of English
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
In this work I explore issues brought up by C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, namely the sexism and misogyny which are an inherent part of the series. My analysis of Lewis' works begins the thesis and leads into the contrast the trilogy His Dark Materials makes. I argue that these books by Philip Pullman are not only a spiritual response to Lewis' Chronicles but that they also quite specifically work to counter and reinvent ideas of femininity, sin and the connection between the two that come up in subtle and overt ways in Lewis' works. My main focus in this thesis is the last book of the Narnia series, The Last Battle, and the first book of Pullman's trilogy, The Golden Compass, while also referencing other books from the two series to help illustrate certain ideas. I focus on The Last Battle since that is where the misogyny of the Narnia books shows up most explicitly and I focus on The Golden Compass instead of later books in the trilogy specifically because as the first novel it deals more heavy-handedly with the protagonist's femininity. My conclusion is that Lewis' works are embedded in the misogynistic Western, Christian tradition he came from and Pullman's trilogy is a critique of that played out in the form of an epic drama about child protagonists which empowers the female character and the feminine rather than tearing it down.
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