C.S. Lewis Trilogy
Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender, in the Studies in Twentieth-Century British Literature series. New York: Peter Lang, 2013.
“Hilder connects Lewis’s theology with his views on gender in a way previously unforeseen, and in the process sheds new light not only on Lewis and gender but on Lewis the theologian….. thoroughness of scholarship marked by a comprehensive and intelligent use of secondary sources coupled with a close reading of texts that exemplifies insight, care and understanding that yields honest, generous yet critical engagement of both Lewis and opposing positions.”
Christopher W. Mitchell, Director, Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College
“Monika B. Hilder’s carefully reasoned treatment of C.S. Lewis and women is the book for which the scholarly world has been waiting. It towers above other writing on the subject by virtue of the thoroughness of its scholarship, the breadth of context into which the question of Lewis and gender is placed, and the superior abundance of close reading of Lewis texts.”
Leland Ryken, Professor Emeritus, Wheaton College
“In Monika B. Hilder’s Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender we find a thoughtful, nuanced, scholarly, and penetrating exploration of the increasingly popular discussion of Lewis’s understanding of gender. Surprised by the Feminine is a major new contribution to Lewis”
Don W. King, Professor of English, Montreat College
“Hilder offers a fourth approach…. Can her approach be dismissed? This reviewer thinks not. Arguments about Lewis’s attitudes about the sexes and the genders will be more complicated in the future, for Hilder has defined the key values being discussed.”
Joe R. Christopher, Professor Emeritus, Tarleton State University, Texas
The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy, in the Studies in Twentieth-Century British Literature series. New York: Peter Lang, 2013.
“From time to time we find ourselves fortunate enough to wade through the flotsam and jetsam of works about C.S. Lewis and to stumble upon treasure boxes: works of clear and careful scholarship and new insights…. it would be a mistake to see the relevance of Hilder’s work merely in terms of gender discourse…. I finished the book feeling as though I should have seen it before on my own. It is like a guide who leads me through familiar woods yet on a previously undiscovered trail … and I arrive at some secret and beautiful glen (rather than spending the day wandering lost). The guide is so confident and sure-footed that I wonder how I had never seen the path before. But I haven’t, and now here I am at the glen.”
Matthew T. Dickerson, Middlebury College
“In her careful reading of Lewis and his critics, Monika B. Hilder provides a nuanced and balanced approach, showing how often Lewis subverted the usual stereotypes, giving us a new understanding of Lewis’s fiction and a new way to think about gender—a viable Third Way.”
David C. Downing, Planets in Peril
“At long last, a serious study of the Cosmic Trilogy’s central theme, and one which is sufficiently thorough and nuanced to bring out the radical implications of Lewis’s view on gender. Carefully, thoughtfully, insightfully, Hilder moves beyond Pavlovian superficiality of so many previous ventures into this field. An important and valuable contribution.”
Michael Ward, Planet Narnia
The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, in the Studies in Twentieth-Century British Literature series. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2012.
“This engaging analysis will prove an invaluable tool to any Lewis scholar, from those who have long studied the Chronicles to those who have just peeped into the wardrobe…. Hilder does not shrink back from the more problematic or questionable passages…. she invites us to re-think what being feminist means…. Come higher up and further in to look beyond conventional views of heroism and courage…. We may never see Narnia, her heroes, or her creator, in quite the same way.”
Elizabeth Baird Hardy, Milton, Spenser and The Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels
“Presented in a clear and engaging literary style, Monika B. Hilder’s exhaustive study not only exposes the shortcomings of all sexist readings of Lewis’s works, but it also convincingly demonstrates how his theological feminism evenhandedly attributes the same range of characteristics to both genders. With this book, Hilder is making an essential contribution to Lewis studies.”
Rolland Hein, Professor Emeritus of English, Wheaton College
“Prepare to be surprised at how good this book is—and how important. Monika B. Hilder shows how Lewis’s thinking about everything—literature, culture, and theology—is present in his thinking about gender.”
Wayne Martindale, Professor Emeritus of English, Wheaton College
Monika Hilder 