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Till We Have Faces Summary

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Till We Have Faces Summary
Till We Have Faces
A Myth Retold

C.S. Lewis's book Till We Have Faces is about the myth of Psyche and Cupid. However, in the original tale Psyche is a very naive girl who is greatly influenced by her two wicked older sisters. In this rendition of the tale, Psyche's sisters are not evil and Psyche is not a mindless fool as she has been portrayed in earlier tales.
Setting
The story takes place in the kingdom of Glome. Glome's social perspective is not surprisingly, a male dominant society and values woman as only child bearers, keepers of the homestead, or as a marriage treaty with neighboring kingdoms to attract new power and influence to the kingdom. The people of Glome are deeply religious to the Goddess Ungit, and offer human sacrifices …show more content…
Orual, Redival, and Psyche are the princesses of Glome. Orual and Redival are products of the King's first marriage and when the King marries again, he hopes for a son. The Queen dies in childbirth with a baby girl, Psyche. The King hires a tutor, a Greek man called The Fox, and the Fox's duties are to teach the girls until the King has a son whom he will then teach logic and philosophy. Redival is a vain and selfish girl and desires to acquire no knowledge and would rather spend her time in front of a mirror admiring her own beauty. The Fox, Orual, and Psyche are left together and the Fox teaches Orual philosophy and logic. When Psyche grows older she is very beautiful and some of the townspeople mistake her for a goddess, this strikes a cord of jealousy in Redival. About this time, the land of Glome is suffering a summer drought. Redival tells her father that the cause of the drought is because Psyche is being worshiped instead of the goddess Ungit and that Ungit is extremely displeased, thus the lack of rain. The Priest's of Ungit learn of Redival's theory and decide that Psyche must be given as a sacrifice to the goddess in hope that it might rain again. Orual is devastated when they take Psyche to the holy tree and leave
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