Till We Have Faces: Queen Elizabeth and Oraul

I am currently taking PH 261: CS Lewis as part of my Philosophy major. We read many of Lewis’s theological and philosophical works in this course (Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, The Abolition of Man, etc). But, by running to the front of the class (and perhaps shoving people whilst I did so), I was able to sign up to read one of Lewis’s works of fiction for a group project. Till We Have Faces is Lewis’s attempt to retell the mythological story of Psyche and Cupid, but from the point of view of one of Psyche’s “evil” sisters.

This sister, and the protagonist and narrator of the novel, Lewis names Oraul. She, as opposed to Psyche, is incredibly ugly. Because of her appearance, she is treated rather poorly, despite her love for others. In order to combat her unfortunate appearance, Oraul wears a veil; the novel states, after her death, that no one saw Oraul’s face for an eighty-year period. She eventually becomes queen, and the way that Lewis describes her in the novel is suspiciously similar to Queen Elizabeth I.

Oraul was a virgin queen who, because of her veil, was rumored to be the most beautiful woman in all of Glome (her dominion). She assumes the role of queen without a husband, and makes significant economic and political progress throughout her rule. Does this sound familiar yet? Well, Oraul also was able to wield a sword and, because of this, she was able to win renown with her people and respect within the military of both her country and others. Oraul even kills two men in battle in the novel. Does this military prowess remind anyone else of Queen Elizabeth’s speech to the soldiers after the defeat of the Spanish Armada? She is called, “Queen! Warrior! My best scholar,” (Lewis, 220) by Bardia, one of her advisors. She is more than just a woman ruler, she is a capable, kick-ass woman ruler.

 It might be more difficult for us Americans to pick out this similarity between Oraul and Queen Elizabeth because, unless like we have done in this class, no one has any familiarity with Elizabeth or her nature as a ruler. But, perhaps Lewis, as an Englishman, purposefully included this correlation to further emphasize the greatness of Oraul’s rule.