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Narnia character

William Moseley as Peter Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the 2005 film
Peter Pevensie
Race/Nation Human / England
Gender Male
Title High King of Narnia
Birthplace England, Earth
Family
Parents Mr. & Mr. Pevensie
Sibling(s) Susan, Edmund and Lucy
Other Eustace Scrubb (cousin)
Major character in
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Portrayals in Adaptations
1988 BBC miniseries: Richard Dempsey
2005 Disney film: William Moseley

Peter Pevensie is a fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis's. Peter appears in three of the seven books; in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, he is a principal child character, and in The Last Battle, he is an adult. He is mentioned in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and in The Horse and His Boy.

Peter is the eldest of the four Pevensie children and shares his adventures in Narnia with his sisters Susan and Lucy and with his brother Edmund.

Contents

[edit] Name

Peter shared some similarities with Saint Peter (see Christian elements below) and that may contribute to Lewis' choice for his name. An early draft of The Lion begins, "This book is about four children whose names were Ann, Martin, Rose, and Peter. But it is most about Peter who was the youngest." Peter is the only name that makes it into the final work, but as the oldest child instead of the youngest. (Hooper 1977, pp. 105-6)

Pevensey, on the southeast coast of England, is the site of a medieval castle that figures importantly in British history at several points. In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1907) at least one of the characters refers to Pevensey as "England's Gate", which the celebrated wardrobe in Lewis's books quite literally becomes. The surname "Pevensie" does not actually appear in the Chronicles until the third published book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

[edit] Biographical summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Prior story

Peter was born in 1927 and is about 13 years old when he appears in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

[edit] Character developement

Throughout the series, Peter undergoes little in the way of character developement. Even before entering Narnia, Peter is shown to possess strong moral fibre. Perhaps for this reason he undergoes the least development of the major characters; his experiences in Narnia serve primarily to strengthen his innate tendency towards humility and courage. He possesses the traits of maturity and discernment. In the books he is rewarded for this with the position as King Peter the Magnificent, High King over all kings of Narnia.

[edit] In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

As the eldest brother, he tries his best to protect his other siblings and to act like a responsible young adult. He is evacuated to the countryside with his siblings by train because of the air-raids of World War II. In the countryside, they stay at the old mansion of Professor Digory Kirke until the end of the war.

When Lucy first stumbles on the wardrobe, Peter doesn't believe her, thinking it is just her imagination until he and the other Pevensies enter the wardrobe themselves; "A jolly good hoax, Lu".(Lewis 1950, pp. 27) He later apologizes to Lucy for not believing her and is quite angry with Edmund for earlier denying Narnia's existence; "Well, of all the poisonous little beasts".(Lewis 1950, pp. 55) This is caused by Edmund's revelation of his deceit when, upon entering Narnia, he says; "I say...oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left, that is, if we are aiming for the lamp-post?".(Lewis 1950, pp. 54-55)

Peter is knighted as Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane.(Lewis 1950, pp. 121) by Aslan after he kills Maugrim the wolf, chief of the White Witch's secret police, who was trying to kill Susan. This is Peter's first battle. In the American editions of the books and in the 1979 animated film, the chief wolf is named Fenris-Ulf, after a figure from Norse mythology. In those versions, Peter is given the epithet "Fenris-bane".

After defeating the White Witch Jadis, self-styled Queen of Narnia, and her evil allies, he is crowned by Aslan as His Majesty King Peter, High King of Narnia, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion. The ancient prophecy of two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve coming to sit on the four thrones of Narnia at Cair Paravel has come to fruition. This marks the end of the hundred years of winter and the reign of the White Witch, and is the beginning of Narnia's Golden Age.

[edit] In Prince Caspian

After the Pevensie children help defeat Miraz, Peter formally gave authority to Caspian to rule Narnia as king. He later confided to Lucy and Edmund that he was told by Aslan that he and Susan will never return to Narnia, as they are now too old. The four children returned to their world. In which they were waiting for their train that will take them to a boarding school.

[edit] In Voyage of the Dawn Treader

While not physically present in the book, it was mentioned that Peter was under the tutelage of Professor Kirke in preperation for exams.

[edit] In The Horse and His Boy

Although Peter does not appear in this story, it was mentioned that High King Peter around this time was leading a battle to drive away the giants from the North.

[edit] In The Last Battle

Peter has a minor role in the story, however he was the first one who introduced himself to Tirian when the young king begged them to come to their aid. And as Narnia was destroyed in the end, Peter was the one who was asked by Aslan to close the door, and was one of the many people admitted in Aslan's country.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Christian elements

Further information: The Chronicles of Narnia#Christian parallels

Lewis, himself an expert on allegory, did not consider The Chronicles of Narnia allegory. He saw them as "suppositional" answering the question, "What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all." (Martindale & Root 1990) While not allegorical, Narnia does present significant parallels with elements from Christianity.

There are similarities between Peter Pevensie and St. Peter, who was one of Jesus's original twelve disciples. In the story, Peter is the leader of the children as St. Peter is considered the leader of the twelve disciples. Peter leads the army of Narnia to fight against the White Witch as St. Peter led the early Christian church in spreading Christianity. Like St. Peter, who was given that name from Christ, Peter is given the name Sir Peter Wolfsbane by Aslan. The biblical St. Peter, according to Catholic tradition, was given the key to the gate of Heaven and Peter Pevensie shut the door, with a golden key, sealing the destroyed Narnia after the judgment in The Last Battle.(Hinten 2005, pp. 10)

[edit] Portrayals

[edit] References

[edit] Additional reading

  • Ford, Paul F. (2005), Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition, SanFrancisco: Harper, ISBN 0060791276
  • Duriez, Colin (2004), A Field Guide to Narnia, InterVarsity Press, ISBN 0830832076
  • Wagner, Richard J. (2005), C.S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies, For Dummies, ISBN 0764583816

[edit] See also

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The World of Narnia

Peter | Susan | Edmund | Lucy | Eustace | Jill | Digory | Polly | Caspian | Aslan | Shasta | Aravis | Shift | White Witch | Puddleglum
Books Characters Creatures Places
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