Abstract

Recent scholarship has taken an interest in C. S. Lewis's political views and how they are manifested in his fiction. However, few have thoroughly analyzed the specific political implications of his children's series, The Chronicles of Narnia. Part of this may be because Lewis himself insisted his fiction was nonpartisan. The heavily religious allegories in the series can also overshadow the political commentary. This thesis contributes to the growing discourse on political commentary in Lewis's fiction by identifying four concerns he had with progressive education and then demonstrating how he criticizes them in Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. It then proposes that Lewis presents Narnia as a remedy to progressive education by providing a moral, classical, and literary education to its fictional visitors and real-life readers.

Degree

MA

College and Department

Humanities; English

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2023-04-18

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12761

Keywords

education, Lewis, Narnia, progressive, politics

Language

english

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