Susan Pevensie

Susan Pevensie (1928-?) was the second-born of the Pevensie children (after Peter) and the eldest sister. She was logical (to the point of being stubborn), motherly, and more serious than her sister, Lucy. During her reign at the Narnian capital of Cair Paravel, she was known as Queen Susan the Gentle or Queen Susan of the Horn.

Susan was also known for her great beauty and her archery skills. She was headstrong, talented and intelligent. During the Golden Age, she was courted by many princes of neighboring countries, including Prince Rabadash of Calormen. After the Pevensie's second visit to Narnia, she was told that she would never again return.

During this last visit, there were some indications that Susan was having trouble believing in Narnia. She was the last of the children to believe and see Aslan during the nighttime hike to Aslan's How. When she finally saw him, he told her she had been "listening to fears", and comforted her. However, back on Earth, she began to convince herself that Narnia was just a game, and she thought her siblings silly to continue seriously entertaining such childhood fantasies.

Bombing of London and refuge
Susan witnessed the bombing of London in 1940 during World War II by Nazi Germany. To be safe, she and her siblings were sent by their mother to Professor Digory Kirke, an old man who lived in a big house in the country. When her younger sister Lucy entered Narnia for the first time, Susan and the other Pevensie children did not believe her until they had seen it for themselves. This did not happen until later when the four of them were forced into the wardrobe out of necessity.

The Age of Winter
Once the four of them had got into Narnia, Lucy took them to see Mr. Tumnus, but they discovered his home empty. Upon learning that he was about to be sentenced by the self-proclaimed Queen of Narnia, Jadis (for "fraternizing with humans"), Susan was torn between her fear and the impulse to help the faun. After they met Mr. Beaver and his wife, Susan heard of the Golden Age Prophecy, in which she and her siblings would be the future monarchs of Narnia. When Edmund ran away to see the White Witch, Susan went with her remaining siblings and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to the Stone Table to meet Aslan.

During their journey she was given a bow and arrows by Father Christmas, together with a magical horn to blow in difficult times. It was said of the horn that if she blew it, wherever she was, help would come to her. She and Lucy were advised to stay out of the upcoming battle unless absolutely necessary.

Peter, Susan, Lucy and the Beavers reached the Stone Table in time to meet Aslan, and following his meeting with Jadis, Susan witnessed along with her sister the Lion's death and resurrection on the Stone Table. With Aslan and Lucy, she traveled to the White Witch's castle in order to release the creatures which were turned to stone during the last one hundred years.

After the battle, Susan was crowned by Aslan as "Queen Susan the Gentle" and shared the monarchy with her brothers High King Peter and King Edmund, and her sister Queen Lucy. The period of their reign is known as the Golden Age of Narnia.

Reign at Cair Paravel and Return to England
"To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle"

- Aslan

Queen Susan was described as a gentle lady with black hair falling to her feet. She was very popular among other families of royalty, especially men who hoped to court her. Shasta, whom she thought was Prince Corin of Archenland, found her to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was asked to marry the Calormene Prince Rabadash, but declined. This gave the Tisroc an excuse to wage war against Narnia.

During the battle between Calormen and Narnia together with some of the inhabitants of Archenland, Susan stayed at Cair Paravel, being too frightened to go into battle. Lucy and Edmund, however, were not, and the Narnians eventually were victorious in the war.

After living fifteen years in Narnia, news of the White Stag came to the four siblings. It had been seen in the woods, in Lantern Waste. The legend of the Stag was that those who captured it would receive all of their wishes. The Kings and Queens set out to hunt it, and came across the lamppost, which brought back memories of their old life before Narnia. They followed the path to the wardrobe door and were brought back to England.

Susan's Horn
"That is the greatest and most sacred tresure of Narnia. Many terrors I endured, many spells did I utter, to find it, when I was still young. It is the magic horn of Queen Susan herself which she left behind when she vanished from Narnia at the end of the Golden Age. It is said that whoever blows it shall have strange help - no one can say how strange."

- Cornelius, talking to Prince Caspian

1,300 years after the disappearance of the Narnian rulers, Susan's magical horn played an important part in seating Caspian X on the Narnian throne. By this time her horn was a relic given to Caspian by his tutor, the half-dwarf magician Doctor Cornelius. When the Prince's life was threatened by his uncle, King Miraz the Usurper, Caspian sounded the horn and the four Pevensies were magically brought to Narnia from a railway station.

Ruins
The Pevensie children found themselves on an island, near a ruin that they found was once Cair Paravel. To prove the theory, they found the Treasure Room. Peter, Susan and Lucy found their gifts from Father Christmas, and took them, except for Susan's horn. She remembered that she'd had it with her on the hunt for the Stag, losing it.

After they saved Trumpkin, a dwarf and follower of Caspian, from Miraz's men who saught to drown him, he led them off the island. Using the bow and arrows she retrieved from the ruin of Cair Paravel, Susan easily beat Trumpkin the dwarf in a friendly competition, showing him that the "children" really were who they claimed to be. For a short while at the begining of this trip to Narnia, Susan was doubtful that Aslan would come to them, and was the last to believe otherwise. Aslan discerned that Susan had "listened to her fears", but his breath soon restored her faith and she immersed herself in the adventures as deeply as she had the first time they were in Narnia.

When Caspian's kingdom was restored, Aslan told Susan that she and Peter would never enter Narnia again because they had grown too old (Susan was 13 and Peter was 14.)

England Again
"Why do you think I didn't see Aslan?" "I don't know... Maybe you didn't really want to." "I finally just got used to the idea of being in England" "But you're happy to be here, aren't you?" "While it lasts."

- Susan and Lucy

A year after her return from the second visit to Narnia, Susan went on a trip with her parents to America for the summer. This was the trip that sent Edmund and Lucy to stay with their relatives, the Scrubbs, While Peter was studying with Professor Kirke.

Lucy sees images of Susan in a magic book while in the Land of the Duffers. The image shows Lucy as the prettier sister, intended to be what would come if she said the spell. This was because adults back in England had begun to call Susan "the pretty one in the family."

When all those who had been to Narnia are led into Aslan's Country, Susan was conspicuous in her absence. High King Peter said that she was "no longer a friend of Narnia", and Jill Pole "she [was] interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up." Eustace reports her as saying, "What wonderful memories you have! Fancy you're still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children."

Differences Between Books and Movies


In the 2005 Disney/Walden Media film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as the 2008 sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Susan is portrayed by Anna Popplewell and, as an adult, by Sophie Winkleman.

In the 1988 BBC television adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as well as the 1989 sequel Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Susan is portrayed by Sophie Cook.

In the 1979 cartoon adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Susan is voiced by Susan Sokol.

Throughout the Disney film: Prince Caspian, the nature of Susan and Caspian X's relationship is romantic. And at the end, before returning to England for the last time, Susan and Caspian kiss goodbye.

Despite the fact that Susan is known as "the Gentle", and it says specifically in The Horse And His Boy that she does not go into battle, Susan is shown actively participating in fighting many times in Disney's Prince Caspian movie.

Commentary
In a letter written to a young fan, C. S. Lewis stated that Susan's story was not finished.

The Christian significance of Susan's character has been much discussed. Aside from her role together with Lucy paralleling the women in the gospel who first find the risen King, Lewis may have intended her to represent the good seeds which are "choked by thorns" in the parable of the sower from the Gospel of Matthew. It is also quite likely, that Lewis may have intended to keep Susan for a post-Narnia story, about redemption, but, died before writing it, as he had written to his young fans that Susan's story was not finished.

Lady Polly claims that Susan's "whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can." That is, Susan's failure is due to vanity and a false adolescent sense of "maturity". This image of Susan provides a striking contrast to her sister Lucy, who is a shining example of the Biblical "faith as a little child."

It has been argued that Susan's maternal nature cultivates a sense of self-reliance that prevents her from sufficiently following Aslan. In this interpretation, Lewis intended Susan to represent those who in the confusion of their fallen state find a spiritual call to faith drowned out not by malice on their part but simply by the mundane distractions of everyday life.

It can be argued that in his portrayal of Susan Lewis is attempting to illustrate the importance of keeping important things in focus, for by devoting her entire present life to something temporary, Susan sacrifices her chance at something eternal. Lewis is not stating that Susan's natural maturing is inherently wrong, but to become overly devoted to petty and shallow aspects of it is.

There remains controversy among fans as to whether Susan's absence in Aslan's Country was permanent.

It can also be pointed out that the other children enter into the "new" Narnia (representative of the eternal Heaven) because they have died in a train accident, while Susan remains alive on our world, providing no proof that she has been permanently excluded. Aslan's last words at the coronation of the four Pevensies offer the best justification for believing Susan will eventually join the others when the time comes in Aslan's Country: "Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen of Narnia."

Another thing that should be noted was that at the Pevensie's coronation, was Aslan saying "may your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the Heavens". However, since Narnia had already been destroyed and "the stars rain down" before Susan died, this may mean that Susan has missed her chance, but since many of Susan's friends from the old Narnia, are in the "new" Narnia, and everything was "the same, but better", with the "new" Narnia having night, the star are in "the Heavens', states that Susan will join the others when she dies.

Lewis once said that Susan's journey was not finished. Maybe he saw saving Susan for something more, maybe he was giving her a second chance, since Susan had "listened to fears" before. Also Susan must have greatly suffered when told that her parents, siblings, cousin and friends had all been killed. Maybe upon learning of this, Susan would begin to see life more clearly, and become like she had been as a Queen of Narnia, foresaking her silliness and embracing life again, and prepared to accept disappointment, finally joining the others in the "new" Narnia when she dies.