As promised, we are going to be sharing a lecture series on The Chronicles of Narnia by Dr. Scott Masson. He hasn’t yet covered all of the books in the chronicles, so if/when he does so, we will share those as well. We’re going to post the ones he’s done in the order of his lectures. We hope that you enjoy them and get a lot out of these.
Description of the Lecture by Dr. Scott Masson
This first lecture looks at the fifth book in the Narnia Chronicles, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It best illustrates the way in which Lewis’s children’s literature engages with the concerns about progressive education we observed in his lectures The Abolition of Man.
At the same time, it provides evidence of the grand cosmological sweep of the whole series, including his commentary on the philosophy of history that so undergirds the presuppositions of his readership. Lewis not only exemplifies the moral virtues of the Tao in the ship’s crew, virtues so lacking in Eustace Scrubb, in the crew of the Dawn Treader he presents a sort of allegory of the role of the church in leading the created order towards an eschatological ‘marriage’ with God. It is not only through the exercise of moral virtue, but through a new birth. That is effected through Aslan himself, the one whose ‘magic’ drew Eustace there through irresistible grace.
It is a Protestant variation on Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Description of the Lecture by Dr. Scott Masson
C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a fascinating tale. The inclusion of the Pevensie’s cousin, Eustace Scrubb, makes for an interesting addition to the plot, for reasons I have elaborated upon before. He is the product of a progressive education, an example of a “man without a chest.”
I read the tale of what happens to Eustace and the crew of the Dawn Treader as an allegory of the church.
About Dr. Scott Masson
Dr. Scott Masson is an Associate Professor of English Literature at Tyndale University, Toronto. He did his PhD at the University of Durham, where C.S. Lewis delivered the lectures eventually written under the title The Abolition of Man. He has taught courses on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien for over a decade, some of which have been uploaded to his YouTube channel. He also hosted a series of literature podcasts called Paideia Today.