Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Planet Narnia by Michael Ward - Wait list

Planet Narnia

by Michael Ward
Nigel Patterson
Audiobook
Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
For over half a century, scholars have labored to show that C. S. Lewis's famed but apparently disorganized Chronicles of Narnia have an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and the seven books of Spenser's Faerie Queene. None of these explanations has won general acceptance and the structure of Narnia's symbolism has remained a mystery.
Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In Planet Narnia he demonstrates that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings, Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets—Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn—planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value." Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the Chronicles so that in each book the plot-line, the ornamental details, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality.
Planet Narnia is a groundbreaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles, but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook.
Expand title description text
Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc Edition: Unabridged

OverDrive Listen audiobook

  • ISBN: 9781541460720
  • File size: 376018 KB
  • Release date: June 18, 2019
  • Duration: 13:03:22

Formats

OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Literary Criticism Religion & Spirituality Nonfiction

Languages

English

For over half a century, scholars have labored to show that C. S. Lewis's famed but apparently disorganized Chronicles of Narnia have an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and the seven books of Spenser's Faerie Queene. None of these explanations has won general acceptance and the structure of Narnia's symbolism has remained a mystery.
Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In Planet Narnia he demonstrates that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings, Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets—Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn—planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value." Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the Chronicles so that in each book the plot-line, the ornamental details, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality.
Planet Narnia is a groundbreaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles, but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook.
Expand title description text
Literary Criticism Religion & Spirituality Nonfiction