Friday, April 26, 2013

Evan Shively- Class Readings C.S Lewis


In this essay by C.S Lewis from his Space trilogy he describes the goddess sister of eros. The character who sees tis Goddess is not overtaken by flowers and popular descriptors of love. Instead it is something so beautiful that he seems to taunt her. The room becomes overwhelmed by burning fire. Everything the goddess touches lights up in flames. This depiction of desire reminds me of the movie "Like water for Chocolate", in which the girl becomes aflame with sexual desire. Flames although not the first thing people think of, is a very potent metaphor for desire. The second part of the essay that stood out to me was the quote at the end; 

"On the contrary," said Ransom, "decent, in the old sense, decens, fitting, is just what it is. Venus herself is over St. Anne's"
"She comes more near the Earth than she was wont," quoted Dimble, "to make men mad."

This great desire represented by the goddess is one present on earth in an imperfect. It is unable to be fully grasped but exist in small experiences. This is very Platonic in thought. The perfection exists in the abstract world but cannot be fully experienced on earth in the material. 

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