Persona and Paradox: Issues of Identity for C.S. Lewis, His Friends and Associates

Although certain aspects of C. S. Lewis' work have been studied in great detail, others have been comparatively neglected. In this collection of articles, we look at Lewis' life and work, and those of his friends and associates, from many different angles, but all connected with the concept of identity. Questions of identity are essential to the understanding of any writer. The ways authors perceive themselves and who they are, the communities they belong to by birth or choice, inevitably influence their work. The way they present other people, real or fictional, are also be rooted in their own conception of identity. In this volume, scholars from several countries examine gender and family roles, national, regional, racial and professional identities, membership of a particular church, ideological attachments and personal descriptions, either with regard to Lewis and those who knew him and influenced him or in a study of their writings. Authors studied here include J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, Charles Williams, George MacDonald and T.S. Eliot.