Theological Eating in the Fiction of CS Lewis
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2012 Lower Sacraments: Theological Eating in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis Gregory Philip Hartley University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Scholar Commons Citation Hartley, Gregory Philip, "Lower Sacraments: Theological Eating in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4329 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Lower Sacraments: Theological Eating in the Fiction of C. S. Lewis by Gregory P. Hartley A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Nicole Discenza, Ph.D. Annette Cozzi, Ph.D. Sara M. Deats, Ph.D. Thomas Howard, Ph.D. Date of Approval: November 5, 2012 Keywords: Christianity and Literature, Communication and the Arts, Constructivism, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Eucharist, Food Studies, Hamartiology, Language and Linguistics Copyright © 2012, Gregory P. Hartley DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my amazing wife, Shannon. For nearly ten years, this annoying little goblin haunted our lives. You may not feel like you were patient with it, but you were. Now that it has been fought, defeated, and tamed, it can now hopefully be made to serve. Let‘s name it Dobby. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my grateful appreciation to the following individuals and institutions without whom no dissertation or degree of any sort would have been attainable. To Dr. Nicole Discenza, your years of untiring dedication, page after page of kind encouragement, and your gentle—but very persistent—commitment to making this the highest quality project possible pushed me far beyond what I thought were the boundaries of my own capabilities. You have exemplified servant-minded leadership to the uttermost farthing. Þæt wæs gōd cyning! To Dr. Annette Cozzi, Dr. Sara M. Deats, and Dr. Thomas Howard, for your years of patient waiting capped with two months of maniacal labor. To Lee Davidson, for always knowing the answer to every question ever asked, and for your special concern during the hellish week of comps. To Dr. Tony Buchanan, for pushing me to start. To Florida Christian College, the founders of the feast, the school‘s superlative generosity has been as overwhelming as its astonishing commitment to faculty development. I have the best job in the world! To my cheerleading squad: David Peters, Robert Ritchie, Twila Sias, Brian Smith, and Shane Wood. How tired you must be of hearing me grumble! How tirelessly you listened and supported! To Linda Stark, for amnesty from overdue fees and for the real estate. You can have it all back now! And to Marla Black, for your industrious retrieval of nearly endless ILLs. You, my friend, are a force of nature. i TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ......................................................................................................................v Abstract .............................................................................................................................. vi Preface: Primary Sources .....................................................................................................1 Chapter One – Introduction .................................................................................................2 Section 1 – Cultural Influences ................................................................................5 Biblical Influences .......................................................................................5 Classical and Medieval Influences .............................................................10 British Influences .......................................................................................14 Section 2 – Critical Methods..................................................................................22 Theological Criticism.................................................................................22 Freudian Criticism .....................................................................................26 Structuralist Criticism ................................................................................33 Section 3 – Thematic Chapters ..............................................................................45 Chapter Two – The More Thus We Share: Ecclesiological Meals in C. S. Lewis‘s Fiction ....................................................................................................................52 Culinary Language Of Fellowship .........................................................................54 Hospitality Meals: Growing the Church ................................................................57 Hospitality Meals and the Old Testament Table Bond ..............................59 Hospitality Meals as Ideas .........................................................................62 Hospitality Meals as Initiation ...................................................................66 Fellowship Meals: Lewis‘s Personal Ecclesiology ................................................76 Eating with the Inklings .............................................................................78 The Fellowship Meal as Ritual ..................................................................80 The Fellowship Meal and Shared Beliefs ..................................................83 The Fellowship Meal and Friendship ........................................................85 The Fellowship Meal and the Evangelium ................................................87 Conclusion – A Culinary Model of Ecclesiology ..................................................91 Chapter Three – Like the King in Curdie: Sacramental Meals in C. S. Lewis‘s Fiction ....................................................................................................................98 Culinary Language of the Eucharist ....................................................................102 ii Lewis‘s Own Doctrine .........................................................................................108 Real Presence of Christ ............................................................................109 Established by Christ ...............................................................................111 Necessity of Repetition ............................................................................112 Communion as Worship ..........................................................................114 Efficacy of the Rite ..................................................................................116 Who May Partake ....................................................................................119 Who May Administer ..............................................................................121 Priestly Communions ...........................................................................................122 Conclusion – Lewis‘s Curdie Meals: Mediated Sacraments ...............................129 Chapter Four – Turkish Delight, Please: Food and Sin in Lewis‘s Fiction .....................139 Culinary Language of Sin ....................................................................................140 Turkish Delight: the Model ..................................................................................144 Tempted by Turkish Delight ....................................................................147 Edmund‘s Addiction ................................................................................148 Pleasurable Meal Ruined .........................................................................149 Edmund‘s Alienation ...............................................................................149 Stage One – Temptations Successful (and Unsuccessful) ...................................151 Forbidden Fruit as a Symbol of Divine Power ........................................151 Satan: Lewis‘s Antagonists as Edenic Tempters .....................................154 Eve: The Satan-Apple-Eve Paradigm ......................................................156 Stage Two – Pleasure in Excess: Gluttony and Intemperance .............................159 Gluttony of Delicacy: Pickiness ...............................................................161 Gluttony of Excess: Intemperance ...........................................................165 Stage Three – Anti-pleasure: Getting to Like Bad Eggs......................................171 Anti-pleasure Protagonists .......................................................................174 Anti-pleasure Antagonists ........................................................................178 Stage Four – Anti-relationship: Alienation and the Mindset of Hell ...................179 Incompatible Moral States .......................................................................181