Jadis Picture

celestialhost

celestialhost

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white_witch_by_dhacxaahsvost-d4r8s18.jpg



I commissioned Dhacxaahsvost, a Polish artist on DeviantArt, to create a picture of Queen Jadis, the White Witch of Narnia. I think she did a fantastic job. I think Jadis looks much better in this picture than the blonde in the movie.

Some fans might feel that this Jadis image is not as beautiful as they imagine Jadis to be. However, CS Lewis does leave a lot of doubt about whether Jadis really is all that beautiful. This picture definitely captures the sense that Jadis has giants in her ancestry. She also looks more like an ancient Bablyonian queen, which fits the way Lewis portrayed her in The Magician's Nephew.
 
That was a question of dispute. Digory, and certainly Uncle Andrew, thought her beautiful, but Polly never could see anything particularly beautiful about her.
 
I don't think that's a good illustration of Jadis, because that's not how imagined Jadis at all. She looks more like a character that belongs in the He-Man series.
 
Prince of the West is correct. Polly always insisted that Jadis was not particularly attractive.

The illustrations support that. In the illustrations, her figure is shapely, but her features look too hard to be considered beautiful.
 
celestialhost said:
Prince of the West is correct. Polly always insisted that Jadis was not particularly attractive.

The illustrations support that. In the illustrations, her figure is shapely, but her features look too hard to be considered beautiful.
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Yes, Polly didn't think she was particularly beautiful, but that's because Polly was a girl and she was being victimized by a fellow female. I think that Polly didn't see her beautiful because, well, she may also have been a little jealous that uncle Andrew, and especially Digory saw her beautiful. At least that is the feeling I get when I read that part.

I would tend to go more with the boys. If they think she was beautiful, then she was. Think about it. An old fogey and a young dude both looking at the same woman and both coming to the same conclusion. That should tell you something.

On the other hand, I don't particularly care for Jadis, whether beautiful or not. I still prefer the Pevensies and Aslan. I don't understand this Jadis obsession some people have.

This picture however does look Amazonian, which Jadis should look like in part due to having having (or thought to have) giant's blood. Artistically it's ok, maybe except for the pointed ears which don't really go with her.
 
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Yes, I think it is an excellent portrayal of Jadis, apart from the ears which, in my opinion, should be 'normal': she was neither an elf, nor a Vulcan! I also agree that she was exceptionally beautiful, certainly from a male perspective, Polly's views being based on her gender and jealousy. Of course, despite her great beauty, there is no question that Jadis was totally evil, both at Charn as well as in London and in Narnia. Jadis is the main 'baddie' in the tales of Narnia, and could easily swat the others like a fly, and is a very interesting character in her own right. However, I do not believe there is any obsession with Jadis, as there is just as much interest shown in villains from other books/films, such as The Emperor/Darth Vader from Star Wars, for example.
 
Well, I think it rather simplistic to dismiss Polly's views on the assumption that they were merely female jealousy in the presence of rather intimidating competition. (I think it even more simplistic to imply that women are more prone to jealousy than men.) I'm sure Lewis saw some of that in Polly, but her view turned out to be more accurate than either Digory's or Uncle Andrew's. Jadis' beauty was strictly superficial; beneath the surface she was as hideous as they came. Polly actually saw Jadis more truly than either of the men did. To the degree that Polly's emotions colored her vision, I'd say they colored them a bit more accurately. If anyone's vision was more clouded, it was Digory and Uncle Andrew.
 
Attractive vs Beautiful

Perhaps there are certain celebrities today who are considered to be 'hot' but who are not beautiful as such and perhaps in some ways ugly?
 
CORIN THUNDERFIST II said:
Yes, I think it is an excellent portrayal of Jadis, apart from the ears which, in my opinion, should be 'normal': she was neither an elf, nor a Vulcan! I also agree that she was exceptionally beautiful, certainly from a male perspective, Polly's views being based on her gender and jealousy. Of course, despite her great beauty, there is no question that Jadis was totally evil, both at Charn as well as in London and in Narnia. Jadis is the main 'baddie' in the tales of Narnia, and could easily swat the others like a fly, and is a very interesting character in her own right. However, I do not believe there is any obsession with Jadis, as there is just as much interest shown in villains from other books/films, such as The Emperor/Darth Vader from Star Wars, for example.
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I'm not sure why the artist gave her pointed ears (she has seen the movie and read the books). I did not include them in the details I requested.

Of course, it could be that Jadis got the pointed ears from her Jinn side. She is not human.


Having written ten fanfics about Jadis, I suppose I could count as a bit of a Jadis fanboy, but I just love writing about female villains.
 
I just wanted to reply to this thread by saying that I'm reading TMN again and in it, it does say that Jadis WAS beautiful, not once or twice, but at least four times (so far, I haven't finished it). This is in addition to both Digory and Uncle Andrew also thinking she was beautiful. So there is no question in my mind that Lewis really meant it for us to see her as physically beautiful, but also evil in nature.
 
celestialhost said:
Perhaps there are certain celebrities today who are considered to be 'hot' but who are not beautiful as such and perhaps in some ways ugly?
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Yes... true

I always imagined that the reason the Polly didn't find her particularly beautiful is for the same reasons other girls will find equally beautiful girls to be less so... Because we want to justify our own selves... thus, I always thought that Jadis was meant to be strikingly beautiful/feminine, though perhaps not in the same cultural ways as in western culture...
 
"I always imagined that the reason the Polly didn't find her particularly beautiful is for the same reasons other girls will find equally beautiful girls to be less so... Because we want to justify our own selves... thus, I always thought that Jadis was meant to be strikingly beautiful/feminine, though perhaps not in the same cultural ways as in western culture..."

I really don't care for the idea that it is Polly's judgment that is wrong and Uncle Andrew and Digory's judgment right on this. I think the two male characters have an inadequate idea of beauty. They can't see beyond Jadis' well shaped thighs, but Polly recognises that beauty means more than that.
 
This may be a semantic issue over the word "beauty."

If "beauty" means moral character, then a one-eyed, 300-pound woman with leprosy and missing teeth can be angelically beautiful, if her spirit is noble and pure. But at some point, we ARE allowed to talk about what someone LOOKS LIKE to the eye. If we take the evasion of saying "Everyone is beautiful," then the WORD "beautiful" only means "existing."
 
Hello all! I've been away for a little while because of reasons I'd rather discuss at a later time. I'm not ready to return just yet, but I wanted to put this piece of Narnian artwork out there just to see if I could do it. Hope you all like it:DQueen Jadis by J.A.G..jpg
 
That is amazing!!!! I love it! If the White Witch looked like that, you can believe she would have a commanding presence. You can easily look at that face and see someone that could be very trusting... someone you think you can trust... and then she says something that startles you, that is cold and without compassion, and you never see it coming.

I imagine the Lady of the Green Kirtle from The Silver Chair might have a similar look to her also.
 
Specter said:
That is amazing!!!! I love it! If the White Witch looked like that, you can believe she would have a commanding presence. You can easily look at that face and see someone that could be very trusting... someone you think you can trust... and then she says something that startles you, that is cold and without compassion, and you never see it coming.

I imagine the Lady of the Green Kirtle from The Silver Chair might have a similar look to her also.
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Hey Specter. Nice to hear from you again. If you're referring to my picture, then I thank you for the wonderful compliment. Thank you times Infinty!
:love::love::love:
 
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