| Those who write on the fiction of C. S. Lewis frequently comment on the differences between his final novel, Till We Have Faces, and the rest of his work. These differences seem to be in the direction of more Modernistic techniques and concerns. Therefore, a description of Modernism was developed, isolating key features which this novel seemed to share with Modern novels--the use of myth, the attention to consciousness, and self-reflection in the work of art--and Modern critical theory was applied to analyze these features in Till We Have Faces. Jungian analysis was applied to elucidate the use of myth, Bakhtin's dialogism was applied to elucidate levels and development of consciousness, and theories of metafiction were used to elucidate self-reflection. The study suggests that these elements--not present to the same extent in Lewis's other fiction--may be the reason readers find it a difficult work, and may be partly a result of the collaboration of Lewis's wife, Helen Joy Davidman. The study concludes that Lewis himself may be seen as embodying the same sort of inherent contradiction that Modernist fiction does. |
