Susan Pevensie

Susan Pevensie (1928-?) is the elder sister and the second Pevensie by birth-order. During her reign at the Narnian capital of Cair Paravel, she is known as Susan the Gentle and Queen Susan of the Horn.

Synopsis
Susan is known for her great beauty and archery skills. She is headstrong, talented and intelligent. Later she is sought after by Prince Rabadash of Calormen. After going to Narnia to help Prince Caspian, she is told that she will not return again because she is too old. After some years she begins to convince herself that Narnia has just been a game, and she thinks her siblings are 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. To be safe, she and her siblings were sent by their mother to Professor Digory Kirke, an old man who possesses a big house in the country. When her sister entered Narnia for the first time, she didn't believe her until she got there herself when hiding in an old wardrobe.

The Age of Winter
In the the Age of Winter, the period in Narnia when she and her siblings entered, Susan was very excited to explore Narnia. After they visited the empty home of Mr. Tumnus and read for what he was sentenced, she came into conflict with her fear and with the impulse of helping him. 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, Jadis, the self-proclamed Queen of Narnia, Susan went with her 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 to bring aid. She was advised to stay out of the upcoming battle unless it was absolutely necessary to bring peace to Narnia.

Peter, Susan, Lucy and the Beavers reached the Stone Table in time to meet Aslan, the Great Lion and rightful King of Narnia. After the meeting of Aslan and Jadis, she witnessed together with Lucy Aslan'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 hundred years.

After the battle, she is crowned by Aslan as Her Majesty, Queen Susan the Gentle and shares the monarchy with her brothers High King Peter and King Edmund and her sister Queen Lucy. The period of their reign is considered the Golden Age of Narnia.

Reign at Cair Paravel and Return to England
Queen Susan was described as a gentle lady with black hair falling to her feet. Shasta, whom she thought was Prince Corin of Archenland, found her to be the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. At one time, she was asked to marry the Calormene Prince Rabadash. Her rejection of him provided the Tisroc with an excuse to wage war against Narnia.

During the battle between the Calormen and the Narnians and inhabitors of Archenland she stayed at Cair Paravel, being to frightend to go into battle unlike her younger sister Lucy and her brother Edmund.

After living fifteen years in Narnia, Mr. Tumnus brought to the Kings and Queens news that the White Stag was seen in the woods. For everyone who captures the White Stag his wishes will come true. During the hunt the Pevensies remember parts of their old lives on earth after seeing an old lamppost in the Lantern Waste. They find the path to the wardrobe door and become again children since the time hasn't continued during their journey.

Susan's Legacy in Narnia
During the time of Prince Caspian, Susan's legendary magical horn played an important part. By this time her horn was a thousand-year old relic given to the future King, Prince Caspian X, 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 Pevensies were magically transferred to Narnia from a railway station.



Again in Narnia
They found themselves on an island. But it is later revealed that the ruin they have found was once Cair Paravel. To prove it, they snuck out the Treasure Room. Peter, Susan and Lucy took their gifts from Father Christmas back in their possession. But Susan's horn was missing. Susan remembered that she took it with her when they were hunting the White Stag. Later it was revealed that the horn was used to call them back to Narnia.

After meeting Trumpkin, a dwarf and loyal servant to Caspian, they leave the island after Susan was again shown to be a superb archer. Using the bow and arrows she retrieved from the ruin of Cair Paravel, Susan easily beat the excellent archer Trumpkin the dwarf in a friendly competition.

During this time, she pretended to believe that Aslan has not come back, even though she later admitted to having known it was true all along. Soon after she also admitted she was grateful for the presence of Aslan during the wild bacchanal in his honor. Aslan discerned that Susan had "listened to her fears" but his breath soon restored her faith and she immersed herself in their adventures as deeply as she had the first time they were in Narnia.

When Caspian's kingdom was restored, Aslan told her that she and Peter would never enter Narnia again because they had grown too old. She kisses Caspian, but tells him that she is "after all, 13,000 years older that [he]". It is shown that there is affection in between the two, even though Caspian marries someone else, and this is not depicted in the book.

The later (English) years
During The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Susan accompanied her parents on a trip to America, while Peter was being tutored by Professor Digory Kirke, and Edmund and Lucy stayed with their relatives, the Scrubbs. At this time it was being remarked by some adults that Susan was "the pretty one of the family" which caused some insecurity in Lucy.

Lucy sees images of Susan in a book on the Land of the Duffers in which Lucy is the prettier one because she spoke a spell that makes her more beautiful than any other. She wanted to use it to make Susan the plain-looking one but was stopped by Aslan.

During The Last Battle, Susan was conspicuous by her absence. Peter said that she was "no longer a friend of Narnia", and (in Jill Pole's words) "she [was] interested in nothing now-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations". Similarly, Eustace Scrubb reports that she said, "What wonderful memories you have! Fancy you're still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children."

Susan does not enter into Narnia because she wasn't in the train when the accident happened and she had lost her faith. She remaines alive on Earth, the only one who was left of all the travelers to Narnia.

Trivia



 * In the 2005 Disney film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Susan is portrayed by Anna Popplewell and, as an adult, by Sophie Winkleman.
 * In the 2008 movie adaption The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Susan is again portrayed by Anna Popplewell.
 * Throughout the book Susan is the voice of caution and common sense. Even at the end after a number of years in Narnia she counsels against pursuing the White Stag, fearing the upset to the established order she and her siblings all sense the pursuit might bring.
 * There is some controversy as to whether or not Susan's absence was permanent, especially since Lewis (in a letter written to a young fan) stated that Susan's story was not finished.

Commentary
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 yet."

This treatment of her has drawn particular criticism from feminist commentators, who draw attention to how she was written out of the end of the story. Critics claim this indicates a fear or hatred of female sexuality on the part of Lewis and even misogyny, claims often linked with other examples of the role of girls and women in the series. Arguing against this view are realistic and positive female characters such as Aravis in The Horse and His Boy and Jill Pole in The Silver Chair, both of whom enter Aslan's Country.

The "sexuality" interpretation is not the one taken by Lady Polly within the story. She 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, according to the book, Susan's failure is due to vanity and a false adolescent sense of "maturity", not sexuality. Susan provides a striking contrast to her sister Lucy, who is a shining example of the Biblical "faith as a little child." Even her chronologically older brother Peter begins to see Aslan before Susan does in Prince Caspian.

It has been argued that Susan's maternal nature cultivates a sense of self-reliance that prevents her from sufficiently following Aslan (again, going against the sexuality argument). 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.

Lewis's supporters also point 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, so that there is no proof that she has been permanently "excluded". The first footnote under Susan’s entry in Companion of Narnia by Paul F. Ford is very helpful in understanding the meaning behind Susan’s absence at the end of The Last Battle. And perhaps most importantly, Aslan’s last words at the coronation in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe of the four Pevensies to the throne 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 in Narnia Always a King or Queen in Narnia..."