The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The oldest of the four siblings, Peter Pevensie shows leadership qualities from the start of the novel, often settling disputes between his brother and sisters. When Edmund is tormenting Lucy for believing in Narnia, Peter chastises his brother and “[sees] to it that Edmund stopped jeering” at Lucy (58). Peter exhibits a natural affinity for regal status symbols and is particularly excited at the prospect of spending time in the countryside, where “there might be eagles. There might be stags. There’ll be hawks” (11). Peter is the most mature of the children and is inclined to make judgments based on evidence; he doesn’t immediately discount Lucy’s tale of Narnia but tries to gather proof of its existence, which wisely leads him to seek the Professor’s counsel. Peter also readily apologizes to Lucy when he realizes Narnia is real and delegates leadership to her, demonstrating humility—another important quality for both kingship and Christian life. Lewis employs a bildungsroman structure as Peter gradually grows into leadership as the narrative progresses. When the children finally meet Aslan, they are all nervous, but it is Peter who takes the lead and introduces himself.

The high king of Narnia also needs to be courageous, and when Peter first hears Aslan’s name, he feels “brave and adventurous” (77). However, Aslan seeks to test Peter’s courage, sending the boy to rescue Susan when Maugrim attacks her. Lewis writes that “Peter did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt he was going to be sick” (143). Despite his fear, Peter’s sense of duty and love propel him into action. Later, Peter feels “uncomfortable […] at the idea of fighting the battle on his own” (159). Again, although Peter worries about leading an army against the Witch’s forces alone, he makes a valiant effort.

Despite his own accomplishments, Peter humbly praises Edmund as the reason they were able to hold off the Witch until Aslan arrived. Following the battle, Lucy notes how much Peter has grown up: “His face was so pale and stern, and he seemed so much older” (192). The changes in Peter’s physical appearance parallel his mental and emotional development over the novel. After years ruling over Narnia, Peter becomes renowned as “a great warrior” and is known as “Peter the Magnificent” (198).

A caring and motherly character, Susan Pevensie is the second oldest of the siblings. Although she is not naturally as adventurous and courageous as Lucy or Peter, Susan clearly loves her sister and brothers dearly. At the start of the novel, Edmund accuses Susan of “trying to talk like Mother” and is annoyed that Susan is trying to act older than she is (10). Susan’s adult practicality is useful at times; when the foursome enters Narnia, she suggests that they wear the fur coats that they found in the wardrobe to keep warm. However, at other points, Susan’s preoccupation with practicalities seems small-minded. Susan does not take an immediate liking to Narnia and worries about the cold and their lack of food. Although Lucy convinces her siblings to help rescue Mr. Tumnus and Susan acknowledges it is the right thing to do, she still maintains, “I don’t want to go a step further and I wish we’d never come” (68). Susan’s instinct is to seek safety and comfort, although arguably as much for her siblings as herself.

Susan’s proclivity for negative thinking remains during her time in Narnia. Although Susan is close to Lucy, she doubts Aslan more than her sister. When Aslan is distant after meeting the Witch, Susan fears “he could be stealing away and leaving [them]” (160). When Susan sees Aslan risen from the dead, she thinks he is a ghost at first: “‘You’re not—not a—?’ asks Susan in a shaky voice. She couldn’t bring herself to say the word ghost” (175). Susan’s character is not as developed as either Lucy or Edmund, and she does not undergo the same progression as her siblings. Even when all four children are grown queens and kings of Narnia, Susan’s tendency to avoid danger and discomfort persists. At the end of the novel, when the siblings reencounter the lamppost, they experience a sense of dread. Susan wants to return to their palace, which has become a safe and familiar space, and she counsels her siblings to “lightly return to our horses and follow this White Stage no further” (201). However, as usual, the others convince Susan to see the adventure to its end.

First introduced as a highly unlikeable character, Edmund Pevensie, the second youngest sibling, undergoes extensive development as the story unfolds. At the beginning of the novel, Lewis makes it clear how horrible Edmund can be. Resenting the authority of his two older siblings, Susan and Peter, Edmund vents his frustration on Lucy and takes great delight in tormenting her after she relays her first trip to Narnia: “Edmund could be spiteful, and on this occasion he was spiteful. He sneered and jeered at Lucy and kept on asking her if she’d found any other new countries in other cupboards all over the house” (32). When Edmund visits Narnia himself but can’t admit he was wrong about its existence, he is crueler still, lying to his siblings that he and Lucy had only been playing make-believe and “becoming a nastier person every minute” (52). Edmund secretly craves the approval of Peter, but his elder brother is only annoyed that he has upset their sister, telling him: “You didn’t think anything at all […] it’s just spite. You’ve always liked being beastly to anyone smaller than yourself; we’ve seen that at school before now” (53). The reference to school gives the reader a glimpse into the children’s lives outside the events of the novel and highlights that Edmund’s bullying is deeply ingrained, which makes it a greater achievement when Edmund manages to change his behavior.

However, Edmund’s progress is slow. Realizing that his brother has lied about being in Narnia before, Peter furiously labels him a “poisonous little beast[]” (65). Peter’s reaction drives a further wedge between Edmund and the rest of his siblings. Edmund is driven to betray his siblings because he falls victim to gluttony. The enchanted Turkish delight that the White Witch feeds Edmund does not negate his free will or prevent him from distinguishing good and evil. Instead, Edmund’s greed makes anything else seem meaningless in comparison to his desire for the magical sweets. The event that shocks Edmund out of his “sinfulness” is the first instance of depicted violence in the novel—when the Witch turns the little party of forest animals into stone. Gaining this sudden insight into the Witch’s true nature, Edmund is horrified and feels real compassion for the petrified animals. This ability to feel compassion means that he is not truly lost to the Witch’s power.

When Aslan’s supporters rescue Edmund, the lion speaks to the boy alone. Lewis does not reveal the content of their conversation, endowing whatever passes between the two with a magic of its own. When Edmund emerges, the Witch’s spell over the boy has truly been broken. Edmund humbly apologizes to his siblings and then fully redeems himself by destroying the Witch’s wand in battle. Peter, once his brother’s biggest critic, praises Edmund’s bravery and cleverness in realizing the necessity of destroying the wand: “It was all Edmund’s doing […] We’d have been beaten if it hadn’t been for him” (192). Edmund’s experiences and the lessons he has learned inform his judgment during his reign in Narnia, and he comes to be known as “a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in council and judgement” (198). In the end, Edmund is known in Narnia as King Edmund the Just, and his character arc—specifically his need for redemption— makes him the closest thing in the novel to a stand-in for humanity in its fallen state.

The White Witch, whose real name is Jadis, is the novel’s main antagonist. The Witch is the cruel and illegitimate Queen of Narnia, who has cast the realm into a perpetual state of snow and ice, where it is “always winter and never Christmas” (25). Narnia’s climate is an extension of the Witch’s emotional coldness—she is unable to feel love, compassion, or true happiness. The Witch’s physical appearance also mirrors that of the icy landscape: “Her face was white—not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar, except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects, but proud and cold and stern” (37). Apart from being exceptionally tall, the Witch looks human and is described as beautiful. However, her appearance, like her initial charming behavior toward Edmund, is only part of her wider deceit. The Witch’s power lies in depriving others; she prevents Narnia from experiencing spring or Christmas, she promises Edmund Turkish delight but keeps it from him, and she relies on depriving Narnian creatures of happiness and keeping them in fear in order to retain control of the realm.

The Witch fears the siblings because of the prophecy that foretells her life and reign will end when four humans sit on the four thrones at Cair Paravel. She will go to any lengths to prevent this from happening and takes sadistic delight in humiliating and sacrificing Aslan, her face “working and twitching with passion” (166). However, she is ultimately no match for Aslan and her overwhelming desire for power makes her oblivious to the deeper magic that the lion invokes, which holds the power to defeat death itself. It is the Witch’s inability to feel any human emotion that prevents her from accessing the deeper magic, leading to her eventual demise.

Aslan is the great lion and the rightful King of Narnia, who returns after many years of absence to rid the land of the wicked White Witch. Why Aslan has been away so long is never revealed, although Mr. Beaver later tells the children that he has other countries to care for. Mr. Beaver also tells the siblings that Aslan is “the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea” (89), drawing a religious parallel to God the Father and God the Son in Christian belief.

Aslan can also be universally read as a force of good that triumphs over the evil that the Witch represents. Aslan is the foil of the White Witch: Whereas the Witch has kept Narnia suspended in winter, Aslan’s arrival brings spring. The two characters’ physical appearances also directly contrast. While the Witch exhibits deathly pallor, Aslan has a “golden mane and […] great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes” (137). Aslan’s presence and power make it difficult for the children to look at him at first; the lion’s golden coloring is so intense that it is like the siblings are trying to look at the bright light of the sun. Unlike the Witch’s superficial beauty, however, Aslan’s dazzling appearance reflects a deeper power. When the Witch’s followers cruelly shave Aslan, Lucy thinks, “[T]he shorn face of Aslan looked to her braver, and more beautiful, and more patient than ever” (165).

Aslan’s love for Narnia and the children is infinite, including Edmund despite his betrayal. Aslan goes to great lengths to save Edmund, sending his followers to rescue the boy and then counseling him confidentially. Finally, Aslan sacrifices himself in order to save Edmund, undergoing great suffering in the process. The death of Aslan—preceded by his mental turmoil and physical humiliation and followed by his glorious resurrection announced by the deafening crack of the Stone Table splitting in two—has clear biblical overtones. At times, Aslan seems to feature more as a functional force of good than as a fully developed character, but Lewis does include tender scenes. For example, as Lucy and Susan accompany Aslan to his death, the lion says how he lonely he is, and “his tail and his head hung low and he walked slowly as if he were very, very tired” (161). In making the ultimate, selfless sacrifice, Aslan returns to life by the deeper magic and continues his mission to rid Narnia of evil.

The Professor is an old man who kindly takes in the siblings when they are evacuated during World War II. Despite the presence of his housekeeper and servants, the Professor strikes a lonely figure, living in a huge and peculiar house in the countryside. Lewis describes him as “a very old man with shaggy white hair which grew over most of his face as well as on his head, and [the children] liked him almost at once” (9). The children’s instinctive liking for the Professor foreshadows the helpful support he will be later. The old man also seems very fond of the children and is happy to listen to Susan’s and Peter’s worries about Lucy and to counsel the siblings on their return from Narnia.

The Professor seems exceedingly wise and knowledgeable when it comes to matters of Narnia and judgments of character. For example, the Professor encourages Susan and Peter to believe Lucy about Narnia: “Unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth” (56). The old man seems to know more about Narnia than he explicitly states. When the children return from their adventure, he instantly believes their tale of the magical land and tells them, “Of course you’ll get back to Narnia again someday. Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don’t go trying to use the same route twice” (203). The Professor’s ready belief and the confidence with which he reassures the siblings suggest that he has had his own experience of Narnia—something that the later books confirm.

Mrs. Macready is the Professor’s housekeeper. The Professor’s strange, old house is famous for all the curiosities it contains, and visitors often call to see it. Mrs. Macready is in charge of showing visitors around, but she “[is] not fond of children, and [does] not like to be interrupted when she [is] telling visitors all the things she [knows]” (59). Mrs. Macready prefers the children to stay out of her way; although she is a minor character, she is a feature of Lewis’s critique of adult society, which holds the traditional belief that children should be seen and not heard and is generally dismissive of “childish” things—including the imaginative realm of Narnia. Mrs. Macready’s attitude contrasts with the accepting character of the Professor and the fun and adventure of Narnia, where the human children enjoy equal status to the country’s adult inhabitants.

Tumnus (or Mr. Tumnus, as Lucy refers to him) is a faun that Lucy meets when she first enters Narnia: “From the waist upwards he was like a man, but his legs were shaped like a goat’s (the hair on them was glossy black) and instead of feet he had goat’s hooves. He also had a tail” (16). In fear of the White Witch, Mr. Tumnus originally plans to lure Lucy back to his cave and capture her, as the Witch instructed him. However, after getting to know Lucy, the faun can’t bear to hand her over to Narnia’s wicked ruler. He shows courage in defying the Witch, who later discovers the faun’s treachery and turns him to stone. Mr. Tumnus is therefore another example of self-sacrifice.

Toward the end of the novel, Aslan rescues Mr. Tumnus along with the other petrified creatures, restoring them to life with his breath. The faun remains a long-time friend of the siblings and at the end of the book, it is he who alerts them to the sighting of the White Stag, serving as a bookend to the children’s time in Narnia.

The Beavers are anthropomorphic forest animals who are friends of Mr. Tumnus and help the children by taking them in, feeding them, and leading them to Aslan at their own risk. The beavers are fiercely loyal to Aslan and well versed in the old prophecies that tell of the Witch’s downfall. The Beavers’ dam is warm and homey, and they live a simple virtuous life in domestic harmony, embodying the archetypal good inhabitants of Narnia.

The dwarf is a servant of the White Witch, who accompanies his mistress in many of the novel’s scenes. The dwarf drives the Witch’s sledge and seems entirely malicious; he especially delights in the prospect of harming Edmund. However, at times the dwarf bickers with the Witch—for example, telling her that her power is weakening when he sees the snow starting to melt. In one instance, the Witch demonstrates that she values the dwarf, saving him from capture by disguising him as a tree stump with her magic.

As the White Witch’s magic weakens, Father Christmas returns to Narnia after being kept out of the country for many years. When the children see Father Christmas, they recognize him immediately: “[O]n the sledge sat a person whom everyone knew the moment they set eyes on him. He was a huge man. in a bright red robe (bright as hollyberries) with a hood that had fur inside it and a great white beard” (117). The appearance of Father Christmas links the world of the reader, the fictional siblings’ human world, and the land of Narnia—he is an almost universally recognizable figure.

However, this is not exactly the same jolly old Saint Nick whom readers likely know. Although Father Christmas helps to alleviate some of the tension as the children race to meet Aslan, he also shows a more serious side. Rather than thinking him “funny and jolly” as they had imagined, the siblings find Father Christmas “so big, and so glad, and so real that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, but also solemn” (117). Just as Narnia first seemed whimsical and full of fun but then revealed its darker undercurrents, Father Christmas’s recognizable image is belied by an awareness of the sinister situation that they all find themselves in. The presents that Father Christmas gives to the children exemplify this; they are either weapons or tools designed to help in battle. The discovery of Father Christmas in the forest presents him as a spirit of the woods and aligns him with old Yuletide traditions rather than modern Christianity, making him a better fit for Narnia, with its Greek and Norse mythological creatures.

Maugrim is a wolf and the White Witch’s chief of secret police. Peter fights and kills Maugrim after the wolf attacks Susan, chasing her up a tree.

A wolf under the command of Maugrim. After Maugrim’s death, the wolf races back to the White Witch to confirm that Aslan has returned to Narnia. He advises the Witch to flee, but she sends him to gather any malevolent creatures that will support her fight against Aslan.