AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Lost Girls: Gender Stereotyping in the Children’s Literary Fantasy of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Elizabeth Goudge

by Marcia Vermeij




Institution: Leiden University
Department:
Year: 2014
Keywords: C.S. Lewis; Gender; Children's Fantasy Literature
Record ID: 1255334
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1887/29580


Abstract

C.S. Lewis is often criticized for being misogynist. In this thesis, I analyse the Chronicles of Narnia using the theory of Theological Feminism to point out that Lewis is not, in fact, misogynist, but in some ways even progressive in the way he portrays gender in the Chronicles. In order to contextualise and the novel better, I also analyse The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge using the same parameters. This study proves that none of these authors are anti-feminist or misogynistic while simultaneously pointing out which remarks and/or situations from the books do stem from Victorian ideology which the authors adhered to.