The Space Trilogy: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: C. S. Lewis

First published: 1975 (includes Out of the Silent Planet, 1938; Perelandra, 1943 {also published as Voyage to Venus, 1953}; and That Hideous Strength, 1945 {also published in shorter form as The Tortured Planet, 1958}); also published as The Cosmic Trilogy, 1990

Genre: Novel

Locale: Earth, Mars, and Venus

Plot: Fantasy

Time: The late 1930's and the 1940's

Elwin Ransom, the protagonist, a middle-aged scholar who is kidnapped while on a walking tour of the English countryside. His abductors take him aboard a spacecraft bound for Mars, where he is to be given to the Martian natives. Assuming he is to be sacrificed as part of an alien ritual, Ransom escapes from his captors once they reach the planet's surface. Wandering the Martian landscape, he encounters the planet's other intelligent life-forms—the hrossa, the sorns, and the pfifiltriggi—as well the eldils, luminous spiritual beings of a higher order. The Martians easily defeat the schemes of Ransom's captors, and the humans are returned to Earth; Ransom is enjoined to keep an eye on the future actions of his kidnappers.

Dick Devine, one of Ransom's captors, a former schoolmate. He is glib and outwardly sociable; in reality, he is a crass, selfish con artist who is primarily interested in the gold to be found on Mars. He and his accomplice, Weston, erroneously regard the sophisticated Martians as primitives who can be bought with trinkets or cowed by technology.

Professor Weston, Ransom's other captor, a brilliant physicist who has managed to build a working spacecraft. Imperious and arrogant, he is at once more noble and more sinister than Devine. He seeks to dominate the Martians as a first step in a program of interplanetary imperialism.

Hyoi, a hrossa, a member of a species of large, graceful, otterlike creatures who are supremely talented artists, singers, and communicators. He becomes Ransom's first acquaintance among the intelligent Martian species. Hyoi is shot and killed by Devine and Weston.

Augray, a sorn, a member of a species of tremendously tall, thin humanoids who are learned in the physical sciences.

Kanakabera, a pfiffiltriggi, a member of a subterranean race of dwarflike creatures who serve as the planet's builders and sculptors.

Oyarsa, the chief eldil and guardian spirit of the planet, an ageless, bodiless, and extraordinarily powerful entity. The Martian oyarsa explains the cosmic dynamic to Ransom: Because of the ancient rebellion of its own guardian spirit, the Earth, or Thulcandra, is the one fallen planet in the solar system, which is otherwise utterly harmonious under the rule of Maledil, the eldilic name for God. The Martian oyarsa humbles Weston and Devine and returns all three Earthmen to their own planet.

Elwin Ransom, the protagonist of the first novel, who is again embroiled in an interplanetary struggle between good and evil. In the second volume, Ransom is transported to Venus, or Perelandra, by the “light” eldils of the solar system. He learns that the “dark,” or fallen, eldils of Earth, which are responsible for the planet's suffering, are meditating an attack on Perelandra. Because he has learned the language of the unfallen planets, Ransom is sent to the emergent paradise of Perelandra to contest Weston in an intellectual and spiritual contest for the souls of the planet's first humanoid inhabitants.

Professor Weston, also known as The Un-Man, whose spirit is possessed by the dark eldils. He tries to persuade the Green Lady—the Eve of the new world—to repeat the earthly Fall by breaking the one commandment she has been given by Maledil: not to leave the planet's idyllic floating islands to reside on its “fixed land.” Empowered by his possessors, he is tireless and relentlessly persuasive. When Ransom senses that the Green Lady is on the verge of succumbing, he attacks the Un-Man and kills him in a brutal physical combat.

The Green Lady, also known as Tinidril, the entirely innocent foremother of Perelandra, who is targeted for corruption by the dark eldils and who must be educated and protected by Ransom.

The King, also known as Tor, the Adam of Perelandra. He is separated from the Green Lady during a storm, leaving her alone and vulnerable to Weston's approach.

Lewis, the narrator, who assists Ransom upon his departure for Perelandra and his return to Earth.

Humphrey, a doctor friend of Ransom and Lewis who treats Ransom's wounds upon his return.

Elwin Ransom, now known as The Director, the protagonist of the earlier books, who has been vested with spiritual powers since his return from the paradise of Perelandra. He gathers about him a cadre of believers to contest the efforts of the dark eldils and their dupes to attain control of England.

Mark Studdock, a young sociologist who is inveigled into the inner councils of the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E), a quasi-governmental organization that serves as a front for the dark eldils' plans. Obsessed by the desire to “belong,” Mark is at first deceived by the N.I.C.E.'s blandishments; eventually, he comes to oppose the organization's goals and is imprisoned.

Jane Studdock, Mark's wife. Unhappy in her marriage, she begins to have dream visions that prove to be true. The N.I.C.E. covets her as a source of intelligence, but she gravitates to Ransom's group. At the novel's end, she and Mark are reunited and recommitted to their marriage.

Dr. Dimble, an elderly professor at Edgestow, the fictional university at which Mark also works. Jane's former tutor and a devout Christian, he is one of Ransom's principal followers.

Mrs. Dimble, Dr. Dimble's pleasant, motherly wife.

Grace Ironwood, another of Ransom's followers, a psychologist.

Ivy Maggs, a servant in Ransom's household whose husband is jailed by the N.I.C.E.

Camilla Denniston and Arthur Denniston, a likable young couple allied with Ransom.

MacPhee, another member of Ransom's household, a ratio-nalist and skeptic.

Merlin, the sorcerer of Arthurian legend, who wakes from a state of suspended animation to help destroy the N.I.C.E., kill its leaders, and liberate its prisoners.

Lord Feverstone, known as Dick Devine in the first novel, a corrupt opportunist who introduces Mark into the N.I.C.E.

Professor Frost, one of the N.I.C.E.'s directors, a cold, precise man controlled by the dark eldils.

Professor Wither, the N.I.C.E.'s other director, a master of verbal misdirection, also controlled by the dark eldils.

Professor Filostrato, an eminent anatomist who directs the N.I.C.E.'s most secret project, the effort to animate a severed human head.

Miss Hardcastle, also known as The Fairy, a sadistic, vulgar woman who directs the N.I.C.E.'s secret police.

Professor William Hingest, an internationally renowned scientist who attempts to leave the N.I.C.E. and is murdered by its police; Mark is subsequently accused of the crime.

The Head, the severed head of a criminal guillotined for murdering his wife. Filostrato and the others believe it is their technical prowess that keeps the head alive; in reality, it is animated by the dark eldils, who use it as a mouthpiece.

Horace Jules, the N.I.C.E.'s figurehead, the pompous, un-comprehending author of trite but popular philosophical and political tracts.

Curry, Feverstone's toady at the University of Edgestow.

Steele, Mark's early colleague and rival in the N.I.C.E.'s sociology section.

Straik, a defrocked minister and religious fanatic employed by the N.I.C.E.