Jane's Progress: As an adjustment to Marrying in consideration of “That Hideous Strength” by C.S. Lewis

by Evan B. Wilson

C.S. Lewis understands things. Anyone who has read anything written by Mr. Lewis comes away with that assessment. Initially most of us have found the broadening of our world in his novels. As we matured we moved from Narnia and its lessons to Screwtape (in Hell) and The Great Divorce (in Heaven). With that preparation we bravely ventured into his Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength). Slowly, mercifully so, we are introduced to a vision of the Cosmos which Lewis crafted as a more current form of the Medieval Model he outlined in his The Discarded Image. He let himself describe how he believed the soul in such a Cosmos should live and how it did battle with the Spirit of the Age. Mark and Jane Studdock, a non-Christian married couple, are the souls in question in the last book of Lewis' Space Trilogy, and each learn where their sins have led them. This booklet examines the lesson learned by Jane. Hers is a story of marital and personal frustration, and Lewis gives many pages to her thoughts and conversations. It all manages to make her a new woman and a new wife. Her problems are common, even in Christian women, and the ramifications of this encounter with the Heavens has an effect on Jane which ought to be desired by all couples.

24 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2013