Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

            In Lewis' rendition of Till We Have Faces he presents the reader with a new and refreshing perspective of the ancient Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. However, this interesting tale is much more than a myth retold. Lewis' central theme in this book is obsessive love. The sick and twisted love that Orual has for Psyche clearly depicts the obsession she had with Psyche, which is mirrored in her vindictive and manipulative schemes to hold her captive to her. Lewis draws a parallel of this type of love and explains it more in his book The Four Loves. In this book he outlines what possessive love is and how it is laden with selfish ambitions and can easily turn from love to hatred. When Lewis speaks of love in The Four Loves he first presents the reader with two main types of love, gift-love, which desires to provide and give safety and security, and need-love, which loves because it needs and depends on the other person (The Four Loves, 11). Lewis makes it clear to the reader that the Divine love is gift-love. The Father sent his son to save humanity, essentially giving himself for us. Need-love is the very core of one's humanity. As soon as one is born, one is dependent on others emotionally and physically. One develops loneliness and looks to others to alleviate the unbearable reality it presents to us. Lewis also expresses that when these loves are estranged from a connection with God they become perverted and develop into hatred. True love cannot exist apart from God because He is love. When analyzing these two books it is easy to see that Orual's estrangement from the gods leads her to search for divine love in mere a mortal, Psyche, who is incapable of providing it. .
             One can see many of these profound truths mirrored in Till We Have Face. Orual's demented display of "love " for Psyche is a clear example. The root of the problem stems from the fact that Orual is estranged from the gods.