Opinions on Mrs. Moore

[Guest]

Ok...maybe I really don't need to know everything about C.S. Lewis' personal life...but I was reading about his early days "living with" Mrs. Moore in The Inklings. It's really a weird situation and it can really just be explained two ways:

1.) He was attracted to her and stuff happened that was never talked about.
2.) He simply just lived with her

What do you guys think? Of course this was before his conversion to Christianity..., but still...

[a_hnau]

Really not sure. But what is worth considering is that whatever the reality was, and whatever else Lewis had been involved with as a young adult (there are some allusions in his autobiographical work), he - through the grace of God - acquired the self-discipline to reject all this later on and not allow himself to be gradually corrupted by the inroads into his soul that such things would inevitably have given the Enemy.

[Bill]

It is very difficult to think anything without a shred of evidence to go on. Any suggestion that there might have been a sexual relationship between Jack and 'Minto' is based entirely on speculation by biographers as far as I know. One thing is certain however: the family closed ranks on this one. Perhaps this is in itself the only "evidence" as I don't ever recall reading an actual denial that the relationship was something other than platonic. Quite simply, we will never know.

Bill

[Leslie]

Lewis and Mrs. Moore's son, Paddy, served together in the war, and became close friends. Paddy asked Lewis to look after his mother and younger sister if he did not survive the war. Paddy was killed, and Lewis honoured the promise he had made to his friend.

Lewis was known as a man of great loyalty. Having agreed to take on the responsibility, he followed through to the end. The impression I get is that he became as a son to her.

By all accounts, she was a difficult person to live with, particularly in her last years. Some of the examples of strained relations between mothers and grown children in Lewis's writings may be drawn from his own household.

[Guest]

[MoogieCha]

I'm clearly the least knowledgeable (see, I'm not even sure I spelled the word correctly) of this crowd on the facts and fictions of CS Lewis' personal life, having read only some of his works and none of his biographies.

Still, I just wanted to say that what drew me to his works in the first place was the fact that he was the only Christian I knew of (and not just a high-profile one) who married for convenience and wrote about it. Now I learn here that he lived with a woman, in what kind of arrangement no one seems sure of. Interesting.

The Bible clearly states that Christians are not to give even a *hint* of impropriety, and here, our beloved author has given us two biggies. If he were anyone I knew now, who professed to love God and live for His directives, and yet did as Lewis did, I would wonder about the veracity of his claim. When we showed the DVD of his life (ShadowLands?) to some of our non-Christian Japanese friends here, that part really confused them, cuz they hear something different about marriage in the Sunday sermons. Wait til they hear he was also fond of the 'weed' and had a brother who was equally if not more fond of spirits. :)

However....

I love Lewis as an author. He is my favourite (except for a brief daliance with Dave Barry, but that's another story...). And he of any author, has cleared away the forest for me so i can see the Tree. And that's why I'll continue to read him.

Moogs

Midnite rantings....

[Alan]

Was there anything going on ?

Is it any of our business ? Just because Jack was a superb author who we all love does not give us the right to poke our nose into private business that can only satisfy the more salatious aspects of our characters. Nor is it our job to speculate on that of which we have no knowledge.

As for Jack being the only high powered Christian who married for convenience - well European history is more or less a continual study of that one single event right up to current date.

Yes he liked tobacco and had a taste for fine spirits. I am hardly surprised, both are ( in moderation ) very enjoyable pastimes. Why else would there be over a millenium of Christian history devoted to the creation of fine spirits, wines and beers ?

[MoogieCha]

Well... it's the age-old question of whether a person's private life can really inform on their public life.

Pastors, husbands-to-be, yes, even presidential candidates.. anyone who is in a position of influence and in whom people put their trust, should expect to have their lives examined for hypocrisy (spelling, again).

I don't think writers should be exempt, though they weave their influence between the shoulders of the public, as one if one of the crowd.

It's just another reminder that there's only one place, really, where we can be sure of the truth. The Bible.

Moogsie.

[Robin]

In reading Lewis' letters I get the impression that Mrs. Moore became a surrogate mother to him, Jack took her in to fill the void left by his mother passing away in his childhood. I think this may have been the reason why such an unusual relationship lasted so long. The sexual stuff seems to me like something suspicious minds made up..

[loeee]

I believe Jack even referred to Mrs. Moore as his "mother" on more than one occasion. And don't forget, Maureen (Paddy's sister) was also part of the household. Perhaps the family has nothing to say because there is nothing to say.

[Guest]

[Bill]

[Guest]

If you read the Bio- "Jack" by George Sayer- It does mention in there that he and his father were experencing diffuculities at the time and that Warnie disaproved of Mrs. Moore. This cause a strain on their family for quite a few years.

[Bill]

[magpie]