The Plot
In the three novels commonly known as the Space Trilogy and sometimes as the Cosmic Trilogy or Ransom Trilogy (the series was not given a formal title by its author), the celebrated literary scholar and Christian essayist C. S. Lewis combines elements of classical science fiction, medieval romance, and the epic to create a sprawling depiction of an interplanetary struggle between good and evil.
Out of the Silent Planet, the first of the novels, centers on the adventures of Elwin Ransom, a Cambridge philologist who is abducted by Dick Devine, a grammar-school classmate who has become a ruthless opportunist, and Edward Weston, a renowned physicist. Devine and Weston drug Ransom and take him aboard a spacecraft that Weston has created; together, they travel to Mars. During the journey, Ransom learns that his abductors plan to give him to the Martians as part of a prearranged scheme. Imagining that he is to be sacrificed in some alien ritual, Ransom escapes from his captors soon after they arrive on Mars, only to realize that he has run from his only means of returning to Earth.
After wandering for some time, Ransom meets the hrossa, intelligent, otterlike beings; as he learns their language and way of life, he comes to understand that the hrossa are an entirely benevolent, unfallen race. Ransom also meets the planet’s two other rational species, which like the hrossa are supremely talented, peaceful beings sharing the planet they call Malacandra in complete harmony. He is also introduced to the eldils, luminous spiritual beings of a higher order.
Ransom is eventually taken to meet the oyarsa, or chief eldil, of Malacandra. He learns that Earth (or Thulcandra) is known as the “silent planet” because it has been isolated from the remainder of the solar system since its own oyarsa rebelled against Maleldil (the eldilic name for God), an event that brought evil to the planet. Ransom is also reunited with Weston and Devine, who persist in viewing the sophisticated Martians as primitives to be cowed with technology or bribed with trinkets. The Martian oyarsa humbles Weston and Devine and sends the three earthlings home, enjoining Ransom to keep a watch on the further activities of his abductors.
In Perelandra, Ransom is sent by the eldils to Venus (Perelandra) to contest the forces of evil in a new version of the Genesis myth. On Perelandra, an Edenic planet covered with warm seas and dotted with floating islands, he meets the Green Lady, the Eve of the newly created world. Weston, who has been possessed by the fallen eldils of Earth, also arrives, and the two men engage in a protracted intellectual struggle for the soul of the Green Lady. Weston, the tempter, tries to persuade the entirely innocent Green Lady to violate the one command she has been given by Maleldil: not to leave the floating islands to reside on the planet’s fixed land. Ransom realizes that it is up to him to prevent a repetition of the earthly Fall; despairing of winning the debate with his demoniacally inspired adversary, he undergoes a dark night of the soul that ends only when he abandons himself to the will of Maleldil. Thus inspired, Ransom engages Weston in brutal hand-to-hand combat, killing him and thus preserving the new world’s purity at the cost of his own physical and spiritual pain. The Green Lady is reunited with the planet’s Adam, and Ransom is returned to Earth.
That Hideous Strength , the longest and most complex of the novels, is set in post-World War II England. Ransom, who has been vested with spiritual...
(This entire section contains 772 words.)
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powers and eternal youth since his sojourn in paradise, gathers a cadre of followers to combat the evil eldils of Earth. The book’s main action follows a young married couple, Mark and Jane Studdock, as they are drawn into opposite camps in the cosmic struggle. Jane, who has dream visions that prove to be true and who is thus coveted as a source of intelligence by both sides, gravitates to Ransom’s group; Mark, a talented young academic, is inveigled into the inner circles of the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E), a gigantic, sinister, government-backed scientific project through which the dark powers plan to seize control of Britain. Both groups seek to contact Merlin, the magician of Arthurian legend, who has been awakened from centuries of suspended animation. Merlin joins Ransom’s forces, and the benevolent eldils possess him. Entering the forbidding institute via a ruse, Merlin liberates Mark and then unleashes the eldilic power, destroying himself, the institute, its leaders, and most of its dupes.
Out of the Silent Planet, 1938
Elwin Ransom
Elwin Ransom, the protagonist, a middle-aged scholar who is kidnapped while on a walking tour of the English countryside. His abductors take him aboard a spacecraft bound for Mars, where he is to be given to the Martian natives. Assuming he is to be sacrificed as part of an alien ritual, Ransom escapes from his captors once they reach the planet’s surface. Wandering the Martian landscape, he encounters the planet’s other intelligent life-forms—the hrossa, the sorns, and the pfifiltriggi—as well the eldils, luminous spiritual beings of a higher order. The Martians easily defeat the schemes of Ransom’s captors, and the humans are returned to Earth; Ransom is enjoined to keep an eye on the future actions of his kidnappers.
Dick Devine
Dick Devine, one of Ransom’s captors, a former schoolmate. He is glib and outwardly sociable; in reality, he is a crass, selfish con artist who is primarily interested in the gold to be found on Mars. He and his accomplice, Weston, erroneously regard the sophisticated Martians as primitives who can be bought with trinkets or cowed by technology.
Professor Weston
Professor Weston, Ransom’s other captor, a brilliant physicist who has managed to build a working spacecraft. Imperious and arrogant, he is at once more noble and more sinister than Devine. He seeks to dominate the Martians as a first step in a program of interplanetary imperialism.
Hyoi
Hyoi, a hrossa, a member of a species of large, graceful, otterlike creatures who are supremely talented artists, singers, and communicators. He becomes Ransom’s first acquaintance among the intelligent Martian species. Hyoi is shot and killed by Devine and Weston.
Augray
Augray, a sorn, a member of a species of tremendously tall, thin humanoids who are learned in the physical sciences.
Kanakabera
Kanakabera, a pfiffiltriggi, a member of a subterranean race of dwarflike creatures who serve as the planet’s builders and sculptors.
Oyarsa
Oyarsa, the chief eldil and guardian spirit of the planet, an ageless, bodiless, and extraordinarily powerful entity. The Martian oyarsa explains the cosmic dynamic to Ransom: Because of the ancient rebellion of its own guardian spirit, the Earth, or Thulcandra, is the one fallen planet in the solar system, which is otherwise utterly harmonious under the rule of Maledil, the eldilic name for God. The Martian oyarsa humbles Weston and Devine and returns all three Earthmen to their own planet.
Perelandra, 1943
Elwin Ransom
Elwin Ransom, the protagonist of the first novel, who is again embroiled in an interplanetary struggle between good and evil. In the second volume, Ransom is transported to Venus, or Perelandra, by the “light” eldils of the solar system. He learns that the “dark,” or fallen, eldils of Earth, which are responsible for the planet’s suffering, are meditating an attack on Perelandra. Because he has learned the language of the unfallen planets, Ransom is sent to the emergent paradise of Perelandra to contest Weston in an intellectual and spiritual contest for the souls of the planet’s first humanoid inhabitants.
Professor Weston
Professor Weston, also known as The Un-Man, whose spirit is possessed by the dark eldils. He tries to persuade the Green Lady—the Eve of the new world—to repeat the earthly Fall by breaking the one commandment she has been given by Maledil: not to leave the planet’s idyllic floating islands to reside on its “fixed land.” Empowered by his possessors, he is tireless and relentlessly persuasive. When Ransom senses that the Green Lady is on the verge of succumbing, he attacks the Un-Man and kills him in a brutal physical combat.
The Green Lady
The Green Lady, also known as Tinidril, the entirely innocent foremother of Perelandra, who is targeted for corruption by the dark eldils and who must be educated and protected by Ransom.
The King
The King, also known as Tor, the Adam of Perelandra. He is separated from the Green Lady during a storm, leaving her alone and vulnerable to Weston’s approach.
Lewis
Lewis, the narrator, who assists Ransom upon his departure for Perelandra and his return to Earth.
Humphrey
Humphrey, a doctor friend of Ransom and Lewis who treats Ransom’s wounds upon his return.
That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-ups, 1945
Elwin Ransom
Elwin Ransom, now known as The Director, the protagonist of the earlier books, who has been vested with spiritual powers since his return from the paradise of Perelandra. He gathers about him a cadre of believers to contest the efforts of the dark eldils and their dupes to attain control of England.
Mark Studdock
Mark Studdock, a young sociologist who is inveigled into the inner councils of the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E), a quasi-governmental organization that serves as a front for the dark eldils’ plans. Obsessed by the desire to “belong,” Mark is at first deceived by the N.I.C.E.’s blandishments; eventually, he comes to oppose the organization’s goals and is imprisoned.
Jane Studdock
Jane Studdock, Mark’s wife. Unhappy in her marriage, she begins to have dream visions that prove to be true. The N.I.C.E. covets her as a source of intelligence, but she gravitates to Ransom’s group. At the novel’s end, she and Mark are reunited and recommitted to their marriage.
Dr. Dimble
Dr. Dimble, an elderly professor at Edgestow, the fictional university at which Mark also works. Jane’s former tutor and a devout Christian, he is one of Ransom’s principal followers.
Mrs. Dimble
Mrs. Dimble, Dr. Dimble’s pleasant, motherly wife.
Grace Ironwood
Grace Ironwood, another of Ransom’s followers, a psychologist.
Ivy Maggs
Ivy Maggs, a servant in Ransom’s household whose husband is jailed by the N.I.C.E.
Camilla Denniston
Camilla Denniston and
Arthur Denniston
Arthur Denniston, a likable young couple allied with Ransom.
MacPhee
MacPhee, another member of Ransom’s household, a rationalist and skeptic.
Merlin
Merlin, the sorcerer of Arthurian legend, who wakes from a state of suspended animation to help destroy the N.I.C.E., kill its leaders, and liberate its prisoners.
Lord Feverstone
Lord Feverstone, known as Dick Devine in the first novel, a corrupt opportunist who introduces Mark into the N.I.C.E.
Professor Frost
Professor Frost, one of the N.I.C.E.’s directors, a cold, precise man controlled by the dark eldils.
Professor Wither
Professor Wither, the N.I.C.E.’s other director, a master of verbal misdirection, also controlled by the dark eldils.
Professor Filostrato
Professor Filostrato, an eminent anatomist who directs the N.I.C.E.’s most secret project, the effort to animate a severed human head.
Miss Hardcastle
Miss Hardcastle, also known as The Fairy, a sadistic, vulgar woman who directs the N.I.C.E.’s secret police.
Professor William Hingest
Professor William Hingest, an internationally renowned scientist who attempts to leave the N.I.C.E. and is murdered by its police; Mark is subsequently accused of the crime.
The Head
The Head, the severed head of a criminal guillotined for murdering his wife. Filostrato and the others believe it is their technical prowess that keeps the head alive; in reality, it is animated by the dark eldils, who use it as a mouthpiece.
Horace Jules
Horace Jules, the N.I.C.E.’s figurehead, the pompous, uncomprehending author of trite but popular philosophical and political tracts.
Curry
Curry, Feverstone’s toady at the University of Edgestow.
Steele
Steele, Mark’s early colleague and rival in the N.I.C.E.’s sociology section.
Straik
Straik, a defrocked minister and religious fanatic employed by the N.I.C.E.