C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

Peter Schakel (Hope College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1956

Places

Northern Ireland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Myths and Legends
Novel

Resources

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Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

(1956) was C. S. Lewis's last work of fiction, and the one he considered his best. It was not well received initially, probably because of its difficulty and its differences from his earlier narratives, and remains the least popular of his fictional works, though it is the most highly praised by literary critics. The book retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche, which had haunted Lewis all his life. From the first time he heard the myth, he knew that the traditional story, told first by Apuleius in

The Golden Ass

, had a key point wrong: Psyche's sisters could not have seen the palace of Cupid to which she was carried by the West Wind; they could not have seen it because they did not believe in divine mysteries. Lewis attempted to retell the story earlier, as…

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1353 words

Citation: Schakel, Peter. "Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12321, accessed 20 May 2024.]

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