Hidden personality

In Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, literary historian Michael Ward makes the case that each of Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia novels represents a different medieval planet—Jupiter, Mars, Sol (our sun), Luna (our moon), Mercury, Venus and Saturn—which can all be seen by the naked eye. Each planet’s “personality” glosses the story’s mood, character and plot. To prove his point, Ward goes through most of Lewis’ oeuvre to show specific examples where Lewis has described and used the planets, then compares it to the Narnia books. Ward arrived at this conclusion while reading Lewis’ poem, “The Planets,” where Lewis described Jupiter’s “spirit”: “Winter passed / And guilt forgiven.” Ward realized a connection to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This will mostly be of interest to Narnia nuts, C.S. Lewis fans and medieval astronomy buffs, but it is an intriguing analysis.