Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

The Ancient Greek Myths have been retold again and again, but never quite in a way quite like Till We Have Faces. In C.S. Lewis’ last novel, Till We Have Faces, he managed to bare the human soul in a way that his more apologetic works, like the Great Divorce could not. The story manages to work through issues of family, jealousy, gender, faith, selfish/selfless love and ultimate purpose.

TWHF is the first-hand story of the ugly princess Orual, her love for her beautiful sister Psyche, and her complaint against the gods. Orual lives in Glome, a pre-Christian, barbaric kingdom that is distantly influenced by Greek culture. The people of her kingdom worship local variations of the Greek gods. Their main goddess is Ungit, elsewhere known as Aphrodite. Surprisingly, however, her statue is not the beauty of the Greeks, but a black shapeless rock splattered with the blood of sacrifices.

Orual’s father, the King, is a violent and unlovable man who is constantly hoping for a male heir. He gets Orual and Redival with his first wife, and Psyche from his second. Psyche is incredibly beautiful and Orual, who is repulsively ugly, loves Psyche possessively after her mother’s death. Orual and Psyche find a father figure and a friend in the form of their tutor, a foreign slave known as the Fox.

Here Lewis begins to retell the classic story of Psyche and Cupid. The lowly people of Glome start to worship Psyche as a goddess because of her beauty and charm; Aphrodite/Ungit afflicts the land with a curse in jealous anger. Out of fear and desperation, the people turn on Psyche and send her as a sacrifice to be destroyed by the son of Ungit, the god of the Grey Mountain (otherwise known as Cupid). Upon seeing Psyche, the god of the Grey Mountain falls in love with her and takes her as his wife to live with him. However, because Psyche is a mortal, she is not permitted to see her husband’s face and is not aware of his identity.

Orual’s true problems commence when she goes to bury the bones of a sister she believes long dead. Orual is shocked when she finds Psyche not dead, but alive and happy. Psyche tells Orual of her new life with her new husband, but Orual is unconvinced. She cannot see the palace and the fine robes that Psyche talks about. Thus Orual’s problems begin.

Lewis’ true skill comes through in his ability to show us a very real woman. Orual is writing this account as a formal account against the gods yet it gives us a clear picture of her heart and mind. Although the surface theology is pagan, Lewis masterfully weaves in many worldviews, including Greek rationalism and rumors of an intimate beautiful relationship with the divine.

The scene of greatest tension and the title even allude to a phrase in 1 Corinthians 13:12a, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” So, as you can see, Lewis lures the reader to the God of Love without in-your-face symbolism. The real jewel of Till We Have Faces is the lessons the reader learns along the way. The reader is forced to figure out on his own when Orual is deceiving herself and when she perceives her actions right, when they really are wrong.

This book definitely requires a second read, and anyone will understand that after the first. All in all, I think Lewis gave an accurate assessment when he claimed this as his best work. I certainly recommend this book to all readers!