Did Lewis had his own opinion of women?

[DancingLawn22]

If you read some of his earlier works, you do see some gender stereotyping written, even in the Narnia series. But I could not bring myself to call CS Lewis a misogynist, one of his latest works, and most popular, was Till we have Faces; the protagonist is a powerful yet flawed woman and story does focus mostly on women. I like to think of it as a sort of pro-feminist story, but I don't think everyone would agree with.

But was Lewis's view of women a little outdated and too Victorian?

[cipher]

He made Lucy a fantastic character so I don't think he stereotyping women.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I don't think Lewis was a misogynist, he was more accepting of women than many men in that time period. From reading about his interactions with women, it seemed he wasn't entirely comfortable with women and often found them and their gossip tiresome. Then there were the women who were his intellectual equals and he seems to have been uncomfortable with them also. I think it's more a sign of the times than him being a misogynist. And he seems to have grown in his understanding and acceptance of women. His Godly marriage to Joy Gresham indicates as much.

[Narnian_Archer]

DancingLawn22, If you notice, Tolkein treats women in a similar way, at least in the LotR trilogy. They have a significant role, but they seem almost like otherworldly creatures, like angels, or as you put it, rather Victorian. That was a feature of the Inklings Society - a society of writers that Lewis and Tolkein organized in Cambridge. They definately were not misogynists, but they had a particular way of depicting women in their works.
I do agree with you Warrior 4 Jesus. From my own experience, I've seen that it's very common for men to feel uncomfortable around women who talk a lot or who are overly communicative, especially if they didn't interact a lot with them growing up. This by no means makes Lewis a misogynist, and as you pointed out, his Godly marriage to Joy Gresham does indicate a growth in the understanding and acceptance of women.

[Ithilwen]

I think Lewis had a very nice opinion of women. He found gossipy women tiresome, but the thing is, who doesn't?

He had a great respect for girls of real sense, and you can see that in the strength of character in Lucy. I find it sweet that he chose to make a girl the one, out of all the children, who's closest to Aslan.

Plus, he kind of makes the boys seem rather foolish when they get an overly-macho attitude, or start stereotyping the girls. And he let's the girls make great rebuttals to their comments. Which shows a realistic portrait of how a lot of children react to eachother in male/female friendships. Especially at that time.

He did have women stay out of wars in many places of the book. But I think that was more due to the chivalrous mindset and writing style he had, which I find more admirable that "Victorian".


~Riella