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Article Excerpt
C.N. Manlove in Modern Fantasy: Five Studies defines fantasy as a "fiction evoking wonder and containing a substantial and irreducible element of the supernatural ... [which] can produce an imprint on our imaginations deep enough to give it a measure of truth or reality" (12). The definition identifies a source for the post-modern world's continued fascination with fantasy literature. While the nature of fantasy sets a stage that is unfamiliar (and thus fantastic), that same world must operate in a way that makes sense in order for readers/viewers to find it credible. Manlove's definition recalls Sir Philip Sydney's Defense of Poesy as he declares imaginative writing to be a kind of truth that is verified in the soul rather than with scientific instruments. This statement is true of all fiction, but fantasy takes the reader beyond conventional imagination into worlds that are in physical ways very different from the world the reader inhabits. This creation of an imaginary place, a world that seems so different from the reader's own gives the writer special challenges and unique opportunities. The unfamiliar world establishes a new world system, a set of values and motives to effect action. The writer can either establish a new world order with specific values as ideals toward which the reader's culture can aspire, (1) or he/she can shape this landscape as a commentary, complimentary or critical, on the writer's current cultural ideology. (2) To some extent all imaginary worlds are a reflection either parallel to or in contrast with the known, real world: what the real world is, what it is not, or what it could become.
Often part of the creation of the imaginary space includes a journey and subsequent adventures which reveal the qualities of character that define the hero. For an early example, consider: "The Descent of Inanna." The tale of this Sumerian goddess's journey to the underworld reveals qualities later listed by Aristotle as heroic: prudence and fortitude. Inanna, who determines to visit her hostile sister Ershkigal (Queen of the underworld), illustrates these two virtues in her journey. Anticipating her sister's hostility, Inanna bravely determines to go, but makes several alternative plans for her rescue, should such efforts be needed. Her forethought succeeds in ensuring her survival. While the reader might be shocked that she tricks her husband into serving half her punishment, her plan effects the survival of the land: "Inanna changes the cosmic pattern.... The king who enters the underworld once a year will emerge every six months renewed in feminine wisdom and inner strength to take over leadership and vitality of that nation" (Wolkstein 168). The adventure of this early hero reflects an emphasis on these specific virtues that recurs frequently in heroic literature. (3)
In some early works of fantasy, the hero already possesses these virtues, and the adventures serve to reveal his exercising of them. Yet in other works, the author creates an imaginary world as a sort of school, an ideal training ground for a character with heroic potential but without fully possessing the necessary virtues for heroic status. Drawn from the current culture, these characters enter life in the imaginary world, acquire these necessary virtues, and return once more to the real world having gained heroic status, a pattern identified by Joseph Campbell in his Hero with a Thousand Faces. Through the experiences of this character in the imaginary space, the writer defines the nature of the heroic and comments on the values of the current culture. Campbell outlines the dominant pattern for emerging heroes, that is, non-heroic figures who will soon be revealed as heroic: that pattern of initiation takes the hero on a quest, an educational journey, during which the character develops qualities preparing him for future rule or leadership. The educational experience usually includes the assistance of a mentor to guide the hero in acquiring virtues necessary for leadership. The hero leaves his ordinary space an ordinary person, moves to another space where his education/preparation takes place, and returns to his original space, changed and prepared to share with his community the benefits of his leadership and knowledge (35-40). Although Campbell identifies many examples in his important book, this paper will examine only three such characters--Spenser's Red Crosse Knight, Lewis's Ransom, and Rowling's Harry Potter--suggesting that Faerieland, Malacandra/Perelandra, and Hogwarts are schools of heroic virtue, teaching their respective heroes the cardinal virtues of fortitude, prudence, temperance, and justice. (4)
Spenser's Red Crosse Knight demonstrates this pattern while in Faerieland as he develops the essential heroic values of sixteenth-century England: fortitude, prudence, temperance, and justice. Red Crosse comes into this new world a young, inexperienced knight. Of Red Crosse, Spenser writes that "armes till that time did he neuer wield" (I.i.l.5), implying that this quest, to rescue Una's parents and homeland from a tyrannous dragon, is his first. His inexperience shows in his fight with Errour, an encounter precipitated by his desire to avoid difficulty (the storm) instead of facing it. He is nearly defeated but rallies with Una's encouragement. In this first battle, Red Crosse increases in fortitude. He faces Errour valiantly, and despite almost deadly wounds, he trusts Una's advice and defeats the monster. His second encounter, however, challenges his prudence. Deceived by Archimago, Red Crosse abandons Una (who represents truth in the allegory), thinking her unfaithful and defiled. Having fallen victim to deception, Red Crosse's subsequent adventures help him develop that prudence. He demonstrates his improved fortitude through the quick defeat of the Saracen Knight Sansfoy, but reveals his lack of discernment when he takes Duessa (duplicity) as his companion. The episodes following this union challenge his possession of the virtues temperance and justice. In the House of Pride, however, Red Crosse...
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