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Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

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C.S. Lewis used fiction to lay bare the soul in ways his more apologetic work could not. The cast of characters in The Great Divorce, for example, or in the "Space Trilogy" invariably remind us of people we know - and give us insights into what makes them tick. Nowhere in Lewis' works is the soul explored better than in Till We Have Faces, Lewis' masterwork of fiction and a stunning psychological and spiritual odyssey.

TWHF retells and enriches the myth of Cupid and Psyche, although a lack of familiarity with the myth in no way diminishes from the enjoyment of the book. In Lewis' hands, the story sorts through issues of family, jealousy, gender, faith, and ultimate meaning, culminating with a frightening and yet wonderful 'face to face' scene that gives rise to, and explains, the book's title.

Readers who are looking for the kind of in-your-face Christian symbolism that characterized the Chronicles of Narnia will be disappointed with TWHF. Although I appreciate and am nourished by Lewis' Christian parables and apologetics, the theology in TWHF is pagan, at least on its surface. Underneath the surface, however, Lewis does a masterful job of intertwining the traditional beliefs of the main characters - including a stand-in for Greek rationalism - with rumors of a much more intimate and beautiful way of knowing the gods. The climactic scene itself plays off the biblical phrase, "Now we see in a glass dimly, but then face to face" - a phrase that comes, in fact, from I Corinthians 13, the famous chapter on Love in the New Testament. So Lewis does indeed lead the reader toward the One who is love, but he uses the carrot of intrigue and spiritual longing rather than the steamroller (if you will pardon the mixed metaphor) of too-obvious symbolism.

This is my favorite of Lewis' works of fiction and was, reportedly, Lewis' favorite as well. Few books can nourish the soul the way Till We Have Faces can. Just one caveat: you really will need to read it twice ... and you will understand why once you have read it through the first time.

Besides containing one of the greatest lines about being an author ever written: "I was with book, as a woman is with child", C.S. Lewis's "Till We Have Faces" also did me the service of giving me a good slap across my metaphorical face. How wrapped up we all become in our own little lives. How one-sided and self-favoring is our vision.

Though a book about many things--holiness, love, and philosophy to name a few--"Till We Have Faces" is mainly about how our perceptions can fail us. How in the name of doing what we think is right, we can do horrible things.

Orual, the protagonist of the story, spends an entire life learning what the apostle Paul meant when he said "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." The real twist in "Till We Have Faces" is that the reader, more likely than not, learns the same lesson (I know I did).

C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors for many reasons. This book is definitely one of them. Lewis considered "Till We Have Faces" to be his best book. I do not know if I agree, but it is certainly a great story.

I give "Till We Have Faces" a very high recommendation.

C.S. Lewis's novel Till We Have Faces is based on the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche, however Lewis chooses to tel the story through Orual, Psyche's older sister. While Lewis does retell the well-known story of Psyche and Cupid, that is only a tiny piece of the story he creates. Till We Have Faces is actually the story of Orual's struggle to find love, and to discover her own identity. The actual setting of the story is unclear-it takes place in a country north of Greece, in a time long past, but Lewis does not choose to elaborate on that. In fact throughout the entire book, he focuses very little on sensory details; it is a story of emotion and psychology rather than action and physical description. Orual writes her own story, beginning at her childhood in her father's castle. There she leads an isolated life, surrounded only by her fathers servants, advisors, and her sisters, Redival and Psyche. Redival, with her golden curls and curvy figure, is superficially pretty, but Psyche is the embodiment of perfect and natural beauty. She is not only outwardly beautiful, she is also pure, unselfish, and loving. Orual, though, is neither pretty nor beautiful. She is, as she is constantly reminded by her father (the king), indescribably ugly. Orual never feels that she is loved by anyone, that is, until Psyche enters her life. Psyche's mother dies giving birth to her, and Orual takes it upon herself to become Psyche's guardian and to raise her. Orual loves Psyche more than anything else, but her love is selfishly and fiercely possessive. Orual is tormented by the thought of having to release Psyche from her suffocating grasp, and she does everything in her power to prevent it. After being separated from Psyche, Orual gradually comes to the realization that she (Psyche) is like the goddess Ungit-greedy, jealous, blood-gorged, and ugly of soul as well as body. She also compares herself to her father, the violent, selfish, cowardly, and dishonest king. Orual recoils from this realization, and as queen, she tries to be everything that her father, and Ungit, are not. While she is described by her subjects as "the most wise, just, valiant, fortunate and merciful" of all rulers, Orual feels that her actions are only a mask of her inner ugliness. She despairs of ever overcoming her hideousness inside. She says, "I would set out boldly each morning to be just and calm and wise in all my thoughts and acts, but before they had finished dressing me I would find that I was back in some old rage, resentment, gnawing fantasy, or sullen bitterness. I could not hold out half an hour . . . I could mend my soul no more than my face." Like the veil she wears to hide her ugly face, she feels that her good actions only conceal the hideousness of her true self. C.S. Lewis felt that we, as humans, are like rough blocks of marble. He said that suffering is the tool God uses to carve away our rough edges and to refine our souls. As Orual experiences suffering, she doesn't realize it, but she is actually coming closer and closer to becoming the perfected statue. Each trial chips away another piece of the marble that conceals the perfect form within. The title, Till We Have Faces, may refer to the process of refinement and self-realization. Till We Have Faces is a captivating book from beginning to end. As the reader, I could not only identify with Orual's struggles, I felt as though I was Orual, going through the same turmoil and inner-conflict. It is a book that I can read over and over again, each time experiencing new epiphanies and gaining deeper insight. It is impossible to adequately describe, even to a small degree, this fascinating and complex novel; it must be read and read again.

Many authors have taken old stories and retold them from another character's point-of-view in order to change the theme and lesson portrayed in it. C.S. Lewis did just that in his Till We Have Faces, a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of one of Psyche's treacherous sisters. In doing so, Lewis adds depth to a superficial story and makes his readers question the motive of their love.

Orual, the eldest sister of Psyche, doesn't love anyone more than she loves her youngest sister. In turning the story in this direction, Lewis shifts the conflict from one between the sisters to one at first between Orual and the supposed gods who were the cause of Psyche's sacrifice and then, after Orual realizes her fault in her loss of Psyche, a conflict between Orual and herself. Orual's haunting self-examination and the revelation that she has loved Psyche so much that she pulled her away from happiness, and that she also has done so with everyone she has ever loved is a stirring wake-up call to all of us. The lesson that love is not a selfish action, but one in which, if you act with pure intent, your most important wish is for the one you love to be happy, is one which we all need to learn, as it will bring about greater happiness both in our lives and the lives of those we love.

The title of the novel is the source of another important lesson. Throughout her life, Orual lives with the fact that her looks are anything but attractive. To make things worse, her sister Redival, whom she absolutely detests, is considered somewhat of a beauty. Her father tells her she looks like a man, and that her looks could knock down a horse, and the like, and she becomes embarrassed to show her face to anyone. She puts on a veil, and decides never to take it off. When she does so, people stop noticing her ugly looks and begin to focus on who she is. As queen she becomes famous for her generosity, courage, and wisdom. She is remembered as the bravest, most valiant queen who ever lived. Her fame spreads, and so do tales that she wears the veil to cover a beautiful face, because certainly no one whose acts are so lovely can be ugly. Thus, through her actions, Orual receives a new face, a beautiful one, one which fits her personality and love for others. In doing so she conquers the goddess, who has no face, and achieves her victory over the gods.

Lewis' portrayal of love as the only thing to brighten an otherwise bleak and desolate world is fitting in this day. At a time when selfishness and greed are prevalent, the world needs a lesson in the value of devotion to others. Till We Have Faces is just that lesson. It provides a great example of love to all who are willing to learn from it.

'Til We Have Faces' is the sleeper novel of the century. Better than any self-help book for those who are more sinned against than sinful, better than any pop-psychology text, Til We Have Faces addresses the difficult questions of God, justice and life's meaning with underlying compassion and incisive perception. C. S. Lewis re-works the ancient Cupid and Psyche myth. He retains the mythological setting, but this time tells the tale from the point of view of a sister of Psyche; Orual. This 'ugly' sister resents the gods for the injustices of her physical unattractiveness and her consequentially loveless life... and after a lifetime of angst and loss, finally learns a liberating and joyous truth. Lewis' deft handling of the story allows him to grapple with the anguish of lovelessness and the value of the soul; timely themes for our era, obsessed as it is with physical beauty and superficial materialism. The novel satisfies at many levels: a good story; an anticipation of 'the beauty myth'; a Jungian treatise; a neo-Platonic manifesto... an articulation of the very human yearning for love, justice and meaning. An important book, a beautiful book; something for those who are between their first and second enjoyments of fairytale and fantasy.

In so many ways, this is CSL's literary masterpiece and, indeed, one of the greatest books that I have ever read--and, no doubt, will ever read. In the categories of plot, style, characterization and theme, TWHF reaches heights that few contemporary authors can even see, let alone achieve. And the ontological-theological-metaphysical message at the heart of CSL's allegorical retelling of the Psyche myth is . . . sublime, profound--so heartfelt and beautiful that even as I write this, I have chills.

Read this book as fantasy. Read this book as literature. Read this book as the serious, crystalline thought of the finest Christian writer of the twentieth century. Read it time and again as I have, trying to fathom its magic and mysteries. But above all, my friends, _read_ this book. It is one of the most wonderful examples of why the Lord gave us eyes to read.

TILL WE HAVE FACES, is, simply put, one of the most beautiful books I have read. Its depths are enormous, its truth fantastically illustrated, and the author is completely given over to the character. If you are reading this for Lewis's style, don't. In an amazing feat of creation, Lewis used his God-given gift, and has completely come into Orual's mind. This is some of the best characterization I have ever read, with Lewis completely laying down his own style, and yielded to that or Orual. Although that may be disquieting to some, it reveals the true creative power God gave that fine Christian brother. He immerses us into her world, told from her eyes. The book is very, very deep, demanding several rereadings.

The plot of the book is a daughter is born to a king, named Psyche. He already has two other daughters, Orual and Redival. Her older sister, Orual, becomes very loving of her. Yet this love is exactly what it ought not to be: a selfish love. Psyche, seemingly a goddess in the eyes of the people, must be taken to sacrifice to the god of the grey mountains. Orual is very distraught. They take and leave her. Then Orual, along with another character named Bardia, go up to the mountain, and Orual finds Psyche, in love with the god of the mountain. Orual, being blind (although not physically), cannot see the palace. In the end, she has Psyche, who loves with selfless love, the truest and deepest and most real of all loves, look upon Eros, the god of the mountain, and Psyche is exiled because of her sin against the god. She was not to look or cast light upon him, but she did for Orual's sake.

The king is an impotent ruler, and only after Orual takes over the kingdom does Glome become something of a powerful place. All things considered, Orual really does help Glome politically and financially, and is a much better ruler than her father was. He is an abusive man, and is an evil father. He cares nothing of his daughters, and wishes for a son. He especially resents Orual for her ugliness.

The Fox is a Greek philosopher brought into educate the girls as well as help the King. Redival is least interested. He examines through the Fox the rational point of view. The Fox can never live up to his beliefs, and is constantly violating them. He is out of balance, placing to much on reason and logic and not enough on faith. He greatly influences Orual.

Redival is a selfish one, and wants what is best for her. This is exactly what not to be.

Orual: A much more complex character, and the narrator of the book. She loves with a jealous love, a love tainted by sin and ungodliness. She wishes Psyche for herself, and she cannot understand why she must go away. The book is about how she moves away from that selfish love and into the love of Jesus Christ. She is also marked by ugliness, and later starts wearing a veil to hide herself. After many years, people begin to think her wearing the veil for, ironically, great beauty, or something more mysterious, no face at all. This is representative of her spiritual life. She is ugly because of the taint of sin. Yet, because she is made in the likeness of God, the beauty that God gave her can be placed through. But as long as she remained uncured, as long as she remained [unstilled] hidden away, she could not come face to face with God. How could she when had no face. She refused to acknowledge her selfish love. For much of her life she worth both a physical and a spiritual veil. Only when old age approached, did she set down an account of the "evils" done to her by the gods in Part I. Then, in Part II, she lays down her veil, and begins to examine her life, and in the end comes to peace with God.

Psyche is the mostly Godly character, full of selfless love for others. It is she that is Orual's love. There is much to learn from Psyche.

In this book, we have what Lewis wrote in his nonfiction The Four Loves. These were written and published about the same time, and he had met Joy Davidman, who was to be his wife. Erotic love, that had so long passed him by, had suddenly and out of nowhere appeared on his doorstep. So love weight heavily on his mind during this period of his life. To have a deeper appreciation of this book, read both this and his The Four Loves, because basically he tackled the same subject in two separate genres: fiction and nonfiction. In that book, he says friends and lovers are essentially different, although bound by the same reality. Friends are friends because they have a bond, yet they are not whole concerned with the other. They are comrades, and do things side by side. Lovers are intensely interested in the others, looking at each other, not working side by side. This is illustrated in Orual's relationship with Bardia. Bardia, a prime solider, is a close friend of her, and the closest to a sexual relationship she ever obtained. Yet he is married, and so Orual cannot know erotic love as did Redival and Psyche. She is friends with him, and will not destroy his family. In this way, God is helping her to the point where she will drop the veil and let him put a face on her. Through the course of the years, she is showing more character in her relationship with Bardia than in her relationship with Psyche. She will not destroy the man she loves although she did destroy her sister's happiness. Already God was gently prodding her to a more real and honest place with him.

Why, oh, WHY write ANOTHER review of this book! Because it captures the soul. Like multitudes of others before me, I've read it numerous times. It IS a masterpiece. The themes, emotions, depth and sheer beauty of this work are unmatched by any fictional literature I've ever read. Don't bother to borrow it from a friend or the library. You'll want it on your bookshelf.

There's no doubt that "Till We Have Faces" is Lewis' most profound book. Its prose is masterful: spare, stark, the best writing Lewis ever did. He creates memorable, fully human characters, especially in Orual, daughter of Trom King of Glome. She is ugly, brutalized by her father, friendless until love enters her life through two characters: her Greek slave tutor and her youngest sister, Psyche. The novel becomes an examination of loves true and false, of manipulation of love, and of the power of grace to redeem and love the unloved and unlovely. I've read this novel at least a dozen times; it never grows stale. You needn't know the original myth to enjoy the book. I only wish more readers knew about this book--even many Lewis fans are unaware of this one. It will move your heart and make you think.

Till We Have Faces is a magnificently textured work, a tale of self-discovery and epiphany. The central character, Orual, is the ugly and seemingly unlovable daughter of a cruel monarch (her father hits her for sport and calls her 'goblin daughter'). She is loved, however, by a spiritual-emotional triumvirate: Psyche's compassion, the Fox's conscience, Bardia's courage. It's interesting that Lewis retells the Psyche myth from the point of view of the stepsister. Orual's perspective allows the reader to experience and question the things she does on an intimate level. Her journey matches that of many people who feel a sense of inadequacy and spiritual longing. Fox is her tutor and voice of reason, a captured Greek fond of quoting philosophy and giving lip service to the gods. He's the agnostic of Orual's life. Bardia, the captain of the guard, provides Orual with the skills to defend herself, allowing her to go from shrinking violet to warrior queen. Psyche is the true believer. She has seen the gods, but finds that convincing Orual is futile. Orual longs to be with the beautiful, but fears what she will find. Her belief is a forced one, a faith through fear, and therefore she can't see clearly what Psyche sees. It is not until the end of her life that she sees clearly: "I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?" This evokes the words of St. John, "we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is."

Lewis uses language the way it was meant. He eschews flowery prose; rather he conveys the complexity of emotions in a simple yet not simplistic fashion. He provides profundity and clarity both, not merely one to the exclusion of the other. The mysteries of the spiritual are always seen more deeply and clearly in great works of literature. Till We Have Faces is one of those works.