"Sometimes fairy stories may say best what's to be said." C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis's friend, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote: "It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however... terrible the adventures, it can give to child or man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears." On this criterion, many of the readers of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian would classify Lewis' works as good, if not great fairy stories.

A deeper look at C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Who this course is for:

those who enjoyed the films The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian want to begin studying Lewis's life and work.
those who would like an introduction to Lewis' literary views and fantasy
those who wish to enrich their reading of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian
those who are always eager for an excuse to return to Narnia
those who read the story as children and want to reflect on it before sharing it with their children
*hose who read the stories as children and want to reflect on it before sharing it with their children.

"Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still." ~Aslan

From the time he was a teenager C.S. Lewis had in his mind an image of a faun carrying an umbrella in a snowy woods. In the summer of 1948 Lewis began writing about that image and dreaming of lions. That image and those dreams came together in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe published in 1950.

In his dedication to Lucy Barfield, Lewis refers to his work as fairy tale. In an essay entitled "On Fairy-Stories" Lewis's friend J.R.R. Tolkien wrote: "It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however . .. terrible the adventures, it can give to child or man that hears it, when the 'turn' comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears." I suspect that a good many readers of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, would, on the basis of Tolkien's comment, classify Lewis's work as a good, if not great, fairy-story.

As a professor of English literature at Oxford and Cambridge, Lewis had his own views on literary criticism. In A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe, Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead bring Lewis' literary views to bear on his own work:

"Our primary approach to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is to look at it through the lenses gathered from Lewis's own literary criticism on the subject of literature and literary analysis. The result can be described as 'reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with C.S. Lewis.' "

After an initial reading of Lewis' story, we slowly reread it and reflect on it in light of A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe, carefully considering plot conflicts, settings, characters, images, allusions, and other elements of Lewis' storytelling.

There are six sets of assigned readings and discussion questions from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and A Reader's Guide Through the Wardrobe. You will work at your own pace and I will comment on your responses, discussing the material with you. Ideally, we will come away with a greater understanding and appreciation of Lewis' fairy-story and sharpened critical faculties for subsequent readings. Program #9038.

Instructor: David Werther, Ph.D., Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been teaching C.S. Lewis for the last ten years.

Return to Narnia: Prince Caspian

Enjoy a classic adventure story that explores belief, doubt, trust, and the supernatural. In six assignments you reflect on the form and content of C.S. Lewis's children's classic.

Lewis scholars, Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead note that Prince Caspian is an adventure story, fairy tale, and fantasy and myth. In it C.S. Lewis introduces one of his most memorable characters, Reepicheep, and reunites the Pevensie children with Aslan. As he tells his tale of reunion and restoration, Lewis explores issues of belief, doubt, trust, and the supernatural, with his characteristic combination of reason and imagination.

There are six sets of assigned readings and reflection questions from C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian and A Reader's Guide to Caspian by Leland Ryken and Majorie Lamp Mead. You will work at you own pace and I will respond to your reflections, discussing the material with you. Ideally, we will come away with a greater understanding of Lewis' fairy-story and sharpened critical faculties for subsequent readings. Program #9039

Instructor: David Werther, Ph.D., Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been teaching C.S. Lewis for the last ten years.

What students have said about this instructor:

"I know that others have said it in this thread and elsewhere, but I just wanted to say cheers! to David Werther for the very fun, very interesting experience of this on-line course. I really appreciate your knowledge of Lewis' work and your enlightening discussion" ~ past participant

Costs

$149 per course. Work at your own pace and take up to a year to finish. You will earn 2.8 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for each of these courses. Register any time.

A deeper look at C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is Program #9038.

Return to Narnia: Prince Caspian is Program #9039

Your contact for more information about C. S. Lewis courses is Dr. David Werther 608-262-3151, dwerther@dcs.wisc.edu.

How to register:

Telephone: Call 608-262-2451 to register. Our phone is answered M-F, 7:00 am-4:30 pm Central Time. At other times please leave a message, and we will return your call. If you have other questions, call toll-free 1-877-336-7836.

Online: Register now online with our secure server.

E-mail: Send your name and contact information to LSAonline@dcs.wisc.edu and we will respond as soon as possible to assist you with registration.

Fax: Print and fax our registration form.

Mail: Print and mail our registration form.