Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1978

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Greer, Allen W.

Abstract

Sehnsucht is a term used by C.S. Lewis to describe the immortal longing imparted to each soul by the Creator. The design of this longing is to draw one to a place of absolute surrender to the truth of God's preeminence. In Lewis' own life, as well as that of his fictional characters, the result of this longing is a relentless quest. In Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, the quest follows a structural pattern I have identified as the island motif. Elwin Ransom moves toward an island physically and spiritually. He is drawn by slowly intensifying encounters with Sehnsucht, occasioned by his sensory perceptions of the bizarre landscapes. Ransom's journey is allegorically related to the Christian's pilgrimage in Out of the Silent Planet. The quest becomes a reenactment of the Redeemer Myth in Perelandra. Both stories culminate in the hero's mystic union with the numinous.

Extent

71 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1978.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identifier

FADT13913

Format

pdf

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