That Hideous Strength - Ch 7 - The Pendragon

The Pendragon

I previously mentioned "Fisher-King" as a title belonging to King Arthur.  He held another title in the later Arthurian cycles - Pendragon - a title first held by his uncle in the Vulgate cycles (earlier), and then by his successor brother, Uther, father of Arthur, and then finally by Arthur himself.  In Welsh, this roughly means the dragon head - the leader.  As I mentioned before, Lewis, a medieval scholar, held an intense interest in Arthurian legends, since his other Inkling friends held a similar interest, Tolkien, but especially Charles Williams, who wrote some books about this.

When Jane arrives at St. Anne's, she first meets Mr. Denniston (her old professor), then Ivy Maggs (her last servant), and then found herself before Miss Ironwood (the therapist), along with Camilla Denniston.  Jane told them about her new dream about the corpse, which raptured their interest.  They asked Jane if she was prepared to meet the Director, and she replied she was.  Miss Ironwood then spoke with her alone and explained the Director might look young, but wasn't, he traveled where no one else had ever traveled, and he often undergoes great pain.

As soon as Jane saw him, "her world was unmade."  He laid on a sofa before her upon a dais which looked like a throne-room with with the blue screen behind him.  He appeared like a 20 year old golden boy, but his full beard and strength made it clear he was much older.  One foot bore a wound bandaged, and "pain came and went in his face."  His voice was seemed like sunlight and gold.

While the Director wants Jane to join them, he finds it difficult while Mark belongs to the NICE, and he urges Jane to ask Mark to leave the NICE.  While Jane sort of sees the point, she also insists upon their independence as separate persons - so that she protests - she feels she can join the Director's group with or without Mark.

The Director asks - does she wants to save Mark as well as herself?  Jane tries to ignore this question.  She confesses her unhappiness with Mark, but then - seeing the truth, denies it.  The Director says much depends on how Mark lost her love.  Jane can't seem to articulate this, so the Director offers to tell her, and Jane accepts his offer.  The Director says "you do not fail in obedience through lack of love, but have lost love because you never attempted obedience."  (Keep in mind, Lewis, at this time, was a confirmed bachelor.  He well might have written something different after he finally married Joy Davidman Gresham later in life, which he wrote about in, A Grief Observed.)  The Director says these are not his views about marriage, but those of his supervisors.  As Jane deeply reflects on this, she first finds grievances against her husband, but then pity.  The Director urges her to go back and talk to Mark.

When Jane left the Director, she felt like four different women:  the first simply receptive to what he said; the second deeply resistant; the third - a sort of moral Jane - agreed with the outlook presented by the Director; and the fourth Jane simply in a state of joy about what the Director said.

A Riot

When Jane arrived by train in Edgestow, she found the town in a riot, which she tried to avoid by finding some direct route home.  However, she got picked up by the NICE police, and soon faced Fairy Hardcastle, who wanted to know where she had come from.  By now, Jane felt enough loyalty to the group at St. Anne's that she did not want to disclose their location.  Though the Fairy inflicted severe torture upon Jane with a cigarette, and more than once, Jane did not disclose their location.  Eventually one of the rioting crowds burst in upon them, and Jane lost the NICE police in the crowds.

Finally, Jane got picked up by a couple, who, distressed by her appearance, offered to take her home.  Jane replied, somewhat to her surprise, that the Manor at St. Anne's was her home.  The couple drove her there, where Mrs. Maggs received her, but Jane was so tired, she couldn't remember how she got to bed.

Ch. 6 - Fog

Ch. 8 - Midnight at Belbury

Overview of the book

List of Characters