The meaning of a silver chair?

W

WolfsBane

New member
So I'm reading "The Silver Chair" (again for like the millionth time in as many years or something) and it came to me, the books are full of allegory and hidden meanings...I was reading about the seven deadly sins and how possibly CSL interwove them into the books (interesting really), and it occurred to me.

The Green Witch used the silver chair to bind him in his moments of lucidity. So I was wondering...why a silver chair? Is there any significance to it being silver or even a chair, why didn't she bind him to a post in a room, or shackle him to a wall if he went at it so willingly, right?

And while we're there, why a green witch? Why underground? Well I mean...underground because it's the bad place maybe. Journeying up to the surface to "find the light" and things of that nature too maybe.

Thoughts?
 
I am *utterly hopeless* at finding these things, I'm more useless than badgers at archery, I'm not terribly familiar with Christianity in general, but I'll throw out a hundred words or so and hopefully something will be of use. (Wish me luck).

I dunno why a silver chair. I don't even know why a chair. I just always thought the whole thing was really interesting. Is it representative, perhaps, of how humankind so effectively ignores truth and enlightenment (aha! like in MN), and even in rare moments of insight we are fettered by restraints of our own and others' construction? That we must shatter said restraints to truly see the light and be free and enlightened?

(I really have no idea what I'm talking about; I bet you're hoping I'll come to a point eventually, apologies on that, not terribly likely. XP)

The underground, yes, with the light obscured is very important--because of course you can argue that it never existed when it's not directly visible.

And the green witch thing is really *interesting*, because in LWW wasn't green a positive color? Well, it wasn't red or gold, but it was up there. The color of life and spring and stuff. Interesting.

Am I any use at all? *laughs* I can't wait to see what the cleverer people say.
 
I doubt if you'll find a lot of hidden significance in any of these things. The underground angle was, it seems, simply a device to invade Narnia without them knowing it. As far as a silver chair, I think the only connection you're going to get there is that to the medieval mind, the noble metals (gold, silver, and to some degree copper) had significance because they did not easily corrupt. Furthermore, things "corresponded" one to another - e.g. gold was seen as the sun's metal, while silver would be the moon's - and those correspondences could be exploited. (This was one of the basic principles of alchemy, which skated very close to sorcery at times.) Remember the spell for removing warts in the Magician's Book in Dawn Treader? It involved washing one's hands in a silver basin by moonlight. The medievalist Lewis would have known full well that that was the sort of things spells were trying to do (not, of course, that he believed such things would work.)

Point being that the "lightness" or correspondence with light was somehow tied in to the nature of the Prince's enchantment. Remember, a major theme of the Witch's world was darkness - dark chambers, dark seas - even Rilian dressed in black. But for some reason, it couldn't be totally powerful, especially over Rilian. For an hour each day he returned to his right mind (and the first thing he lamented was being dragged down to darkness), but for the duration he was tied to the silver chair. I suspect Lewis' implication may have been either that somehow the silver either enhanced the return to sanity (and thus enhanced the binding when the spell returned), or that the chair somehow contained or restricted the "enlightening" of Rilian's mind. Remember that the first thing Rilian did when released was to destroy the chair, and the destruction caused a loathsome smell. Even though it was silver, it had been constructed by evil for evil.
 
Sorry, I'm late...

Well Dr. Cornelius, I don't know about Badgers and archery, (unless this was the Redwall universe, but I don't read those books) but your ideas were very interesting, all the same.

Dr. Cornelius said:
Is it representative, perhaps, of how humankind so effectively ignores truth and enlightenment (aha! like in MN), and even in rare moments of insight we are fettered by restraints of our own and others' construction? That we must shatter said restraints to truly see the light and be free and enlightened?
Click to expand...

Works for me. Except, Rilian had help escaping those bonds. That's where Puddleglum (I've never liked that name) and Eustace and Jill come in. So, you could argue that Mr. Lewis's view was that while we shackle ourselves we also need help...or maybe (since one of the signs was that the person would plead in Aslan's name) that it is through asking God for help that that aid would come, maybe? Just a thought...

Dr. Cornelius said:
The underground, yes, with the light obscured is very important--because of course you can argue that it never existed when it's not directly visible.
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Which was the witch's argument, when she was trying to enchant Rillian and the kids. So I can see that too. She was trying to fool them to get them to deny the existance of the overworld and Aslan...Like people trying to get you to question your faith or something.

Dr. Cornelius said:
And the green witch thing is really *interesting*, because in LWW wasn't green a positive color? Well, it wasn't red or gold, but it was up there. The color of life and spring and stuff. Interesting.
Click to expand...
The color really doesn't play a major role in the story, I don't think, well not hers anyways, it's just a name for her...but...hmm.

And just the same I thought your replies were clever of their own. :o

PrinceOfTheWest said:
As far as a silver chair, I think the only connection you're going to get there is that to the medieval mind, the noble metals (gold, silver, and to some degree copper) had significance because they did not easily corrupt.
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That's cool, I totally did not know that.

PrinceOfTheWest said:
Furthermore, things "corresponded" one to another - e.g. gold was seen as the sun's metal, while silver would be the moon's - and those correspondences could be exploited.
Click to expand...
This I knew. Which would explain something else, when they were talking about the Sun they were making a connection to Aslan, when the witch was trying to enchant them all (this after the chair was a wreck) the sun and the moon i.e.- life and death (maybe?)

PrinceOfTheWest said:
(This was one of the basic principles of alchemy, which skated very close to sorcery at times.)
Click to expand...
That I didn't know either.

PrinceOfTheWest said:
Remember the spell for removing warts in the Magician's Book in Dawn Treader? It involved washing one's hands in a silver basin by moonlight. The medievalist Lewis would have known full well that that was the sort of things spells were trying to do (not, of course, that he believed such things would work.)
Click to expand...
I remember, and yeah, that's pretty cool, I know about the association with the moon and silver, so I caught that in the Dawn Treader, but in the Silver Chair I don't think there's any mention of the moonlight and the witch so I didn't think to connect it to the Silver Chair...of course it's always night underground...I haven't finished it yet so...LOL bear with me if I go off in a wrong direction.

PrinceOfTheWest said:
Point being that the "lightness" or correspondence with light was somehow tied in to the nature of the Prince's enchantment. Remember, a major theme of the Witch's world was darkness - dark chambers, dark seas - even Rilian dressed in black. But for some reason, it couldn't be totally powerful, especially over Rilian. For an hour each day he returned to his right mind (and the first thing he lamented was being dragged down to darkness), but for the duration he was tied to the silver chair. I suspect Lewis' implication may have been either that somehow the silver either enhanced the return to sanity (and thus enhanced the binding when the spell returned), or that the chair somehow contained or restricted the "enlightening" of Rilian's mind.
Click to expand...
Now that was cool...and totally makes sense when you put it like that. Wow.

PrinceOfTheWest said:
Remember that the first thing Rilian did when released was to destroy the chair, and the destruction caused a loathsome smell. Even though it was silver, it had been constructed by evil for evil.
Click to expand...
Too true. That's cool, but what I don't get is why he didn't play up the moon motif more? I mean he used the sun with Aslan...maybe he should have given Rilian a gold sword or something...but wow, thanks.

But why make the witch green? It doesn't play a large part...but it's odd that she should be called something so colorful when she's from such a dull dark place...then again she was a serpent so...*shrugs* Brilliant ideas all though, wow, thank you.
 
I don't have an idea about the green yet, but I was thinking about the chair:

It is s symbol of self-deception, or the enemy's deception, isn't it? It sounds lovely: a silver chair. If you think you're going to lose your mind and must be shackled, why not be shackled to a nice, pretty, silver chair? Don't we think of it like that when we're deluding ourselves, doing something that we know is wrong or bad for us, but at least we're doing it in style kind of thing? But then when we finally break out of the thing, it's clear that all the while it was a bad, wrong, terrible thing -- with a shiny surface that looked pretty but was destroying us ...

As for its being a chair rather than being tied to a post or shackled to a wall: a chair presents itself as a common everyday thing that everyone likes to use without thinking twice about it. And isn't that how the temptations to which we're most susceptible present themselves to us, too? Everyone sits in a chair, it's no big deal sitting in this chair ...

At least, this is how I perceived it. CSL probably never put all that much thought into it -- remember, he said he wrote LWW after imagining an image of a faun with an umbrella at a lamp post -- there was no symbolism at all involved! :o
 
inkspot said:
It is s symbol of self-deception, or the enemy's deception, isn't it? It sounds lovely: a silver chair. If you think you're going to lose your mind and must be shackled, why not be shackled to a nice, pretty, silver chair? Don't we think of it like that when we're deluding ourselves, doing something that we know is wrong or bad for us, but at least we're doing it in style kind of thing? But then when we finally break out of the thing, it's clear that all the while it was a bad, wrong, terrible thing -- with a shiny surface that looked pretty but was destroying us ...
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That's a really good explanation. It's a good view of it...about how we can allow ourselves to be deceived by pretty things or even ordinary things, that's a pretty cool reading of it.

A chair seems like such a harmless, common thing...hmm...it's funny how Mr. Lewis might not have intended it purposefully to be that way but that it can be read that way, that it can symbolize something more. Thanks inkspot.
 
whooa

inkspot said:
It is s symbol of self-deception, or the enemy's deception, isn't it? It sounds lovely: a silver chair. If you think you're going to lose your mind and must be shackled, why not be shackled to a nice, pretty, silver chair? Don't we think of it like that when we're deluding ourselves, doing something that we know is wrong or bad for us, but at least we're doing it in style kind of thing? But then when we finally break out of the thing, it's clear that all the while it was a bad, wrong, terrible thing -- with a shiny surface that looked pretty but was destroying us ...

As for its being a chair rather than being tied to a post or shackled to a wall: a chair presents itself as a common everyday thing that everyone likes to use without thinking twice about it. And isn't that how the temptations to which we're most susceptible present themselves to us, too? Everyone sits in a chair, it's no big deal sitting in this chair ...
Click to expand...

I loooove that description!!! It really makes sense....I know what its like know ing something is wrong and still doing it.....errrr.......but yeah that makes so much sense I never really thought about it before!! Inkspot you are truly brilliant!!(even though I have no clue who you are....heehee :rolleyes: )
 
My meaning: Satan, like God, comes in many forms, You must be carful. It says that evil never dies...and how easily the devil can trick us.

It also says that we will be happy in Aslan's country(aka Heaven)
 
Reepicheepfan said:
Inkspot you are truly brilliant!!(even though I have no clue who you are....heehee :rolleyes: )
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Aw, shucks. :o
It's probable CSL never even thought of it that way ... but it has been useful to me. Is this thing I'm about to dit down in actually an evil silver chair?!
 
You know you could take this to the christian allegory section of the forum, since this is more of a relgion based thread...
 
Silver Chair and the Principle of Rarity

Here's a bit of background and you may draw your own conclusions...

Spells only invoke magic, they aren't magic. Your forum user name and password had no significance until you registered with this site. Spells have no force until they become registered signals to access powers.

A silver chair is extremely hard to make. In its non-alloy state it wouldn't hold a struggling prince. A tine of a chemically pure silver fork would bend if a fly stood on its end (source World Book Encyclopedia). So to make such a thing strong enough to hold a healthy young man against his will would involve great expense and advanced magic. That gives it the qualities necessary to make it a signalling device, the way a wand is a signalling device.

So what determines the effect the chair will have? Most likely a runic inscription on the bottom, probably the letter WYN, whose name means joy but whose significance is MADNESS. Runic magicians would scratch the letter WYN on the bottom of your drinking cup to drive you from your reason.

Before you ask, no, I am not pagan. But I am a bit of a historian.

Was CS Lewis aware of runic magic? What do you think? Did you hear the White Witch herself refer to the letters etched in the stone table deeper than the spear from the World Ash Tree? Yes, he knew about runic magic.

I remind you, in closing, that the chair was smote in half by a sword. Try doing that to a steel or aluminum chair. Silver is soft. That's why people used to bite gold and silver coins to see if they were genuine.

My two cents....
 
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