A re-examination that female antagonists are representations of misogyny in c.s. lewis`s the chronicles of narnia - USD Repository

  A RE-EXAMINATION THAT FEMALE ANTAGONISTS ARE REPRESENTATIONS OF MISOGNY IN C. S LEWIS’ S THE CHRONICLES OF

  

NARNIA

  AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

  For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra In English Letters

  By

  

Margareth Aritonang

  Student Number: 014214063

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2007

  A RE-EXAMINATION THAT FEMALE ANTAGONISTS ARE REPRESENTATIONS OF MISOGNY IN C. S LEWIS’ S THE CHRONICLES OF

  NARNIA

  AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

  For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra In English Letters

  By

  

Margareth Aritonang

  Student Number: 014214063

  “Apa yang pernah ada akan ada lagi, dan apa yang pernah dibuat akan dibuat lagi; tak ada sesuatu yang baru di bawah matahari” (Pengkhotbah 1:9) They give me references to what Life is and help me to open my heart to the mystery of it. This thesis is my deepest expression of thankfulness and prayers to them:

  My parents, brothers, and sister, Sr. Clare Hand, FCJ The Jansons: Sheralyn, Rinus, Luke and Daniel Faculty of Letters, University of Sanata Dharma, Sunday School Ministry, Yogyakarta International Congregation, Domby Kids Hope, Ex-CO Mrican, And those who I’ve encountered in my life

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I am greatly indebted to Dr. Novita Dewi, who has patiently guided me during the process of writing this thesis. Her willingness to spent times to read my work amidst her hectic schedule is a treasure for me. I am also so grateful for my co- advisor, Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini, M. A, who has given critical insights to improve my work. My gratitude also goes to Tatang Iskarna, M. Hum for being the guest examiner for my thesis defense. The inputs he suggested help me to make this thesis even much better. Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum deserves my gratitude also for being so patient to welcome me to his office to consult the schedule for the thesis defense.

  My deepest and the most sincere gratitude go to Sr. Clare Hand, FCJ who always has faith in me. I thank her for every single thing she had done for me. This thesis would have never come to finish without her ideas, suggestions, love, and the time she willingly spent to listen to my personal problems. “Thank you so much Sr.

  Clare. There are really no words can express how much I appreciate you”. Thanks also to Sr. Elvisa, FCJ for calling the taxi as I finished my consultation. All FCJ Sisters at Susteran Soropadan deserve my big thanks as well - “thank you all for the foods, the joy, and the prayers!”

  I would never complete my thesis without the love and support my family has been watering me. My big thanks and love goes to The Aritonangs. Mom and Dad have been a great motivation for me in doing anything. I thank the Light and the Darkness to give me such wonderful parents. My critical and 'philosopher' brothers and sister have motivated me not to take life for granted. My sincere gratitude also goes to my foster family in Buncit Persada. Thanks to Sabine Volker and Manfred Oepen for always welcoming me to their house every time I need shelter in Jakarta, and for Marieke and Leefke Volker for showing me a new fresh and challenging perspective to view life.

  I would like to express my thanks to all people who have came into my life (it would probably take hundred of pages to list their names one by one). Thanks to all those who have been part of my life from the very first time of the writing of this thesis to its end, particularly my beloved friends from ex-CO Mrican (Peggy, Priskila, Teni, Susi, Dianing, Yeni, Tom Berry, Yuli, Irawati, Lingga, Bilvi, Ratna, Doni, Aswar, Yana, Yani, Lilian, Santi, Novi, Sepri, Gugun, Bayu, Ino: ”the moments I've spent with you will always remain in my mind'. Thanks also to all children who have visited me during the journey of my life to show me the purity of life. And above all, I would address my biggest thanks to the Source of Everything for creating everything in life, including the life itself that I may experience it. There are lots of things I don't understand (and may be I would never!) but still I ask You: “Tell me those great and unsearchable things I do not know”.

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………………. i APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………… ……….. ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ……………………………………………………………. iii MOTTO PAGE ...……....…………………………………………………. ……… iv DEDICATION PAGE ...…………………………………………………………… v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………….. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………. viii ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………. ……… x ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………………… xi

  

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................ ……... 1

A. Background of the Study ……………………………………………….. 1 B. Problem Formulation …………………………………………................ 4 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………………. 5 D. Definition of Terms …………………………………………………….. 6

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ……………………………………… 9

A. Review of Related Study ………………………………………............... 9 B. Review of Related Theories ……………………………………………. 12

  1. Character and Characterization ………………………………….12

  2. Reader response theory ………………………………………….14

  3. Roland Barthes’ Theory of Text ………………………………...14

  4. Theory of Intertextuality ………………………………………...15

  5. Misogyny in Literature ………………………………………… 16

  C. Biographical Background ……………………………………………… 18

  D. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………….19

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………... 21

A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………………...21 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………………. 25 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………………… 26

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………….28

Female Antagonists in The Chronicles of Narnia and the Depiction ………………28

  of Male Antagonists in Re-examining the Assumption that the novels are Misogynistic

  1. Depictions of Female Antagonists in The Chronicles of …..…...29

  Narnia

  a. The White Witch ………………………………………..29

  b. Mrs. Le Fay ……………………………………………..33

  c. Lilith ………………………………………………….. ..34

  d. Queen Prunaprismia ……………………………………..35

  e. Susan Pevensie …………………………………………. 36

  f. The Lady of the Green Kirtle …………………………. . 39

  2. Portrayals of male antagonists in The Chronicles of Narnia …. .. 40 in Re-examining the chronicles as Misogynistic a. Digory Kirke …………………………………………… 40

  b. Uncle Andrew …………………………………………. 41

  c. Edmund Pevensie ………………………………………. 42

  d. Rabadash and Tisroc ………………………………….. . 43

  e. King Miraz ……………………………………………. . 45

  f. Eustace Scrubb ……………………………………….. .. 45

  g. Shift the ape …………………………………………... . 46

  B. Re-examining the Assumption that The Chronicles of Narnia are ………………47 Misogynistic by looking at the Female Antagonists as the Products of Literary Recycling

  1. Literary Allusions recycled in The Chronicles’ female…………47 antagonists h. Jadis ……………………………………………………. 48 i. Lilith …………………………………………………… 52 j. Mrs. Le Fay …………………………………………… 53 k. Queen Prunaprismia …………………………………… 54 l. Susan Pevensie ………………………………………… 56 m. The Lady of the Green Kirtle …………………………. .57

  2. Images of Women as Literary Recycling in Re-examining………60 the Assumption that The Chronicles of Narnia are Misogynistic a. Eve and Lilith on the Image of Women ………………… 60

  b. Serpent and the Image of Women ……………………….62

  c. Witchcraft and the Image of Women ……………………63

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………………………………………. 66

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………...70

  

ABSTRACT

  Margareth Aritonang (2007), A Re-Examination that Female Antagonists are

  

Representations of Misogyny in C. S Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia,

Yogyakarta: English Letters Study Programme, Sanata Dharma University.

  This thesis examines the portrayal of female antagonists in the seven books of

  C. S Lewis’s The Cronicles of Narnia which is assumed as the representations of Misogyny or of hatred towards women. Many critics have undertaken research on the ‘negative’ depiction of female characters in the chronicles, and make the assumption that either the novels or Lewis as the writer is misogynist.

  This thesis focuses on the portrayal of the female antagonists in the novels and their literary allusions. The examination is done by analyzing each of the females who are considered antagonists in the novels according to their chronological appearance. Portrayal of several male antagonists who are considered major characters is also provided in scrutinizing the textual balance of depiction of antagonist characters, both female and male. The examination later continues by examining literary allusions from other works of literature which are found within the female antagonists in the chronicles. Finally it addresses the images of women from the Bible which has been inspiring numbers of literary works, including the Narnian chronicles. An intertextual approach is used to analyze these novels. This approach helps the writer to re examine the resemblances between literary figures in dealing with certain references they reproduce. At the end of the analysis, it is concluded that the misogynistic accusation leveled at Lewis and his works is still unproven, and therefore is worth re-evaluating. This is due to the number of literary allusions recycled in the Narnian antagonists. The similarity of the female antagonists to other literary figures is not subjective since such allusions are inherited from so-called socio historical interpretations that have passed from generation to generation. The presence of the male antagonists strengthens the need to examine the assumption. There is also no clear and objective fact from Lewis’ life to support the claim that he is a misogynist since his life ended with marriage to Joy Davidman whose death later provoked his deepest agony at losing his beloved one as reflected in his The Grief Observed.

  

ABSTRAK

  Margareth Aritonang (2007), A Re-Examination that Female Antagonists are

  

Representations of Misogyny in C. S Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia,

Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Skripsi ini menguji ulang penggambaran karakter antagonis perempuan yang ada dalam ketujuh novel The Chronicles of Narnia karya C. S Lewis yang diasumsikan sebagai representasi ‘misogyny’ atau kebencian terhadap perempuan. Sejumlah kritikus telah melakukan penelitian yang menyangkut penggambaran negatif karakter-karakter perempuan yang ada di ketujuh seri Narnia dan mengambil kesimpulan bahwa novel-novel tersebut maupun C. S Lewis sebagai penulisnya memaparkan nilai-nilai kebencian terhadap perempuan.

  Skripsi ini berfokus pada cara penggambaran karakter antagonis perempuan dalam novel Narnia dan juga sejumlah figur sastra yang mereka gaungkan, Pengujian dilakukan dengan menganalisa setiap karakter perempuan yang dianggap antagonis sesuai dengan kemunculan mereka dalam kronologi cerita. Penggambaran beberapa karakter laki-laki juga disertakan untuk menganalisa keseimbangan penggambaran karakter yang dianggap antagonis, baik perempuan maupun laki-laki. Penelitian dilanjutkan dengan menganalisa gaungan sastra yang ter-reproduksi lewat karakter perempuan dalam novel-novel Narnia yang akan menunjukkan imej-imej perempuan dari Alkitab yang diduga menjadi sumber yang banyak menginspirasi sejumlah karya sastra, termasuk novel-novel Narnia. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan intertekstual. Pendekatan ini memungkinkan penulis untuk meneliti kemiripan-kemiripan diantara figur-figur yang ada dalam karya Lewis dan gaungannya.

  Pada akhirnya disimpulkan bahwa anggapan kalau Lewis maupun novel Narnianya membenci perempuan tidaklah terbukti dan karenanya perlu untuk diuji kembali. Hal ini berhubungan dengan sejumlah karakter perempuan dari karya sastra yang sudah ada yang diproduksi ulang lewat karakter antagonis perempuan dalam Narnia. Kemiripan yang ada antara karakter-karakter perempuan dalam Narnia dan karakter lain dalam karya yang ada sebelumnya menunjukkan bahwa penggambaran karakter-karakter tersebut tidaklah subjektif karena mereka merupakan warisan dari hasil interpretasi masyarakat yang sudah diteruskan dari satu generasi ke generasi berikutnya. Adanya karakter antagonis laki-laki dalam novel Narnia semakin menguatkan akan perlunya pengujian ulang menyangkut masalah ‘misogyny’ yang dituduhkan kepada Lewis dan karyanya. Dan juga tidak ditemukan adanya fakta dalam hidup Lewis pribadi yang memungkinkan anggapan bahwa dia seorang ‘misogynist’ atau pembenci perempuan karena pada kenyataannya Lewis menikah dengan Joy davidman yang kematiannya membuat Lewis sangat menderita.

  Penderitaan akan kehilangan orang yang dicintainya ini tertuang dalam karyanya yang berjudul The Grief Observed

  .

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study The chronicles narrate the adventures of children who play essential roles in

  the history that takes place in the fictional world of Narnia, a place with talking animals, with inhabitants who live among and with magic, and where good fights against evil. In the majority of the books, children from the real world (Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve) are transported to the magical land by various ways through the intervention of Aslan, the Creator of Narnia. Once there, they are immediately involved in settling some wrongs to right and in ruling as Kings and Queens.

  The novels, produced between 1954-1956, are considered as classic and are classified as literature for children. These novels gain the hearts of their readers, and thus praise them. However, there are also readers who oppose them and consider as inappropriate for children.

  Among all the criticisms leveled at the chronicles, that of misogyny interests the writer most since many scholars suspect that Lewis’ personal experiences with women are a major influence on his view of women which is said to be clearly portrayed through the female characters in the chronicles, the antagonists in particular Lewis thinks Circe is similar to Lilith, the examples of women who abuse men with their beauties. He believes this explains all women in general (David Colbert, 2006) [Translation Mine].

  Some critics also think that Lewis’ old-fashioned view, his theology, and his “alleged” hatred of women contribute to the inappropriateness of the novels to be read by children (http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/success.html).

  J. K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, while commenting on Lewis’s s sentimentality about children, has said

  “There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She’s become irreligious basically because she found sex. I have big problem with that”. (http://new.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4347226.8htm).

  Others read the stories even more critically, including the issue of sexism. The author of the children’s series Dark Materials, Phillip Pullman, publicly criticized

  The Chronicles of Narnia

  for what he describes as “religious propaganda”. Pullman said the Narnia stories were “monumentally disparaging of women” when he spoke at the Guardian Hay Festival, quoting his statement, “I hate the Narnia books…with a passion…”

  “Susan, like Cinderella, is undergoing a transition from one phase of her life to another. Lewis didn’t approve of that. He didn’t like women in general, or sexuality at all. He was frightened and appalled at the notion of wanting to grow up.” (Ibid.)

  These opponents of the Narnian novels address their accusation of the novels as “disparaging of women” are mostly based on the description of Susan Pevensie, and relate this to Lewis’s experiences with women during his life time. Susan is in fact the most argued character due to her exclusion from Narnia in the final book, The

  Last Battle .

  In contrast to previous studies made by other scholars, the writer scrutinizes the assumption of misogyny in the novels not by looking back through Lewis’s own life but by considering it from an intertextual perspective. It also concerns with other female characters in the novels, so it is not merely about Susan Pevensie.

  Intertextuality as stated in Intertextuality, Theories, and Practices, believes that a text cannot exist as a “self-sufficient whole”, i.e. a text is unable to stand by itself, and therefore cannot function as a “closed system”. This is so for two reasons. Firstly, a writer is once a reader before s/he creates a text, so a work of art is built upon references, quotations, and influences of every kind. Secondly, a text is created only through the process of reading; “what is produced at the moment of reading is due to the cross-fertilization of the packaged textual material (say, a book) by all the texts which the reader brings to it” (Judith Still and Michael Worton, 1990).

  The writer finds it interesting to analyze female characters portrayed in the novels by regarding Lewis as a reader of many works of art in the light of the fact that he was a scholar and lecturer in literature. In 1916, Lewis was accepted at University College, known as the oldest college (founded 1249) at Oxford University. Following the end of the war in 1918, after serving in The British Army, Lewis returned to Oxford. He took up his studies again with great enthusiasm. In 1925, after graduating with first-class honours in Greek and Latin Literature, in Philosophy and Ancient History, and in English Literature, Lewis was elected as English lecturer in Magdalene College, Oxford. He remained at Oxford for 29 years before becoming a professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature in Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1955.

  Moreover, this thesis will examine those females whose characterisations are based upon stereotypes existing in literature. It is hoped that this paper will later show the literary figures from which Narnia might reproduced, and by doing so the assumption of the novels or Lewis as their author as misogynistic can be re-evaluated that later also evaluates the inappropriateness of the novels as literature for children.

B. Problem Formulation

  Referring to the background affirmed earlier, the questions that this paper will attempt to answer are:

  1. In what way is the portrayal of female antagonists in The Chronicles of

  Narnia

  assumed to be misogynistic and how can this assumption is examined by looking at the portrayal of the male characters?

  2. In what way can the female antagonists in The Chronicles of Narnia be seen as the product of literary recycling and how does this understanding challenge the accusation that the novels are misogynistic?

  C. Objective of the Study

  This study aims to respond precisely to the questions formulated above. The focus of this study is the accusation of the Narnian chronicles as misogynistic. In order to examine this accusation, the writer will firstly provide the depiction of female characters which are considered to be antagonist. By doing so, she will later provide literary allusions which resemble similar depiction with Narnian female antagonists. This is done based on her literary competence and also on references from secondary resources.

  It is hoped that as the study comes to its end the writer will have shown that the assumption that the novels are ‘disparaging of women’ or misogynistic is unproved and then is still under debate.

  D. Definition of Terms

  In order to clarify and to avoid misunderstanding, especially dealing with the topic presented, some important terms are defined in this paper. These definitions are meant to help readers to understand this paper.

  1. Antagonist in All American Glossary of Literary Term is defined as the character in a story or poem, which “deceives, frustrates, or works against the main character, or protagonist, in some way”. It appears to prevent the main character or protagonist from living “happily ever after”, and doesn’t necessarily have to be a person since it could be death, the devil, an illness, or any challenge that disturb the main character

  A (http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm). Glossary of Literary Terms

  positions it against the protagonist. Contradictory to protagonist as defined as the “hero” or “heroine”, antagonist is the “opponent” or the “villain”. It is the evil and capable of behaving cruel and conducting criminal actions (Abrams, 1993: 159-160).

  2. Misogyny is hatred or strong prejudice against women. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος (misos, "hatred") + γυνη (gunê, "woman"). There are many different forms of misogyny. In its most overt expression, a misogynist will openly hate all women simply because they are female. Other forms of misogyny may be more “subtle”. Some misogynists may simply have prejudice against all women, or may hate women who do not fall into one or more acceptable categories (http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/strindb.html). Elaine Showalter in Literary Criticism used the term misogyny to describe the male hatred of women as she tries to position it in against to the term she coins “gynocritics” (Bressler, 1999: 184).

  3. Representation is defined as formation of “ideological products” or “cultural constructs” of a particular era; and that these cultural and ideological representations in texts serve mainly to reproduce, confirm, and propagate the power-structures of domination and subordination which characterize a given society (Abrams, 1993: 249). The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy explains that the human mind (or sometimes the brain) works on representation of the things and features of things that are perceived or thought about (1994: 328).

4. Allusion; Latin ‘allusion’ which means to play around. It is generally

  assumed as reference to a person, place, or event, real or fictitious, or to a work of art. In literature it means “an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, thing, or part of another text”. It is distinguished from devices such as “direct quote” and “imitation or parody”. “Most are based on the assumption that there is a body of knowledge that is shared by the author and the reader and that therefore the reader will understand the author’s reference. Allusions to biblical figures and figures from classical mythology are common in Western literature for this reason (Merriam Webster’s Encyclopaedia of Literature, 1995: 37).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies This chapter provides information on C. S Lewis and his Chronicles of Narnia. The information is gained from the studies conducted previously by literary critics. Many scholars are interested in studying the works of Lewis, and especially

  his seven novel series The Chronicles of Narnia. Generally, almost all of the proposed criticisms dealing with C. S Lewis oeuvre are theological analyses since C. S Lewis is best known as a Christian apologist though he produced numbers of non-Christian fiction and non fiction-works. To review all studies previously made by scholarly critics of Narnia would not be effective in relationship to the problems affirmed earlier. In light of the fact that there are countless numbers of critiques on different topics pointing to Lewis’ chronicles, therefore this review focuses particularly on the responses, both positive and negative, directed at Lewis’ attitude to women.

  Amber Cowart in her article ‘The Success of C. S Lewis in The Chronicles of

  Narnia’

  dated on April 3, 1996 and posted on

  http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/success.html

  provides responses from readers of the chronicles. Cowart begins by stating that Lewis had two obvious purposes as he wrote the story of the magical land visited by English children: “to entertain the readers and to suggest analogies of the Christian faith”. Responding to these aims, some critics said that there is something seriously wrong with the chronicles for offering opinions of “unnamed people” instead of factual information, which is later, assumed to be full of hatred. Lewis is also accused by some commentators of depicting violence in his novels, therefore making it inappropriate for children to read them. Rebutting the antagonists, some readers state that the chronicles are charming stories and point out that although violence is presented in the novels more violence is present in other places, television for instance, and therefore teachers are encouraged to use the novels in the classroom.

  There is another criticism entitled Experiment House that explored Lewis’ dislike of and negative attitude toward ‘free’ schools, which were popular in the 1950’s (http://www.aslan.demon.co.uk/eustace.html). Lewis portrayed this sort of ‘free’ school through his description of Experiment House, in which Eustace Scrubb spent his days of learning. Experiment House is very unlike most Public or Grammar Schools. “It has ‘masters’ rather than ‘teachers’, the masters call the pupils by their surnames. The students use public school slang and call each other by their surnames as well. It has a fairly conventional curriculum; except that the pupils do not learn much about French, Maths or Latin, but this is due to the “curious teaching methods not due to the fact that traditional subjects are not taught. It is dangerously tainted with modernity”. The library is full of factual books about ‘exports and imports and governments’ and ‘elevators and fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools’. “It is co-educational, and moreover it is secular at any rate Bibles were not encouraged”.

  Part of the criticism that the novels have received over the years centers on the description of Susan Pevensie in The Last Battle. In the last novel of the series, Susan does not go to Narnia; other characters describe Susan as being "no longer a friend of Narnia," and as being interested "in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations." In addition to sexism, Lewis has also been accused of racism. Pullman, an atheist, said the books were "blatantly racist". The racism critique is based on a perceived negative representation of other races and religions, the Calormenes in particular, as enemies of Aslan and Narnia. The Calormenes are described as dark-skinned people with a garlic-scented breath, who wear turbans and pointy slippers, and who are armed with scimitars. This depiction has been cited as a sinister comparison to the traditional characteristics of Islam and Sikhism. The Calormenes worship a main "false god" Tash, who is described as a stereotypical Satanic being requiring evil deeds and sacrifices from his followers.

  Most of these critiques are aware of antagonist depictions of female characters in the chronicles and have thus used them as points crediting Lewis with portraying misogyny in his children’s books, but those critiques do not consider resemblances that Lewis’s characters have to other figures in works he was very familiar well. This is fairly to think of as Lewis was a professor of Medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge and it is likely that his literary knowledge is consciously or unconsciously echoed in his own novels including his seven novels The Chronicles of

  Narnia

  , and this suggestion distinguishes this thesis from studies done by previous scholars.

B. Review of Related Theories

  The theories, which will be applied in the analysis, are the theory on character and characterization, reader response and Barthes’ theory of Text.

1. Character and Characterization

  In A Glossary of Literary Terms M. H Abrams pointed to two definitions of ‘character’: (1) “the character is the name of a literary genre, it is a short, and usually witty, sketch in prose of a distinctive type of person”, and (2) “characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-the action” (1993: 23- 24). Characters in works of art are also developed upon their motivation that is “the grounds in the characters’ temperament, desires, and moral nature for their speech and actions”. Abrams further explains that a character may remain stable from the beginning of a story to its end, or may undergo radical changes through a gradual process.

  The Dictionary of Modern Literary Terms defines ‘character’ as “the fictional representation of a person” that is possible to change. We might recognize several ‘characters’ as of “the centre” and others as of “the circumference”. There are ‘characters’ in the Aristotelian sense, that is “detailed figures with their own motives and capacity for distinctive speech and independent action’; others are “enabling aspects of story, minor figures, stereotypes; and there are others “to whose perceptions we give credence and some we regard as contextual society”.

  ‘Characters’ are also those who partake in and are changed in the action (heroes, protagonists) and confidantes or devices” (1987: 27-28).

  Mario Klarer in An Introduction to Literary Studies explains “it is possible to analyse character presentation in the context of narratological structures”. In general, characters in a text can be either “types” or as “individuals”. “A typified character in literature is dominated by one specific trait and is referred to as a flat character, and often represents the general traits of a group of persons or abstract ideas. The term round character usually denotes a persona with more complex and differentiated features” (2004: 17-18).

  The writer analyses the depiction of female antagonists in the novels based on their emotional qualities, desires, and moral nature which are expressed in the dialogues and also their actions.

2. Reader response theory

  Reader response criticism, which “came into prominence during 1960’s” (Abrams, 1993:269), focuses on the plurality of interpretations by readers. It believes that text or author cannot control the reading and signifying process of the audience.

  A Glossary of Literary Terms

  (1993) explains that “the meaning of a text is the “production” or “creation” of the individual readers, hence that there is no one “correct meaning for all readers either of the linguistic parts or of the artistic whole of a text” (Abrams, 1993: 269). Readers have the control to produce meaning of a text; they will signify a text according to their personal experience dealing with the theme of the text and literary competence. Literary competence, which means the mastery of literary knowledge, will determine the result of reading, whether or not the readers can interpret certain literary elements properly (Culler, 1977).

3. Roland Barthes’ theory of Text

  Modern Literary Theory

  encloses seven prepositions about Text by Roland Barthes, i. e method, genres, signs, plurality, filiations, reading and pleasure.

  Text is a “methodological field”. It undergoes an ongoing process and will never stop. Hence, it can only be experienced in the activity of production (writing).

  Text is always “paradoxical”. It is limitless and goes beyond rules of enunciation, and therefore cannot stop at any certain classification.

  Text is “symbolic”. It is formed by unlimited signifiers which “are realized according to a serial movement of disconnections, overlapping, and variations” (Barthes, 1996: 194). It is a system without end and centre.

  Text is “plural”. It carries multiple meanings, thus does not fulfill a single interpretation.

  Text is of a “network”. It is built upon series of combination and is knitted by endless play of signifiers. Thus, its destination cannot be surmised.

  Text is not only an object of consumption. It is not closed by an act of reading only, but is also open to the act of writing, i. e “text is not only readable but also writerly. It is not only the object of consumption but also the object of production” (Barthes, 1996: 196).

  Text is of pleasure. It gives pleasure for readers, and furthermore its openness to an act of re-producing (re-writing) emerges as the “jouissance” of the text.

  4. Theory of Intertextuality Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text and to a reader’s referencing of one text when reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was officially coined by poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966. As critic William Irwin says, the term “has come to have almost as many meanings as users, from those faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion and influence”. This concept becomes increasingly influential as a way of thinking how literary works produced and gained meanings.

  Intertextuality believes that “a text consists of multiple meanings and writings which are drawn from a range of discourses, already in circulation in some form or other” (Roger Webster, 1990: 96). Therefore the author is considered as a “synthesizer’ instead of “originator” for drawing together and orchestrating linguistic raw materials – in this sense literature becomes a form of repetition of an extent. For this reason, literary textuality is seen as “discursive recycling” although the relations are never the same, never completely repeated for there are “sets of cross-references and allusions which, to use a traditional term, provide a ‘richer’ reading experience or – to employ theoretical terms – the signifiers in the text evoke more complex signifiers” (Ibid, 1990: 97).

  5. Misogyny in Literature The term as man hatred of women is assumed to be influenced by the images of women in religious texts that show women as subordinate to men (Andresen,

  1997: 248).

  Margaret L. Andersen furthermore explains in Thinking About Women that religion appears to be powerful source for the subordination of women as it has been historically powerful as the instrument of social changes (Ibid.). One way in which religion intervenes in socio-historical field is undeniable through its scripture, and as is stated above that religious scripture provide stereotypical gender roles and is politicized to legitimate women as subordinate to men in real life. However, this is challenged as feminist movement comes to being and as scholars, academics, and critics investigate gender roles from time to time. For this reason, the attitude that positions women as subordinate to men or as the second-class is becoming to be assumed as misogynist.

  In the end of her book entitled The Troublesome Helpmate: A History of

  Misogyny in Literature

  Katherine M. Rogers summarizes misogynistic values which are mostly found in literature. These values are:

  1. Women as imperfect creature, morally weak and are capable to be ruinous influence. This is found in the Jahvist’s story of creation and is continuously re produced from one work of literature to the others.

  2. Women as seductive. This value is inspired from the story of the Fall, and as Rogers stated, had been being reproduced by patristic writers from the first century to the sixth.

  3. Women as unfaithful lovers. This had become a constant theme in classical Roman writing.

  4. Women as having uncontrolled passions. Women are described to be having weaknesses for flattery, greed, extravagant dress, pride, and duplicity.

  5. Women as more passive than men, the reason women are depicted to be their husbands’ property.

  6. Women as being less rational than men in every respect. Women were encouraged to be weak and dependent and acceptable during the Restoration and eighteenth century

C. Biographical Background

  The biographical background is concerned mainly with the careers of C. S Lewis as a scholar as well as a writer.

  Lewis won a scholarship to University College of Oxford in 1916 and had a break from the study since he joined the British Army in 1917. He came back to the college and concentrated on his studies after being injured in World War I. He received a First in Honor Moderations (Greek and Latin Literature) in 1920, a First in Greats (Philosophy and Ancient History) in 1922, and a First in English in 1923.

  He taught as a Fellow Professor at Magdalen College, Oxford, for almost thirty years (from 1925 to 1954). Later on he became the first Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow at Magdalene College Cambridge. Most of his scholarly works focused on the later Middle Ages, its use of allegory in particular. He was befriended by J. R. R. Tolkien, the writer of

  The Lord of the Rings,

  at Oxford. Tolkien was in fact one of those in Lewis’s circle of literary friends in a literary discussion group known as the “Inklings”.

  Despite the scholarly works he produced, Lewis also wrote numbers of literary works, the seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia are among others. His other well-known fictions are: Out of the Silent Planet, Parelandra, That Hideous Strength, and Till We Have Faces. He also wrote books on Christianity, as he is known as a Christian apologist, such as: The Screwtape Letters, The Pilgrim’s Regress, Mere

  Christianity, The Four Loves, The Abolition of Man,

  and his autobiography Surprised

  by Joy which tells of his conversion to Christianity.

  Finding out the fact of Lewis’s broad knowledge of literary works, the writer sees the influences of literary works Lewis consumed being brought to his works. Lewis is in fact, consciously or unconsciously, has underwent influences from previous writers

D. Theoretical Framework

  The analysis accusation of misogyny revealed through the female characters and their characterization will be based upon the concept of intertextuality. The discussion will be focused on the literary resonances in the way female characters in

  The Chronicles are characterized.