Marginal Christianity

Monika Hilder’s book The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narni a challenges the claim that Lewis presented a traditional, patriarchal view of women in The Chronicles as well as the assumption that a non-patriarchal view of women presents them with more masculine traits and capacities. Instead, she makes a persuasive case that the latter is faulty and that when read properly The Chronicles present a “radical theological feminism” that is genuinely liberating. This reflection is spurred by the wonderful film “Wonder Woman” released last weekend. It is the best superhero film I’ve ever seen. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not but a small step toward the far more profound “radical theological feminism” we find in Lewis’s stories. Monika Hilder claims that we tend to use the same paradigm to develop ideas of female equality that we want to reject. What do we think “successful” women are? In what does such “success” consist? Is it the Type A, charismatic, mag...

          We take a break from moving through the series to consider a regular criticism made of Lewis’ Narnian stories. He portrays the characters in stereotypical gender roles that reflect the patriarchal roots of Western culture. And they can cite a number of details from the stories in support of this charge.           But Monika Hilder's has recently offered an acute, perceptive, and, in my judgment, compelling, interpretation that counters this charge. Her book The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia she challenges the terms and assumptions of this criticism itself. Matthew and Joy Steem explain in their article in Christianity Today ( http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/june/finding-feminine-theology-in-c-s-lewiss-narnia.html ) from which the rest of this post comes. They write: “. . .by pointing to the disturbing assumptions underlying the tradit...