1. What do you think about the title The Silver Chair? Any alternative suggestions?I've no objection to the title, The Silver Chair, as such. And so, I've no better suggestions for entitling the book. However, I've been quite puzzled at its significance in the story. We only see this eponymous Silver Chair once in the story, when Prince Rilian is tied into it whilst he has his nightly fit, and although Prince Rilian vents his fury on it when he is released from it, and the Queen of Underland, at least in the BBC TV version, seems to be somewhat miffed at its destruction, I quite fail to see what it actually does. Is the silver chair, itself, just a
macguffin? A much sought after but otherwise a rather uncomfortable-looking chair? Or does it work more like an electric chair? Judging by Rilian's agony whilst sitting in it I would think so. And why silver in particular?
Oddly enough the thrones I've seen are either glorified kitchen chairs, with metal frameworks and particularly thick, comfortable, monogrammed seats, or else elaborately carved wooden chairs, maybe with some gold ornamentation, like the Coronation chair in Westminster Abbey. That particular chair is the proper one for England, at least, but was stripped of much of its gilding by Oliver Cromwell. Or that really stunning backdrop to the speakers' chair Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh use in the House of Lords in Parliament at Westminster when they go there to open Parliament. The thrones in Buckingham Palace seem to be made of metal tubing like we used to use for kitchen chairs in the 1960's, with monogrammed upholstery, similar to the one the Emperor Napoleon III (Bonaparte) used, which is now in the Louvre.
2. What’s in a name? Eustace Clarence Scrubb is generally referred to as “Eustace” in VDT, but in SC, he is usually referred to by his last name, “Scrubb.” Is there any significance to this? Why does he use Eustace sometimes in SC and Scrubb other times? Is there a significance to when Lewis uses titles (the Owl, the Prince, etc.) and when he uses names Glimfeather, Rilian, etc.)What's in a name? Plenty. Eustace was called Eustace when he was at home with his own family, including his cousins, the Pevensies, that is to say, Lucy and Edmund, who shared his VDT adventure. At school, a business and work environment, after all, he would have been called Scrubb, in an era where language like "By Jove" was considered quite a normal way of talking for older boys, aping their dads, teachers, WW2 heroes and other authority figures. When Eustace tried to identify himself as Eustace to Trumpkin, who might have heard about that VDT story, Trumpkin misheard him thinking Eustace was calling himself Useless. Or did Trumpkin mishear?
If you knew "Eustace the Useless" was a comic strip in one of England's newspapers in the 1940's and 1950's, what would you think of Eustace in VDT and now in SC?
No wonder Eustace answered to Scrubb for much of the rest of SC. However, that sort of formality usual and expected in UK and elsewhere in 1953, when
The Silver Chair was first published, had largely disappeared by 1983, especially after the events of 31st August 1997, which are still discussed in today's news.
Calling Glimfeather by his name sometimes and The owl at other times is just a way to break up the amount of times it is necessary to call him, he, his etc, or Glimfeather. I am involved in an ongoing argument about this matter, with one of my nearest and dearests, because, to suit him, and his tendency to lose track of what is said, due to partial deafness, it would be cumbersome to use sentences like:
Glimfeather went to the Parliament of Owls because Glimfeather wanted to bring the matter before Glimfeather's fellow owls, to help Jill and Eustace. And the other owls were prepared to listen to Glimfeather even though Trumpkin complained that Trumpkin, not Glimfeather, could not hear Glimfeather, who, Trumpkin said, didn't speak clearly.
The same applies to Rilian and Puddleglum.
3. Does Silver Chair have a main character? If so, who? If not, explain why you think there isn’t a main character.Jill is the main character in
The Silver Chair because much of the story is from her point of view and because it was she who Aslan commissioned to find Prince Rilian and bring him home to Narnia. The only real hero of the story, apart from Aslan, himself, is Puddleglum whose presence saved the situation several times, especially when he put out the Green Witch's fire and stated his case for preferring his own point of view. Though Eustace does the best he can under the circumstances, and is one of the main characters, he is mainly seen in a supporting role.