C.S. Lewis didn’t actually want to write a "series." When he first sat down with the image of a faun carrying an umbrella in a snowy wood, he wasn't thinking about a multi-million dollar franchise or a complex cinematic universe. He was just a middle-aged Oxford don obsessed with the idea of "supposal." What if Christ entered a world of talking animals? That single thought gave us The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a book that has been translated into nearly 50 languages and has sold over 100 million copies. It’s a lot to wrap your head around.
Honestly, the story feels almost too simple when you describe it to someone who hasn't read it. Four kids—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—get sent to the countryside during the Blitz. They find a wardrobe. They enter a magical land. They fight a witch. But that's just the surface level. If you dig into the history of the 1950 publication, you find a narrative that was actually hated by some of Lewis's closest friends. J.R.R. Tolkien, the guy who wrote The Lord of the Rings, famously disliked it. He thought the world-building was a mess. Why? Because Lewis shoved everything together: Father Christmas, Greek dryads, talking beavers, and a messianic lion. It shouldn't work. It’s a tonal nightmare on paper. Yet, for some reason, it’s the most enduring piece of children's literature in the English language.
What Everyone Gets Wrong About The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Most people assume the book is a strict allegory. They think Aslan is Jesus and the Stone Table is the Cross. Lewis actually disagreed with that. He called it a "supposal." An allegory is like Pilgrim’s Progress, where "Giant Despair" represents... well, despair. In Narnia, Aslan is a character first. He's a lion who happens to embody the same "Deep Magic" that Lewis believed governed the real universe.
There’s also this weird misconception that the story is just "cozy" British escapism. If you re-read it as an adult, it’s actually kind of terrifying. The White Witch, Jadis, isn't just a cartoon villain; she’s a personification of stasis. "Always winter and never Christmas." That line is legendary for a reason. It describes a world without hope, a psychological freeze that mirrors the trauma of the children living through World War II. When Edmund betrays his siblings for Turkish Delight, it’s not just because he’s a brat. He’s a victim of a very specific kind of spiritual addiction that Lewis, an expert on medieval literature and human nature, understood deeply.
The Turkish Delight Factor: More Than Just Candy
Let's talk about the candy. Why Turkish Delight? In the 1940s and early 50s, Britain was still under strict sugar rationing. To a kid in 1950, the idea of an endless supply of sweets wasn't just a treat; it was a powerful, almost illicit temptation. It’s basically a drug metaphor. Edmund becomes a "traitor" because his palate has been corrupted.
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Lewis was drawing on the concept of gluttony as a gateway to pride. It’s fascinating because, in the Disney/Walden Media film from 2005, they had to make the Turkish Delight look incredibly appetizing, but most modern kids who try the real thing are actually pretty disappointed. It's floral and sticky. But in the context of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it represents the moment we choose a temporary pleasure over our own family. It’s the pivot point of the whole plot.
The Oxford Inklings and the Clash of Creative Geniuses
You can’t talk about Narnia without mentioning the Inklings. This was the informal writing group at Oxford that included Lewis, Tolkien, and Charles Williams. They met at a pub called The Eagle and Child. Tolkien was a perfectionist. He spent decades creating languages and backstories for Middle-earth. When Lewis showed up with a story where a Victorian-style Father Christmas gives out swords to kids in a world with centaurs, Tolkien was horrified. He thought it lacked "inner consistency."
But Lewis wasn't trying to build a perfect world. He was trying to capture a feeling. He wrote at a breakneck pace. He finished the first draft of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in about three months. It was spontaneous. It was messy. And that messiness is exactly why it feels so alive. It doesn't feel like a history textbook; it feels like a dream.
The Problem of Susan and Modern Critiques
If you hang around literary circles long enough, someone will bring up "The Problem of Susan." In the final book of the series, Susan is famously excluded from Narnia because she's "no longer a friend of Narnia" and is more interested in "nylons and lipstick." This has led to decades of debate about Lewis’s views on gender and maturity.
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Even in the first book, the gender roles are... dated. Let’s be real. Father Christmas tells Susan and Lucy that "battles are much grimmer when women are in them." It’s a line that definitely makes modern readers wince. However, if you look at the 2005 film directed by Andrew Adamson, they made a conscious effort to give the girls more agency. Susan becomes a skilled archer. Lucy is the most courageous of the lot. Lewis himself was complex; he was a bachelor most of his life until he married Joy Davidman, a brilliant American writer who challenged much of his thinking.
Why the 2005 Movie Adaptation Still Stands Up
While there were BBC versions in the 80s that had a certain "guy in a lion suit" charm, the 2005 Walden Media production is what most people visualize now. Tilda Swinton as the White Witch was a masterclass in casting. She played Jadis not as a screaming hag, but as a cold, aristocratic predator.
The production had to deal with massive hurdles:
- Aslan’s CGI: At the time, creating a realistic talking lion was the "Holy Grail" of visual effects. Rhythm & Hues (the VFX house) had to simulate millions of individual hairs.
- The Score: Harry Gregson-Williams created a soundtrack that shifted from folk-inspired melodies to massive orchestral swells, capturing the "ancient" feel Lewis intended.
- The Child Actors: Finding four kids who could carry a film was a massive gamble that actually paid off. Skandar Keynes, who played Edmund, actually grew several inches during filming, which caused a nightmare for the costume department.
The Secret Influence of Medieval Cosmology
Lewis was a scholar of the Middle Ages. He wrote a book called The Discarded Image which explains how people in the medieval period saw the universe. He didn't think of space as cold and empty; he thought of it as "the heavens," full of music and light.
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In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Aslan represents the planet Jupiter. In medieval astrology, Jupiter was the "Greater Fortune," associated with kingship, joy, and the end of winter. This is why the book feels so triumphant. It’s not just a battle of good vs. evil; it’s the return of the rightful king. The "Deep Magic" from the dawn of time is Lewis's way of saying there is a moral logic to the universe that is older than the villains who try to rule it.
The Inevitable Netflix Reboot
For years, the rights to Narnia were in a bit of a tangle. Now, Netflix owns them. Greta Gerwig, the director of Barbie and Little Women, is slated to direct at least two of the films. This is a massive shift. Gerwig is known for her deeply human, character-driven stories.
There's a lot of pressure here. How do you make Narnia feel fresh when we’ve seen so many "portal fantasies" (think Harry Potter or Stranger Things)? The challenge is keeping the "weirdness" of Lewis. If they try to make it too much like Game of Thrones, they’ll lose the magic. Narnia isn't about political intrigue. It’s about the "enchantment of the ordinary." A wardrobe isn't just furniture; it's a doorway. A lamp post in the middle of a forest isn't a mistake; it's a beacon.
Actionable Insights for Fans and New Readers
If you're looking to dive back into the world of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, don't just stop at the book. To really get the most out of the experience, try these specific steps:
- Read in Publication Order: Do not start with The Magician's Nephew. Even though it's a prequel, it ruins the mystery of Aslan and the wardrobe. Start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first, just as Lewis intended readers to discover it in 1950.
- Listen to the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre: Seriously. It’s a full-cast audio drama recorded in London with cinema-quality sound. It’s arguably more faithful and immersive than any of the film versions.
- Visit Oxford: If you ever get the chance, go to the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. There is a door nearby with a carved lion's head and two golden fauns that many believe inspired the story.
- Explore "A Grief Observed": If you find the themes of sacrifice in Narnia too "simple," read Lewis's later work about losing his wife. it provides a gritty, heartbreaking contrast to the "joy" found in the Narnia books and shows the depth of the man who created Aslan.
The legacy of the story isn't just in the toys or the movies. It’s in the way it handles the transition from childhood to adulthood. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy spend decades in Narnia, growing into kings and queens, only to stumble back through the wardrobe and become children again. That feeling—of having lived a whole life that no one else believes in—is the most "human" part of the entire chronicle. It reminds us that our inner worlds are often much larger than the rooms we inhabit.
Next Steps for Your Narnia Journey
You can currently find the original 1950 text in various anniversary editions that restore the original Pauline Baynes illustrations. If you are interested in the deeper philosophy, look for "The World's Last Night and Other Essays" by Lewis to see how his academic mind fueled his fictional worlds. All major streaming platforms currently host the 2005 film, which remains a gold standard for how to handle the "High Fantasy" genre for families without losing the bite of the source material.