I just finished the Chronicles of Narnia again. I love the series-I've loved it since I was a child and even as an adult, I've tried to read the series once a year or so. To me, Lord of the Rings was about singing, walking, and nothing else. Chronicles of Narnia has it all. Yes, I know that's the most controversial thing I've ever said on this blog and I apologize. Sorry everyone, it's just how I see it.
Remember in The Last Battle when it's referenced that Susan only thinks about "lipstick and nylons?" It's widely considered by some people that CS Lewis was a horrible sexist for that line, and his work is anti-feminst and horrible towards women. I've always found that way of thinking very confusing. The Narnia series has some incredibly powerful women, Susan being one of them. Same with Polly and Lucy. Two villains are also women (arguably the two toughest in the series, certainly two of the most interesting) so Lewis is hardly anti woman.
He is in a catch-22 though. Create a strong, powerful female villain and people want to know why she is female. Create a strong, powerful male villain people want to know why the villain is male. No matter what he did, he'd be critiqued by people who want to look for "evidence" that supports what they already believe. Welcome to what qualifies as "analysis" in critical theory today.
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