Highlights of C. S. Lewis' life (page references to Surprised by Joy, his autobiography)


The over-arching theme in C. S. Lewis' life and writing is the desire to experience joy, "an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction" (SJ 17-18). Before he became a Christian, joy came to him through his experiences in nature, literature (especially poetry), and music; after he became a Christian, he says that the earlier experiences were not the thing itself but merely pointers God used to bring him to Jesus Christ. In Christ, Lewis found real joy, lasting beauty.

In considering what shaped his life, the most important are the key people in his life: Albert, his father; Warren, his brother; Arthur Greeves, his lifelong friend;

W. T. Kirkpatrick, the "Great Knock" and his great tutor; Owen Barfield, another great friend; Charles Williams, friend and mentor;

Joy Davidman, friend and later his wife; and J. R. R. Tolkien, colleague and friend.

Born in Belfast, Ireland, on November 29, 1898; re-named himself Jacksie; known to all his friends as Jack. Mother died before he was ten, and he began to question the validity of the Christian faith she had taught him; relationship with father forever strained (SJ 3-4, 19). Best friend was his brother, Warren; the two spent endless hours in imaginative worlds each created (6, 12); Lewis' was an Animal land that he later came to call Boxen (forerunner of Narnia); as did Tolkien with his Middle Earth, Lewis inhabited Boxen with various creatures and developed an elaborate history and geography; first experience of beauty (6) and the longing for joy (7, 16-18).

Reading French and Latin when 10 yrs. old; by 13 his interest in Boxen had faded and was replaced by a keen interest in poetry; poetry caused him to have "the romantic yearning after transcendent joy."

Went to a series of English "public" (private) schools that he thoroughly disliked, bascially because of his inability to fit in; one benefit is that he became "an effective believer" (33) although a later school contributed to his loss of faith; one of the schools Lewis attended was eventually shut down when the headmaster was certified as insane! Interestingly, his brother Warren went to the same schools and had very positive experiences; whatever their deficiencies, Lewis emerged a sharp, aesthetically aware student though during those years his experiences of joy were very rare.

At this point Lewis' Christian faith (what little there was left) faded also and was replaced by the gods and heroes of Norse mythology (72-73).

Studied for and won an Oxford Scholarhip under W. T. Kirkpatrick, the "Great Knock" (133-35, 136); under Kirkpatrick influence, Lewis came to associate anything ugly with Christianity, and he subtly adopted Kirkpatrick's atheism (139). Most importantly, Lewis came to study the great Greek and Roman poets in the original languages under the Great Knock (140-41, 144, 145).

He came to understand that his conscious efforts to find or to experience joy were self-defeating (166, 168-69).

Came to love reading the poetry of W. B Yeats, the last of the great romanctic poets; an even more powerful influence was George MacDonald's Phantastes (see Introduction to Phantastes, 11, and SJ 179-81).

Although he had difficulty with elementary mathematics, in 1917 he won a scholarship to University College, Oxford; his studies were interupted before they started by WWI; sent to the front in 1918 and was wounded by shellfire; relationship with father further strained; developed controversial relationship with Mrs. Jane Moore, the mother of a killed comrade in the war; returned to Oxford in 1919 and continued his studies.

Published first book, Spirits in Bondage (1919) under pseudonym, Clive Hamilton.

1923 successfully completed his education with three degrees: Honour Mods (Greek and Latin texts), Greats (Classical Philosophy including Roman history, philosophy, Plato and Aristotle, logic, general ancient history, Latin prose, moral and political philosophy, and Greek prose), and English Language and Literature (Old and Middle English). With such strong credentials, it took a surprisingly long time before he was appointed a lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford, in June, 1925.

Published second book, Dymer.

Felt growing influence of Christian or theistic writers and colleagues, including MacDonald, G. K. Chesterton, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Edmund Spenser, John Milton and even the theistic pagans (Plato, Virgil, and Homer). Especially important was his relationship with J. R. R. Tolkien.

Converted to theism in 1929 (228-29) and to Christianity two yrs. later (236-37). Real joy (238).

Spent many years thereafter as an Oxford don and became known widely as a respected "lay defender" of Christianity; published a wide variety of books including literary criticism, children stories, essays, science fiction, Christian apologetics, fiction, and poetry.

1955 accepted the Professorship of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

April 1956 married Joy Davidman, former member of Am. Communist party, Jew, divorcee, poet, and writer. They were married as she lay dying of bone cancer in a hospital; the same priest who married them also performed a healing service and she did indeed have a short remission of the cancer so that Joy and Lewis enjoyed four years together. She died in 1960 after the cancer returned. Lewis wrote to a friend about his marriage: "I never expected to have in my sixties, the happiness that passed me by in my twenties."

November 22, 1963, Lewis died peacefully, the same day that John F. Kennedy was fatally wounded in Dallas.