“Now you are a lioness”
Some of my very favorite Lucy moments in the Chronicles are her moments of failure. Snapping at Aslan after Beruna because she wants to stay with Edmund rather than tending to the other wounded. Listening in on her friends using Coriakin’s book. Failing to follow Aslan down the gorge in Prince Caspian.
I don’t care for the Disney Prince Caspian movie. If you do, great; I am certainly not going to try and talk you out of that here. That said, while I think most people who share my view would agree that Peter’s character is handled quite poorly, it’s actually Lucy’s characterization that bothers me the most. This disparity can be summed up quite neatly in one quotation: “Now you are a lioness.”
In the movie, Aslan does not say these words. Instead, he exhorts Lucy: “If you were any braver, you would be a lioness,” he tells her when she wishes aloud that she were braver. Film Lucy has done everything right. She remembered and sought Aslan when no one else did, and she reminded Peter who it was who really defeated the White Witch. She rides to find Aslan, and when she does, he calls her a lioness. Lucy’s courage is already complete.
Lewis’s Lucy is different. When Aslan reveals himself to her on the gorge, Lucy fails, badly. A look from Aslan convicts her of it: Lucy should have followed Aslan as soon as she saw him, regardless of whether the others accompanied her. Yet despite knowing this, she still resists. She is shocked and horrified at what Aslan requires of her. Aslan understands her fear—“it is hard for you, little one”—but only when Lucy draws on Aslan’s strength (strength which is entirely external to her) and says, “I’m ready now,” does Aslan finally say, “Now you are a lioness.” (Emphasis mine)
It is impossible for Lucy to be a lioness without the strength of the Lion. She must surrender her own will and her fears to Aslan’s command. By giving up her own judgement, apologizing for her faithlessness, and telling Aslan, “I’m ready; use me as you will,” Lucy is conformed to Aslan’s image. She becomes Lion-like; that is, a lioness.
Lucy is, in many ways, the most spiritually mature protagonist we see in the Chronicles. She has the most intimate relationship with Aslan: she addresses him, always, with familiarity and is arguably the most comfortable calling out to Aslan when he is absent (in other words, in prayer). She consistently experiences the greatest awe at his presence. We see in this passage that she is remarkably able to accurately intuit Aslan’s will, and the text says explicitly says that she knows some of his moods.
Yet in most of the Narnia books, (LB is arguably an exception) one character’s redemption (salvation from death)/sanctification (conformation to the image of God/Aslan) is the primary focus; other characters have spiritual arcs, certainly, but one character is generally given the strongest one. I think it’s remarkable that Lewis chose his most spiritually mature protagonist from LWW and gives her sanctification primary focus in its sequel. I also love that faithful, brave Lucy is so stubborn in the face of correction.
I love even more that Lucy the Valiant is not called lioness because she is brave (though certainly she is), but because she responds to rebuke and says, “I’m ready.” To follow Aslan alone regardless of what the others do requires courage, but more than that it requires obedience. One of my favorite Biblical descriptions of who Christians are is “those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rev 14:4). In much the same way, Lucy shows that to be a lioness, one must follow the Lion wherever he goes.
