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The Wardrobe was one book out of a collection that reveals The Chronicles of Narnia. It was written by Clive Staples Lewis, better known as Jack Lewis. In this story, Lewis us...[ view ] - The Chronicles Of Narnia: Book Report - The Chronicles of Narnia: Book Report Digory and Polly were good friends. They both lived in England for all of their lives. One day they were playing when Polly wanted to show Digory her secret pla...[ view ]

The Chronicles Of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

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Length: 1460 words (4.2 double-spaced pages) Rating: Red (FREE) ---------------------------------Mythical creatures, The Dawn of Time, untold prophecies, mighty rulers, an evil queen, MAGIC, do you believe this could all exist? The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis Is one of seven parts of the epic adventures of four children who enter a totally different world, by accident. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, one day find themselves in a place called Narnia ruled by and evil witch. They embark on a journey to right the wrongs of the witch. In their quest they come along some unexpected obstacles. The children try and face these obstacles with all they are. The Children's journey includes many mythical creatures you only dream of. Good creatures and bad creatures, there is a war. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are destined to fix and bring peace to Narnia, but the thing is, their only children.

Four children are sent to the countryside of England during the war to avoid the air raids. They go to live with an old professor who has no wife, only a housekeeper. While there, the children find an old wardrobe that if walked through, leads them to a magical place called Narnia. Although, the children did not all enter at once. Lucy, the youngest, of Peter, the eldest, Susan, the second eldest, and Edmund, the third eldest enters first, through the wardrobe and at the lamp post, meets a Faun. When she returns to our world the

three other children don't believe her. Edmund taunts her, and one day follows her into Narnia. There he cannot find her and he meets the White Witch, She tells him to bring all of his brothers and sisters to Narnia. He agrees to her wicked plan thinking she is a nice queen. When Lucy sees Edmund she is filled with joy. She supposes that Edmund could back her up this time. So, when they get back Lucy tell her siblings about it, Lucy thinks Edmund will back her up, but apparently out of spite he denies he had ever been in Narnia. You see, both times Narnia was visited it was rainy days. So the next rainy day The House keeper was giving a tour of the house to some people, The house was well known for it's mysteriousness, and the house keeper often gave tours, and she'd hate it when the children were to get in the way, so as they were coming closer all four children ran to wardrobe, it seemed to have never end. Thus, the four future rulers were in the country they were soon to rein.

Now that they were in Narnia, their journey, and adventure, had begun. Lucy learned that the White Witch took the Faun she had met. So they are on the verge of going back, when they meet a beaver. The beaver brings them to his home and speaks to them of their quest. He tells them of the witch's doings, and Aslan, the great king of Narnia, and how they are destined to rule Narnia with Aslan's help. Narnia, is a land where it is always winter with no Christmas, this is the witch's doing. So the kids decide to right her wrongs. Although, after they are done discussing Narnia, and the issues it is going through, Edmund is nowhere to be found. Mr. Beaver knows, right away, that he is betraying them to the White Witch. The three children, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, quickly, rush to the stone table, where they are to meet Aslan, although there is a detour, they stop to sleep. Meanwhile as Edmund struggles for the witch's house and finally get there. He reports to the Witch what the beaver has told the children. The Witch is FURIOUS; she gathers her fastest wolves to catch the Beavers and the children. Then, she takes her sleigh and heads for the stone table; she treats Edmund quite horribly in this situation. Going back to the Beavers and Children that haven't meet the Witch yet, they hear Jiggling bells of a sleigh. At first they are frightened, but then they realize. It was SANTA!!! They Knew the Witch's power was weakening because she had made it so it was always winter and never Christmas. But Good ol' St. Nick was there. He presented the children with gifts of warriors' and the beaver's things that were handy to them. So they headed to the Stone table. Once there, they had seen Aslan for the first time.

Aslan was a Great red lion with a solemn face and a great low voice. He had presented him self as a great leader, which he was. He was followed by and army of great gorgeous creatures. At the stone table, all of the snow had melted away and it was spring now. Aslan saved Edmund form the White Witch's captivity. The White Witch and Aslan finally came face-to-face and negotiated, because technically according to the deep Magic from the dawn of time she owned Edmund. So they made a deal. To release Edmund witch would take The Lion's life. No body knows of this deal, that night the Army of the lion and Peter prepared for battle. The Army was now partially Peter's army because he was to be future king. As

was Edmund, but he would not have as much power. When all was settled and most of everyone was in bed, the girls, Susan and Lucy, were awake. They saw the mighty lion walking slowly and sadly so they decide to follow him. When he discovers them he tells them to walk with him but tell him to stop when it is necessary. When it was necessary they stopped and they hid, finding themselves back at the stone table. All of the sudden a flock, a sea, of evil creatures surrounded Aslan tied him up muzzled him shaved him. And finally after all these horrible things were done. The White Witch did the deed, of killing him. The girls were devastated and stayed with the corpse the whole cold night. In the morning as the sun came up they decided to walk around for warmth and as they came back, Aslan arose. He was bigger and stronger, for before the dawn of time when the deep magic was deeper those who gave themselves for another would comeback even stronger. He took the girls to the battle. Just as them and the army they rounded up on the way in a couple of minuets in their arrival. The war was over Aslan, and the four had won.

Closing the Book C.S. Lewis explains that the children stayed and ruled until they grew older. They were known through the land and love. One day they were in search for a white stag. When they come upon a lamppost. At This time they had forgotten all of their earthly memories. The four decide to venture past the lamppost. The ending of the book is my favorite part because while venturing passed the lamppost they come upon a wardrobe door and are brought back to the exact day they had entered Narnia. They go to the Professor and tell him of their adventures. The professors believe them and give them this advice, "don't go looking for Narnia. It will come when you least aspect it, but remember Once a king in Narnia, Always a king in Narnia."

In conclusion, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is one of the best books I have ever read. C.S. Lewis did an exquisite job Detailing and explaining character development. He was very vivid in explaining the war and the way things looked. I could really picture this book in my mind. It was like reading a movie J. Well, overall, I enjoyed it very much and my opinion of this book is a great one. The four children destined to be rulers of a world we are not familiar to, fulfilling their destinies. I think that is a great story. I love the magic and the connection with the dawn of time. I'm eager to read the next one.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

In A Nutshell When C.S. Lewis was sixteen, he had a strange vision. It wasn't a spiritual vision or a great artistic vision or some kind of prophecy. It was just a mental picture a picture of a Faun, a mythical halfman half-goat, carrying an armload of packages and sheltering himself with an umbrella as he walked through a snowy wood. This strange but innocent image would stay with Lewis for decades until his chance encounter with some children who had been evacuated from London during World War II. Lewis was interested in the evacuees and what it might be like for children to be uprooted from their homes and sent into a strange, unknown world. (He himself had been sent away to several boarding schools as a child and an adolescent, and his memories of them were unpleasant.) Lewis was already an experienced and prolific writer who had published numerous books, including a science fiction trilogy, a scholarly book about medieval allegory, a book of poetry, and some works on religion and faith. He decided to try writing a book for children, using his meeting with the evacuees and the picture of the Faun. The writing was difficult at first, but eventually he started to see some other pictures that came into the story. Lewis said the Christ-like lion, Aslan, "came bounding in" and the pages started to fly by. And The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was born! After he finished writing, Lewis excitedly read his new book aloud to his friend and fellow author J.R.R. Tolkien. Lewis and Tolkien were members of a small, informal literary club at Oxford called The Inklings, which met to discuss members' work-in-progress and other literature-related topics. In the past, Tolkien had read his works, including parts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, to Lewis and the other Inklings, who gave him useful feedback and support. Lewis expected Tolkien to provide the same kind of encouragement and constructive criticism. But, as Lewis's biographer George Sayer records, Tolkien thought The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was terrible. Tolkien argued that witches and Santa Claus and talking animals and figures from Greek mythology didn't belong in the same story that no book should have so many different types of characters jumbled together. Luckily for us, some of Lewis's other friends loved the book, and so he published it in 1950, two years after writing it. After finishing the first book, Lewis discovered that new stories were unfolding in his mind to explain some of the strange aspects of this imaginary country called Narnia, and he started work on a sequel. Eventually The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was just the first of the seven Chronicles of Narnia. As the books progressed, they continued to present Lewis's Christian faith and morality in an allegorical form to child readers. Each book drew on a combination of Lewis's religious enthusiasm (he had experienced a powerful re-conversion to Christianity) and his academic background (he was a Fellow at Oxford University specializing in Medieval and Renaissance literature and philology). Although The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was not an immediate

bestseller, it slowly and steadily became popular on the cutting edge of a new literary movement in favor of fantasy stories for children. Although it is primarily directed at child readers, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a sophisticated and captivating book that has enjoyed a long afterlife and extensive popularity worldwide. Over the last 60 years, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has been adapted as a major motion picture, an animated TV movie, a live-action TV serial, and a play. The book has become a cultural phenomenon and the characters have become household names. Today it would be surprising, if not impossible, to find a bookstore that didn't carry The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the other Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis's work has also been the object of interest by literary scholars and professional critics, and the Narnia books are sure to live on, both as the beloved reading of children and adults, and as essential texts in the history of fantasy literature.

Why Should I Care?

As much as we love The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we can see why you might have trouble caring about it. After all, 21st-century life isn't exactly full of Dryads and Naiads and Fauns frolicking and feasting in the summer woods. At least, ours isn'tif yours is, though, please write in and share. For the rest of us, things seem a bit grimmer and darker today than they did to C.S. Lewis in 1949, when he was writing the first draft of this book. By contrast, in today's children's fantasy books, not every injustice is punished, and not all the good people live happily ever after. Some of them die (thanks, J.K. Rowling!), because that's the reality we live in. School shootings, gang violence, child abuseit seems like we're a thousand miles away from the fantasy of complete and total justice in Narnia. What we do know about in our world, however, is betrayal. All around us, among our friends and family, at school, at work, and in the media we hear about people who turn their backs on their loved ones and closest companions. About spouses who cheat. About employees who steal from their employers. About teenagers who bully their classmates. About friends who tell lies about other friends to make themselves look better. It goes on and on...we're sure you can think of some examples from your own life right away. That's where we can connect with Narnia. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we see a great betrayal. Not only that, but we explore the tiny details that lead over time to that betrayal. We also see what redemption can look like the kind of sacrifice and the type of forgiveness necessary to recover from deceit and disloyalty. After all, Edmund doesn't turn his back on his brother and sisters just because he thinks it would be neat to do so. We learn that he's been attending a pretty bad school, which has encouraged some of his natural tendency to be a bully. He's started to enjoy bossing and tormenting his younger sister, he talks back to his older sister, and he resents his older brother. He starts to imagine that other people are ignoring him or laughing at him behind his back when they're not. Then he starts telling lies in order to make himself look good and Lucy look bad in the eyes of Peter and Susan. When the lies don't work out, Edmund sulks and gets nastier. When he starts to realize that he's on the wrong side of things, he blames his brother for alienating him. Then, when he starts to suspect that he might have to admit he is wrong and take his punishment, he finally decides to cast his lot in with the

baddies and betray his family to the most evil person he can find, telling himself the whole time that the Witch is really not that evil. Still, he knows she is. The point is, Edmund goes bad very slowly. It starts with the influences of his peers, and then it translates into little rude things he says, and then it turns into lies, and then he resents the people he lies to, and eventually he's standing in front of an evil tyrant Witch providing the location and strategy of his own family members so that they can be annihilated. Except for the evil tyrant Witch part, this is sounding kind of familiar, isn't it? Most of us know about the slippery slope from rude to resentful to doing something we regret. But what's fascinating and comforting about Narnia is that, although Edmund goes bad slowly, he's able to turn his life around very quickly. Of course, he doesn't do it alone. He has the help of Aslan and the unconditional love and support of his brother and sisters. Once he wants to shake off his betrayal and come back to the right side, though, everyone is ready to welcome him with open arms. We're not saying it's easy. In fact, he almost dies. The point is, anyone can change, no matter how far they've gone. Everyone can be redeemed. At least, that's the message of this book and we think it's something to care about.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Summary

How It All Goes Down Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, four siblings in World War II-era England, are sent away from London to live in the countryside, where they will be safe from air raids and bombings. While they are staying in a large, historic country house owned by an old professor, Lucy discovers that a certain wardrobe in a spare room is a gateway to a magical land called Narnia. In Narnia, Lucy meets and becomes friends with a Faun named Mr. Tumnus, who tells her that Narnia is ruled by an evil White Witch who oppresses the people and magically creates an everlasting winter. Lucy returns home and tells her brothers and sister about her experience, but they don't believe her because the wardrobe now has a normal wooden back. One rainy day, Lucy returns to Narnia through the wardrobe and Edmund follows her. While Lucy goes to visit Mr. Tumnus, Edmund is left alone and discovered by the White Witch as she travels through the countryside on her sledge. The Witch coaxes Edmund into telling her about his family and is disturbed to learn that there are four of them, two boys and two girls. She bewitches Edmund with an enchanted version of his favorite candy, Turkish Delight, and convinces him to bring his brother and sisters to her. After the Witch departs, Lucy discovers that Edmund has entered Narnia. Returning home again, she is sure he will back up her story, but instead he lies, telling Peter and Susan that Lucy's Narnia is make-believe. Some time later, all four children are forced to hide in the wardrobe to escape from the housekeeper, Mrs. Macready, and a group of sightseers touring the country house. All four children find

themselves in Narnia. Lucy takes them to visit her friend Mr. Tumnus, but they find that he has been arrested by the White Witch's secret police. While they are deciding what to do, a robin leads them to a talking Beaver, who introduces himself as a friend of Mr. Tumnus. Mr. Beaver takes the children home to his dam, where he introduces them to his wife Mrs. Beaver. The Beavers feed the children a solid meal and explain about the prophecies of Narnia: when four human beings, two male and two female, sit in the four thrones at Cair Paravel, a castle on the country's eastern coast, then the White Witch will be destroyed. The Beavers also tell the children about a lion named Aslan, the Lord of the Wood, who has returned to Narnia after a long absence. Aslan has the power to end the winter created by the Witch. While the Beavers are explaining Narnian history and prophecy to the children, Edmund sneaks away and goes to the White Witch's house, where he discloses all their plans. He is horrified when the Witch treats him coldly and reveals that she intends to capture and murder his siblings. Taking Edmund as a hostage, she attempts to intercept the Beavers and the children by traveling quickly on her sledge. However, in a few hours, the endless winter dissolves into a beautiful spring, and the Witch is forced to march across country with Edmund and one servant, a Dwarf. Meanwhile, Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the Beavers have escaped, taking only a little food with them. They head toward the Stone Table, an ancient monument, where Aslan is rumored to have set up camp. During their journey, they meet Father Christmas, who gives them weapons to use in the battle he anticipates between Aslan's forces of good and the White Witch's forces of evil. When they arrive at the Stone Table, they are awed by Aslan's presence, but Aslan is saddened by the news of Edmund's betrayal. Aslan speaks to Peter of Cair Paravel, but they are interrupted by Fenris Ulf, a fierce wolf in the service of the Witch. Peter slays Fenris and is knighted by Aslan. Nearby, the Witch has decided to murder Edmund to prevent fulfillment of the prophecy. Just before she strikes, Edmund is rescued by some of Aslan's people. The Witch goes to see Aslan under a flag of truce and demands her right to Edmund's blood, citing the Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time, which gives her control over all traitors. Aslan comes to a private agreement with the Witch and she renounces her claim on Edmund. Depressed and subdued after this meeting, Aslan orders his people to move their camp away from the Stone Table. At night, Aslan leaves camp alone and goes back to the Stone Table. Lucy and Susan follow him feeling, but not understanding, his sorrow. As he gets close to the site, he insists that they remain behind, hidden. When Aslan walks into the clearing by the Stone Table, the White Witch and all the evil creatures she has gathered are there to meet him. They bind and torment him, but he bears their cruelty with patience. In the end, the Witch murders Aslan with an enormous stone knife. Then all the evil creatures rush away to do battle with Peter, Edmund, and Aslan's other followers. Susan and Lucy weep over Aslan's dead body. With the help of some friendly mice, they remove the cords and muzzle that bind Aslan. All through the night, they mourn. At sunrise, the Stone Table breaks in half with a loud noise and Aslan is miraculously resurrected. He explains to the astonished girls that there is a Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time: because he was an innocent, willing victim and was sacrificed in place of a traitor, the Stone Table broke and Death worked backwards. The girls frolic with Aslan, who is feeling lively. Then they all rush over to the Witch's

house and free her captives. Aslan is able to reverse the effects of the Witch's magic wand, turning many people and creatures from stone statues back into themselves. With this new band of followers, Aslan and the girls return to the others, where they find Peter and Edmund fighting a losing battle against the Witch. The freed captives quickly turn the tide of battle as they join in on the side of Good, and Aslan kills the Witch. Lucy uses her Christmas present, a magic cordial, to heal the wounded, and Aslan cures those who were turned to stone by the Witch. Everyone goes to Cair Paravel, the castle on the eastern sea, where Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are crowned as kings and queens. They reign for many years and Narnia prospers, although Aslan comes and goes. One day, while hunting a stag that grants wishes, King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy find a lamppost in the woods. They begin to remember their lives in England, and as they go further into the woods, they find themselves back in the wardrobe, and then back in the spare room in the country house. No time has passed in England since they first entered Narnia together, and they are children again.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Chapter 1 Summary Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe

Our story begins in England during World War II. Four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, are sent away from London to keep them safe from air raids. (In some of the other Narnia chronicles, we learn that their last name is Pevensie, although it's not actually mentioned in this book.) The four children are sent to live in a large house in the country owned by an old professor. His housekeeper, Mrs. Macready, and three servants take care of the house and look after the children. The Professor is nice but strange; Lucy, who is the youngest, feels shy around him, and Edmund thinks he's funny. On their first night in the house, the children discuss their new surroundings. Peter, Susan, and Lucy like the Professor. Edmund is irritated by Susan's bossiness; he thinks she's trying to act too much like their mother. Peter, who is the oldest and often in charge, suggests that the children explore the countryside in the morning. They're excited to see different animals in their natural habitat. In the morning, though, it's raining. The children decide to explore the house instead of going outside. The house is large and complicated with many interesting rooms and antiques. Eventually the children come to a room that is empty except for a large wardrobe (a wardrobe is a stand-alone piece of furniture that substitutes for a built-in closet). Peter, Susan, and Edmund leave the room to keep exploring. Lucy stays and opens the door of the wardrobe. The wardrobe contains fur coats. Lucy loves fur, so she steps in to feel the coats. She notices a second row of coats behind the first and goes further in. As Lucy walks deeper into the wardrobe, she is surprised when she doesn't hit the back of it. Eventually, instead of reaching the back, she feels snow under her feet and evergreen branches hitting her face and hands.

Lucy emerges out the back of the wardrobe to find herself standing in a winter landscape at nighttime. It's snowing! Lucy is scared but excited. When she turns around, she can see the fur coats hanging in the wardrobe and the empty room through the wardrobe door. When she looks ahead of her, she sees a snowy wood. Lucy walks toward a light that she can see in the distance and discovers that it is a lamppost. While Lucy stands under the lamppost, another person walks up. He is human from the waist up and a goat from the waist down; Lucy recognizes him as a mythical creature called a Faun. He carries an umbrella and some packages. When the Faun sees Lucy, he drops everything he is carrying and exclaims in surprise!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Chapter 2 Summary What Lucy Found There

Lucy and the Faun exchange greetings. The Faun asks her if she is a "Daughter of Eve." Lucy doesn't really understand what he means and says that she's a human girl. The Faun is very excited to find out that Lucy is human. He's never seen a human being before. The Faun introduces himself as Tumnus, and Lucy, who is very polite, calls him Mr. Tumnus. Mr. Tumnus asks Lucy how she got to Narnia. She's never heard of the country of Narnia before. Mr. Tumnus tells her that Narnia is a large country and extends from the lamp-post that they are standing under all the way to the castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern coast. Lucy explains that she got to Narnia through the wardrobe in the spare room. Mr. Tumnus mistakes these for the names of countries. Lucy tries to explain that her world is completely different from this one. She tells Mr. Tumnus that it is summer there, and he tells her that it has been winter in Narnia for a very long time. Lucy wants to go back home and tell her brothers and sister about what she has seen, but Mr. Tumnus convinces her to go home with him and have tea. ("Tea" in England in the 1940s means an afternoon meal, probably with lots of sweet baked goods, so this sounds pretty good to Lucy.) Mr. Tumnus leads Lucy through the woods to the hidden entrance of a cave. Lucy likes the cave a lot; it is dry and clean, with nice furniture, a fireplace with a fire burning merrily in it, a portrait of Mr. Tumnus's father, and a shelf of books. Mr. Tumnus and Lucy eat their tea, which is a substantial meal, including boiled eggs, sardines on toast, and cakes. When they finish eating, Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy about life in Narnia in the old days, before the long winter. He describes midnight dances, hunting parties, feasting, treasure-seeking, and many other amazing adventures. All the people in his stories are what we would think of as mythical creatures fauns, dryads, nymphs, and dwarfs. After his stories, Mr. Tumnus takes out a flute and begins to play a tune. The music makes Lucy sleepy and she sits motionless for a long time as she listens. Suddenly Lucy jumps up, remembering that her brothers and sister will be worried about her. Mr. Tumnus is very upset and starts crying. Lucy gives Mr. Tumnus her handkerchief and begs him to tell her what's wrong. Eventually he confesses that he is a spy for the White Witch. Lucy says that she doesn't know who the White Witch is, and Mr. Tumnus explains that she is the tyrant who rules Narnia and makes it always winter, but never Christmas. Lucy asks what Mr. Tumnus does for the Witch, and he explains that he agreed to become a

hand it over to her. Lucy is the first he's met, but, while he was lulling her to sleep, his conscience got the better of him. Lucy insists that Mr. Tumnus must not hand her over to the Witch, but he is afraid of what will happen to him if he disobeys. He thinks she might mutilate or torture him, or maybe even turn him into stone. Mr. Tumnus agrees with Lucy that, now that he's met her, he can't possibly turn her over to the Witch. The two of them creep stealthily back through the wood to the lamp-post; from there, Lucy knows her way back to the wardrobe. Mr. Tumnus and Lucy say goodbye, and she lets him keep her handkerchief as a memento. Lucy runs through the wood and soon finds herself back inside the wardrobe. She jumps into the empty room and closes the wardrobe door behind her. Inside the spare room, Lucy can hear Peter, Susan, and Edmund outside in the hallway. She shouts to them that she has come back!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Chapter 3 Summary Edmund and the Wardrobe

Lucy runs into the hallway and assures her brothers and sister that she's come back safely. None of them understand what she's talking about, because they only left the room a moment ago. Lucy insists that she has been gone for hours, but for the others it has only been a few moments since they saw her. When the others don't believe her, Lucy explains about the magic country called Narnia that they can reach through the wardrobe. She takes them back into the room to show it to them, but now the wardrobe has an ordinary wooden back. Peter thinks Lucy is carrying out some kind of elaborate practical joke. He congratulates her on the hoax, but tells her to drop it now. For days, Lucy is frustrated and upset. She refuses to admit that she made up the story, because she knows she is telling the truth. Edmund is especially mean to Lucy about her story. He constantly teases her about her imaginary country. While the weather is nice, the children play outside a lot. One day, though, it rains, and the children are stuck inside the house again. They decide to play hide-and-seek. When everyone goes to hide, Lucy goes straight to the room with the wardrobe. She plans to look inside it and then find somewhere else to hide, but then she hears someone behind her and has to hide in it anyway. The person behind Lucy is Edmund. He sees her jump into the wardrobe and goes in after her so that he can tease her. Once Edmund gets into the wardrobe and shuts the door, though, he can't find Lucy or the way out! As Edmund gropes around in the wardrobe, he sees a light and goes toward it. He discovers himself in the snowy wood beside the lamppost. Edmund realizes that Lucy's story was true, which makes him feel uncomfortable about teasing her. He thinks she must be close by and shouts out an apology, but she doesn't appear. Edmund assumes that Lucy can hear him, but won't come out because she is still angry. Before Edmund can decide what to do, he hears bells, and a large winter sledge drawn by reindeer comes into view.

The reindeer are enormous and their antlers are gilded. The sledge is driven by a dwarf dressed in rich furs. Riding in the sledge is a very tall, white-faced woman carrying a gold wand and wearing a gold crown. The woman commands the dwarf to stop the sledge in front of Edmund. She asks Edmund what he is. He doesn't really understand the question and tells her that his name is Edmund. The woman is angry that Edmund doesn't recognize her as the Queen of Narnia. She repeats her question, asking Edmund what he is. Again, Edmund doesn't understand, and says that he is in school, except that it's the holidays (summer break).

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Chapter 4 Summary Turkish Delight

The Queen asks Edmund whether he is a beardless dwarf. He explains that he is a boy. She asks if he is a "Son of Adam." Confused, Edmund doesn't answer. Finally the Queen, who is losing her patience, asks if he is human. He says yes. The Queen asks Edmund how he came to her country. He tells her about coming in through the wardrobe door, and she says that she has heard of doors from the world of men. Suddenly, the Queen raises her wand in anger. Edmund is sure she's going to harm him, but then she changes her mind and invites him to sit with her on the sledge, wrapped in her mantle. Edmund obeys the Queen and goes to sit at her feet. She offers him something hot to drink and he accepts. The Queen pours a single drop out of a strange bottle onto the snow. When it hits, it turns into a jeweled cup, full of a creamy, sweet, hot drink. Edmund thinks it is delicious. Next, the Queen offers Edmund something to eat. She asks what he would most like to eat at that moment, and he requests Turkish Delight. (We interrupt this plot summary for a quick Lesson in Tasty Confectionery: Turkish Delight, if you haven't had it, is a sweet gummy candy made with rosewater and nuts and covered in powdered sugar. It is really tasty, so we're not surprised that Edmund wanted some. The candy is common in lots of Middle Eastern cultures, not just in Turkey, and goes by many names. OK, now back to Edmund and the Queen!) The Queen uses her magic bottle again, and this time the drop turns into an enormous box of Turkish Delight. Edmund eats his way through several pounds of candy while the Queen asks him questions. The more Edmund eats, the more he wants. As he gets obsessed with the Turkish Delight, he answers all the Queen's questions without thinking. The Queen learns from Edmund that he has two sisters and one brother. Edmund also tells her about Lucy's previous visit to Narnia and her meeting with Mr. Tumnus. Eventually, Edmund finishes all the candy, and the Queen finishes her questions. Edmund is craving more Turkish Delight, and it turns out that the candy was enchanted so that anyone who ate it would want more and more of it forever. (We at Shmoop think all candy is like that, but apparently in this case it's magic.) The Queen promises Edmund that he can have more Turkish Delight when he brings his brother and sisters to her house. The Queen describes her house, telling Edmund that it has whole rooms full of Turkish Delight and that she would bring him up as her son, a Prince, and make him King after she was gone.

Edmund wants to go to the Queen's house right away so that he can keep eating Turkish Delight, but the Queen tells him that he will need courtiers as a king, so he has to go and get his siblings. Edmund complains that he doesn't even know how to get home. The Queen tells him that the world of men is somewhere past the lamp-post. She also explains to him how to find her house, which is between two hills. The Queen tells Edmund that Lucy may have heard nasty stories about her from the Faun, and so he will need to trick his family into following him to her house. Edmund will agree to anything as long as there's more Turkish Delight at the end. The Queen tells the Dwarf to drive on and leaves Edmund standing alone in the snow. After the Queen is gone, Lucy arrives. She is excited that Edmund has made it into Narnia. He apologizes for not believing her before and asks her where she has been. Lucy says that she had lunch with Mr. Tumnus and he is fine, so the White Witch must not know about her previous visit to Narnia. Edmund asks who the White Witch is. Lucy explains that she calls herself Queen of Narnia, but she is really a usurper, and everyone hates her tyranny. Lucy describes the Witch's appearance and the way that she travels in a sledge, and Edmund realizes that it's the same woman he just met. Edmund tries to downplay Lucy's story about the White Witch, telling her that Fauns will say anything, which is something the Witch said to him. Lucy and Edmund head back to the wardrobe to go home. Lucy is excited, because she thinks now that Peter and Susan will have to believe her story. Edmund is less excited; he doesn't want to have to admit to them that he was wrong, and he feels like he and Lucy are already on opposite sides of Narnian politics. Lucy and Edmund arrive back in the spare room. Lucy notices that Edmund looks ill, and he feels quite sick but says he's OK. Lucy sets out to find Peter and Susan and tell them about the latest adventure.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Chapter 5 Summary Back on This Side of the Door

Peter and Susan are still playing hide-and-seek, but eventually Edmund and Lucy find them. Lucy bursts out with her news: her story is true, Narnia is real, and Edmund has been there, too! Edmund lies and says that he and Lucy were just playing, pretending that her country in the wardrobe was real, but it was all make-believe. Lucy, crushed, runs out of the room. Edmund tries to act superior, but Peter tells him to shut up and stop egging Lucy on. Edmund says that it's all nonsense, and Peter says that's the problem he's worried that Lucy is going crazy, and thinks that Edmund is making it worse. Susan makes peace between Peter and Edmund. All three of them go and find Lucy, who has obviously been crying. Lucy sticks to her story. After all, it's the truth. All evening, Lucy is miserable, Edmund is uncomfortable, and Peter and Susan worry that their little sister is losing her mind. The next morning, Peter and Susan go to the Professor. (Remember him the kind old man who owns the big country house the children are staying in?) They sit in the Professor's study and tell him the whole story. The Professor listens without interrupting. At the end of the story, he asks how they know that Lucy's story isn't true.

Susan is taken aback. She mentions that Edmund said they were only pretending, and the Professor asks whether Edmund or Lucy is usually more truthful. Peter says that, until now, Lucy was always more reliable. Susan suggests that Lucy could be mad, but the Professor says that she's obviously sane. Finally, the Professor puts the case to Peter and Susan logically: either Lucy is telling lies, or crazy, or telling the truth. She's never told lies before, and she's obviously not crazy, so they have to assume that she's telling the truth. Peter asks how Lucy's story could possibly be real. He thinks that real things are always there, and clearly sometimes the wardrobe isn't a doorway to another world. The Professor isn't so sure of this. Susan mentions the time discrepancy the way Lucy said she had been gone for hours, while only a few moments passed for everyone else. The Professor says this supports her story: if there is another world, time works differently there, but that's not the kind of thing that a little girl making up a story would think about and fake. Finally Susan asks what they should do, and the Professor says that everyone should mind their own business. With that, the conversation is over. For a while, things go on as usual, and none of the children mention Narnia to each other. The narrator explains to us that the Professor's house is famous, mentioned in guidebooks, and sightseers often come to see it. When they do, the housekeeper, Mrs. Macready, shows them around. Mrs. Macready dislikes the children, and they are supposed to stay out of the way when she's giving tours. One day, the children are examining an old suit of armor when they hear Mrs. Macready and some visitors coming toward them. They quickly move to another room, but, no matter where they go, the tourists seem to be right behind them. Eventually, they find themselves in the spare room, and all four of them are forced to hide in the wardrobe!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Themes

Little Words, Big Ideas

Good vs. Evil

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, good and evil are straightforward and undisguised. Good is ultimately more powerful than evil, although evil does seem to have a necessary place in the wo...

Compassion and Forgiveness

The ability to forgive those who have caused you harm or betrayed you is the most important virtue in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. People who are unable to forgive small slights find the...

Betrayal
Betrayal is the greatest possible wrong that can be committed in the world of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The consequences of treachery are not limited to the information recounted by a...

Transformation
There are several types of transformation in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It is possible for individuals to transform from unpleasant and selfish people to wise and just ones, but only w...

Spirituality
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe functions as a spiritual allegory. The major characters parallel the central figures of the Christian religion, including Christ and Judas. Although religion...

Guilt and Blame

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, every individual must take full responsibility for his or her own actions. When the responsibility is too great, someone else may step in and take it from...

Courage
Courage in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is not a feeling but a way that you behave. Although you might feel despairing, frightened, or sick, you can still behave bravely. Bravery is one...

Family
The bonds between family members and the nature of the family itself are central themes of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Individuals are only parts of familial structures; entire families...

The Supernatural
Magic and miracles are two sides of the same coin in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and it can often be difficult to tell where a spiritual miracle ends and a magical happening begins. In...

Man and the Natural World

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, human beings and other creatures are at their best when they live in harmony with the natural world and do not try to halt the passage of time or arrest na...

Exploration

The desire to explore and experience new things is a charming characteristic in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but one that can lead to more trouble than expected. Exploration might mean i...

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Characters

Meet the Cast

Lucy Pevensie
Lucy is the youngest of the four children in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but in many ways she is the most important. It's no accident that Lucy is the first one to find her way into the...

Edmund Pevensie
Edmund, younger brother to Peter and Susan and older brother to Lucy, starts out as a real jerk. In the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund talks back to Susan, defies Peter...

Peter Pevensie
Peter is the oldest of the four children who travel to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. As the oldest, he is the natural leader, notable for his bravery and good judgment. Peter h...

Susan Pevensie
As the oldest girl among the four children in Narnia, Susan often takes on a motherly role. For example, it is Susan who makes the practical suggestion that the children put on the fur coats from...

Aslan
Aslan is the great lion who rules Narnia. He is described as the King of Narnia, the King of Beasts, the Lord of the Wood, and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Aslan is the embodiment...

The White Witch

The White Witch is an evil half-giant, half-genie who has taken control of the land of Narnia as a usurper. Using her magic, she creates an endless winter in Narnia, but prevents Christmas from co...

Mr. Tumnus
Mr. Tumnus is a Faun a creature that is human from the waist up and a goat from the waist down. As a faun, Mr. Tumnus is a peaceful woodland dweller, not a crazed sex maniac like a satyr (the...

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are a pair of talking animals who meet and care for Peter, Susan, and Lucy (and Edmund, to the best of their ability). They are particularly notable for their virtue and domest...

Giant Rumblebuffin
Giant Rumblebuffin was turned into a statue by the White Witch when he tried to crush her. Aslan magically brings him to life by breathing on his feet; the power of Aslan's breath carries up along...

Father Christmas
One of the points that gets repeated about the White Witch's power is that she has made it always winter in Narnia, but never Christmas. The appearance of Father Christmas (or, as Americans would...

Fenris Ulf
Fenris Ulf is a vicious, talking wolf who acts as the Chief of the Secret Police under the White Witch. Fenris has few characteristics other than brutality and bloodthirstiness. He is responsible...

The Dwarf
The Dwarf, who is never given a name in the book, is one of the few servants of the White Witch who is "onstage" a lot in the course of the novel. The Dwarf drives the Witch's sledge and carries o...

The Professor
The Professor is a kind old man who owns a large house in the country, to which Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent when they are evacuated from London. The Professor is extremely logical and...

Mrs. Macready
Mrs. Macready is the Professor's housekeeper. She dislikes children and insists that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy stay out of her way, especially when she is showing sightseers the features of t...

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Analysis

Literary Devices in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

There's lots of magic in Narnia, but there are two bits of magic that are particularly important for the plot: the Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time and the Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time...

Setting
Most of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe takes place in the fantastic land of Narnia, which Lucy and her siblings reach through a magical wardrobe. Narnia is everything we've come to expect f...

Narrator Point of View

Usually, third-person omniscient narration is pretty straightforward. Our storyteller has a bird's-eye view of everything that's happening in the story and can dive down into any character's thoug...

Genre
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is recognized around the world as classic children's literature. C.S. Lewis wrote it for a child audience and dedicated it to his goddaughter, Lucy Barfield....

Tone
One of the things that has made The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe such a successful book is C.S. Lewis's ability to balance his didactic message about the Christian faith with a lighthearted to...

Writing Style
In general, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is written in simple, plain language that many child readers can understand. (It makes a great "early chapter book" for developing readers.) Yet...

What's Up With the Title?

As titles go, this one follows the same formula as that classic Western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. We've got the good the Lion, Aslan, who stands for truth, beauty, compassion, and ever...

What's Up With the Ending?

There are really two parts to the ending of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The first is the unsurprising one: Good triumphs over Evil and everything works out for the best. Although we f...

Tough-o-Meter
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a pretty straightforward book to read. The prose itself is relatively easy, with short sentences and simple vocabulary, although there might be a few unusu...

Plot Analysis
Lucy discovers a gateway through the wardrobe to the magical world of Narnia.This is where it all begins: Lucy's curiosity leads her to the amazing discovery that an old wardrobe, in a spare room i...

Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis

Lucy finds a way into the magical world of Narnia through the wardrobe.The "fall" into the other world happens in stages in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. First Lucy finds her way through...

Three-Act Plot Analysis

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy arrive in Narnia, discover that their friend Mr. Tumnus has been arrested, and decide that they must rescue him. Edmund betrays his brother and sisters to the evil W...

Trivia

C.S. Lewis dedicated The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to his goddaughter, Lucy Barfield, and used her name for one of the main characters (source).C.S. Lewis wrote in his short essay "It All B...

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

C. S. Lewis
Plot Overview

Character List
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are four siblings sent to live in the country with the eccentric Professor Kirke during World War II. The children explore the house on a rainy day and Lucy, the youngest, finds an enormous wardrobe. Lucy steps inside and finds herself in a strange, snowy wood. Lucy encounters the Faun Tumnus, who is surprised to meet a human girl. Tumnus tells Lucy that she has entered Narnia, a different world. Tumnus invites Lucy to tea, and she accepts. Lucy and Tumnus have a wonderful tea, but the faun bursts into tears and confesses that he is a servant of the evil White Witch. The Witch has enchanted Narnia so that it is always winter and never Christmas. Tumnus explains that he has been enlisted to capture human beings. Lucy implores Tumnus to release her, and he agrees. Lucy exits Narnia and eagerly tells her siblings about her adventure in the wardrobe. They do not believe her, however. Lucy's siblings insist that Lucy was only gone for seconds and not for hours as she claims. When the Pevensie children look in the back of the wardrobe they see that it is an ordinary piece of furniture. Edmund teases Lucy mercilessly about her imaginary country until one day when he sees her vanishing into the wardrobe. Edmund follows Lucy and finds himself in Narnia as well. He does not see Lucy, and instead meets the White Witch that Tumnus told Lucy about. The Witch Witch introduces herself to Edmund as the Queen of Narnia. The Witch feeds Edmund enchanted Turkish Delight, which gives Edmund an insatiable desire for the dessert. The Witch uses Edmund's greed and gluttony to convince Edmund to bring back his siblings to meet her. On the way back to the lamppost, the border between Narnia and our world, Edmund meets Lucy. Lucy tells Edmund about the White Witch. Edmund denies any connection between the Witch and the Queen. All Edmund can think about is his desire for the Turkish Delight. Lucy

and Edmund return to Peter and Susan, back in their own world. Lucy relies on Edmund to support her story about Narnia, but Edmund spitefully tells Peter and Susan that it is a silly story. Peter and Susan are worried that Lucy is insane so they talk to Professor Kirke. The Professor shocks Peter and Susan by arguing that Lucy is telling the truth. One day the children hide in the wardrobe to avoid the housekeeper and some houseguests. Suddenly all four Pevensie children find themselves in Narnia. Lucy leads them to Tumnus's home, but a note informs them that Tumnus has been arrested on charges of treason. Lucy realized that this means the Witch knows that Tumnus spared Lucy's life, and that the Witch has captured Tumnus. Lucy implores her siblings to help her rescue Tumnus from the Witch. Guided by a friendly robin, the children wander into the woods, and meet Mr. Beaver. Mr. Beaver brings them back to his home, where he explains that the children cannot do anything to save Tumnus. The only thing the children can do is join Mr. Beaver on a journey to see Aslan a lion. Aslan appears to be a king or god figure in Narnia. The children are all pleasantly enchanted by the name Aslan, except for Edmund, who is horrified by the sound of it. Mr. Beaver, Peter, Susan, and Lucy plot to meet Aslan at the Stone Table the following day, but they soon notice that Edmund has disappeared. Meanwhile, Edmund searches for the White Witch to warn her of Aslan's arrival and of the Beavers' plan. The Witch is enraged to hear that Aslan is in Narnia and immediately begins plotting to kill the children. The Witch wants to avoid an ancient prophecy that says that four humans will someday reign over Narnia and overthrow her evil regime. The children and the Beavers, meanwhile, rush to reach the Stone Table before the Witch. As they travel, wonderful seasonal changes occur. First they meet Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, who explains that the Witch's spell of "always winter and never Christmas" has ended. The enchanted winter snow melts and the children see signs of spring. Simultaneously, the Witch drags Edmund toward the Stone Table and treats him very poorly. Once spring arrives, the Witch cannot use her sledge anymore, so she cannot reach the Stone Table before the children. When the other three Pevensies meet Aslan, they are awed by him, but they quickly grow more comfortable in his presence. They love him immediately, despite their fear. Aslan promises to do all that he can to save Edmund. He takes Peter aside to show him the castle where he will be king. As they are talking, they hear Susan blowing the magic horn that Father Christmas gave her to her, signaling that she is in danger. Aslan sends Peter to help her. Arriving on the scene, Peter sees a wolf attacking Susan, and stabs it to death with the sword given him by Father Christmas. Aslan sees another wolf vanishing into a thicket, and sends his followers to trail it, hoping it will lead them to the Witch. The Witch is preparing to kill Edmund as the rescue party arrives. Aslan and his followers rescue Edmund, but are unable to find the Witch, who disguises herself as part of the landscape. Edmund is happy to see his siblings, as he has accepted that the Witch is evil. The next day, the Witch and Aslan speak and the Witch demands Edmund's life because she says that Edmund is a traitor. The Witch says that according to the Deep Magic of Narnia, a traitor life's is forfeit to the Witch. Aslan does not deny this, and he secretly reaches a compromise with her. The Witch appears very pleased, while Aslan seems pensive and depressed.

The following night, Susan and Lucy observe Aslan grow increasingly gloomy and sad. The sisters are unable to sleep, and they notice that Aslan has disappeared. Susan and Lucy leave the pavilion to search for Aslan. When they find Aslan, he tells them they can stay until he tells them they must leave. Together, Aslan, Susan, and Lucy walk to the Stone Table, where Aslan tells them to leave. Susan and Lucy hide behind some bushes and watch the Witch and a horde of her followers torment, humiliate, and finally kill Aslan. The Witch explains that Aslan sacrificed his life for Edmund. Susan and Lucy stay with Aslan's dead body all night. In the morning, they hear a great cracking noise, and are astounded to see the Stone Table broken. Aslan has disappeared. Suddenly Susan and Lucy hear Aslan's voice from behind him. Aslan has risen from the dead. Aslan carries the girls to the Witch's castle, where they free all the prisoners who have been turned to stone. Aslan, Susan, and Lucy charge join the battle between Peter's army and the Witch's troops. Peter and his troops are exhausted. Fortunately, Aslan swiftly kills the Witch and Peter's army then defeats the Witch's followers. Aslan knights Edmund, who has atoned for his sin of siding with the Witch. The children ascend to the thrones at Cair Paravel, the castle in Narnia. Aslan subsequently disappears. The children eventually become adults and reign over Narnia for many years. One day, in a hunt for a magical white stag, they arrive at the lamppost that had marked the border between Narnia and our world. The Pevensies tumble back out of the wardrobe to our world. No time has passed, and they return to Professor Kirke's house as children. The foursome tells Professor Kirke about their adventure, and the Professor assures them that they will return to Narnia again some day.