Descent into Hell
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| Descent Into Hell | |
 Eerdmans's 1980 paperback edition |
|
| Author | Charles Williams |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Publication date | 1937 |
| Pages | 222 |
Descent Into Hell is a novel written by Charles Williams, first published in 1937.
Descent Into Hell shares with Williams's other novels the super-natural theme which is situated in a modern context. Forgoing the detective-fiction style of most of his earlier novels, most of the story's action is spiritual or psychological in nature, well-fitting the "theological-thriller" description sometimes given to his works. For this reason Descent was initially rejected by publishers, though T. S. Eliot's publishing house Faber and Faber would eventually pick up the novel, as Eliot admired Williams's work, and, though he did not like Descent Into Hell as well as the earlier novels, desired to see it in print.
[edit] Allusions
There are several prominent literary allusions running throughout Descent Into Hell. Battle Hill's resident poet, Peter Stanhope, frequently quotes and references William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
Percy Bysshe Shelley's work Prometheus Unbound is also referenced repeatedly, regarding the appearance of a doppelgänger.
Less obvious Biblical allusions are present, as well as several references to mythology and legend, including Lilith, Samael, and succubi.
[edit] References
- Carpenter, Humphrey (2006), The Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Their Friends, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-0077-4869-8
