C. S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

Peter Schakel (Hope College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Newman University), Louise McDonald (Newman University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1945

Places

Northern Ireland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel
Science Fiction

Resources

That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups (1945) is a sequel to two earlier novels by C. S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet (1938) and Perelandra (1943). Like the earlier two stories, its central character is Elwin Ransom, though he has a smaller role in the overall action of this book. In Perelandra Ransom traveled to Venus and defeated Edward Rolles Weston, one of the two villains who kidnapped him and took him to Mars in Out of the Silent Planet. In That Hideous Strength Ransom returns to Earth to do battle with the other villain, Richard Devine.

That Hideous Strength describes the attempt to seize control of the earth by a large, powerful, supremely evil socio-…

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1284 words

Citation: Schakel, Peter. "That Hideous Strength". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 June 2003 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12308, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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