TLC Forum

This question came up during last year (2012)'s Summer Challenge. What do you think the Lady of the Green Kirtle was really up to in the Silver Chair? Why kidnap the Prince to take over Narnia and not take it by force without him? Or, since Rilian was already the heir, why not find a less hostile way of tricking him to marry her so she could gain the kingdom in a more "rightful" manner? Any ideas and thoughts about what her real motives were?

Also, how exactly did the Silver Chair work to enchant the Prince?

I've been thinking about this one for a while, and I don't know that I've come to a satisfactory conclusion. But I have decided to post my thoughts, in hopes I'll provoke further discussion.

As Ajnos points out, the Lady of the Green Kirtle follows a round about way of taking over the country, since she could have just conquered Narnia without Rillian. While this is speculation, I think she possessed a jealousy toward the legitimate queen of Narnia (as well as a desire to take over the country). I think she wanted to be the true queen of Narnia, rather than just a conqueror.

While part of why she killed the Narnian queen was to get to Rillian, I believe she was also motivated by envy toward the queen. After murdering the queen, she kidnapped and enchanted the prince because by reigning as his consort, she would fulfill her desire to be the true queen of Narnia rather than a mere usurper.

She may also have feared Aslan, and known that since he chose Caspian as the king of Narnia, she might be protected from his wrath by being tied to Caspian's son.

I am still thinking through how the silver chair worked, and why Lewis chose to express Rillian’s enslavement through it.

Thanks, Ajnos, for a thought provoking topic!

I like that idea, Yorick, that somehow she was grasping for legitimacy.

Speaking of the silver chair, just recently, I heard something that made me rethink how I saw it.
This song by the Gray Havens "called Silver" is inspired by Lewis and Tolkien's conversation where Lewis said That he liked myths but they were lies breathed through silver and Tolkien said that Christianity was the True Myth. The song makes me think that Lewis could have used the idea of silver, if not to represent lies themselves, at least to represent the pretty package that lies can come in. Like how a "Silver tongue" is someone who is very eloquent and persuasive.
The song even has a line where the true myth "Broke the spell that tied us to our silver chairs"

The Gray Havens explain and sing the song here:
http://youtu.be/27JZVXR6oAs?t=19m46s
(This is on their own youtube channel so no copyright infringement to view it)
(Also they have made the album available for free download here: http://noisetrade.com/thegrayhavens/where-eyes-dont-go )

Nice thinking, Yorick. I've considered that too, but not to the extent you did, so I've still got things to think about.

Hm, that's interesting, Swan, about silver being lies. It seems to make more sense that how I've always tried to think of it (though I'm not giving up on my thoughts just yet!).

Silver is symbolic of redemption (pardon me while I suddenly and for the first time ascribe significance to Edmund's silver crown...), so I've always wondered exactly how this instrument of evil could possibly tie into that. Now of course, just because something is used doesn't mean that it was used for its symbolism.
The whole silver = redemption thing kinda ties into theories about the chair's use. (btw, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever wondered why LotGK couldn't/didn't keep him in a permanent state of enchantedness.) Obviously, his right mind is restored during his sessions in the chair, but unless LotGK is freakishly sadistic and deems it the best way to torture him (why? no idea, but considering that this theory that involves an extremely sadistic witch...), then I doubt that was exactly part of her plan.
Perhaps both lies and redemption are at work: she binds him to the lies, Aslan uses it as a catalyst for redemption (ie: he's in his right mind and cries out in the name of Aslan)?

I had not heard of its being a symbol for redemption, but I do like the idea of it adding to Edmund's story. A quick google search taught me today that silver has been used as a symbol for a multitude of contradicting ideas. I'd naively thought it a much simpler interpretation. Still hearing that Lewis himself referred to "lies breathed through silver" it inclines me to think that he might associate silver the kind of beauty that might disguise a lie as the silver chair in fact does.

I think the chair was in some way renewing her spell over him, because if he got out before his madness returned then he would remain sane. Certainly she did not wish him to have a sane hour at all and I think it must have been the limit that Aslan put on her power.

Those are interesting thoughts about the symbolism of silver.

I guess what confuses me most about what the witch was up to was why she wanted to make the legitimate heir invade his own country. Unless...just thought of this now...she kidnapped him and kept him till Caspian was off on his voyage making sure Rilian would be under her spell when it was time to take the throne. Of course, the problem with this is Caspian isn't dead yet.

Here's what I wrote about the issue during last year's Summer Challenge:

http://www.hedgepickle.blogspot.com/201 ... er-11.html

Weapon of terror, maybe? Think about the psychological impact for the kingdom she intended to conquer. The Narnians have been missing their prince and heir for years. Many probably believe him dead. Then he comes back... but it's not him. It's his shell, controlled by someone evil. And the prince you love is attacking and destroying you, but you can't assassinate the conqueror because maybe, just maybe, he's really still himself inside and to kill him would be to kill your last chance of seeing the real Rillian, Caspian's son, the beloved Star-queen's son, again. And on a more intimate, less national scale, if he retained any shred of his own consciousness--even in dreams--after his rise to the surface, think of the implications on his own mind. It's a sadistically clever way of both wreaking national morale, and deconstructing her hostage's self-respect.

I think everyone is right when they say she enchanted Rillian instead of killing him, because she wanted to be viewed as a legitimate successor to the throne. I also think the Lady of the Green Kirtle wanted extreme control over everyone. She wanted to control thoughts. She made the gnomes temporarily forget everything happy in their lives and tried to make Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum forget about the things that mattered the most to them.

I've also noticed a pattern of pretenders running through the Chronicles: Beaver says the White Witch wants people to think she is a daughter of Eve when she is really the daughter of a giantess and a jinn, Miraz illegitimately acts as king after murdering his brother, the Lady of the Green Kirtle wants to take the role of the queen she murdered, and Shift dresses Puzzle up as Aslan and pretends to be a man.

I think it was Lewis's way of showing that rebellion is not just a desire to disobey God, but a desire to steal the very place of God. Those who rebel against God want to take his authority and make it their own.

Ooh, good insight, Yorick!