63 pages • 2 hours read
C. S. LewisThat Hideous Strength
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1945A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary:“They Have Pulled Down Deep Heaven on Their Heads”
Ransom and the Stranger exchange words. MacPhee, who has been spoken to by the Stranger, falls asleep. The Stranger tells Ransom to inform his masters that he has arrived. When Ransom says that he is the master, the Stranger doesn’t believe him. The Stranger tells Ransom that anyone can learn Hebrew or Greek or Latin. Ransom says he will use another tongue, and ancient tongue, from Numinor. This gets the Stranger’s attention. Ransom then tells the Stranger that his masters are the Oyèresu, which startles the Stranger. He asks Ransom where he heard the name and, if he is of the College, why he dresses like a slave. Ransom replies that the Stranger is not dressed like a druid. Then the Stranger asks Ransom to answer three questions to prove he is the master of the house.
The first question involves the Sulva (the Moon), and why she is barren on one side. Ransom answers the question correctly, saying that those who live on the moon practice procreation with devilish arts. The second question is about the whereabouts of King Arthur’s ring, the answer to which Ransom also answers correctly. He says the ring is on the hand of the Pendragon, who is with Melchisedec and Moses. The third question concerns who the Pendragon might be when Saturn descends. Ransom again answers correctly, stating that he is in fact the Pendragon. The Stranger walks toward him and then sinks to one knee and bows.
Meanwhile, Wither and Frost deliberate on their situation and decide that they need to find a Celtic scholar. In the interim, they will have their pupils take turns watching the man they think is Merlin, as there is no way for any of them to leave Belbury.
Jane and the team return and find MacPhee asleep. They wake him, and he tells them that a strange man put him to sleep and has the Director. They rush into the house and find that the women are all asleep in the kitchen. Then they head upstairs and see that the Stranger and Ransom are dressed oddly and talking like old friends. Everyone is angry at this turn of events, for the Stranger seems dangerous to them all. They wonder if the Director has changed sides.
The Stranger sees Jane and, in Latin, talks of how she should be killed for her crime. It is revealed that Jane and Mark were supposed to have a child that would rout the enemies of Logres but that, because of her own defiance, she has become barren and not produced a child. The Director gives his reasons and says they are all sinful in their own ways. Dr. Dimble is the only one who can understand the Stranger and places Jane behind him. The Director asks them to trust him, as they’ve done before, and explains that they’ve all been mistaken. Merlinus Ambrosius, who is the Stranger, would have never joined the N.I.C.E. He also explains the clothing: Merlin was confused as to why Ransom was the head of the house but dressed like a stable boy, so Ransom put on clothes befitting his station as a Director. He tells the rest of the group that Merlin is a part of their circle, whether they like it or not.
The Dimbles talk about Merlin and the possible troubles that might arise. They’d all been thinking that he would be like them: a twentieth-century man. But he is an ancient man with ancient ways of thinking, including his views on crime, punishment, right, and wrong. Dimble also talks about how the time that Merlin came from was one where people did not always have to be on the side of either good or evil. There were neutral beings, most of which no longer exist, that operated outside the poles of good and evil. Merlin is one such person. He was in contact with higher beings and has been altered by this contact, yet he is not evil or good in the twentieth-century sense of those concepts. Dimble also realizes that Merlin is the exact opposite of Belbury. He is in tune with Nature itself, while Belbury wants to rid the world of Nature and reduce man to machines and science.
Merlin notices Ransom’s injury and tells him he can heal it. The Director says that Merlin cannot use such powers as he would have, especially as the soul has left nature. Merlin wants to try, however, and as he speaks, he puts a sort of spell on the room, with everyone getting drowsy. The Director withstands this attack and orders Merlin not to use his methods. He tells him that they are unlawful in the present time. He also says that Merlin will not be used as a soldier.
Ransom then says that Merlin is to be filled with powers from his Masters. Merlin momentarily thinks that Ransom is talking about wraiths, which are the shadows or spirits of the Masters that are on earth. Ransom says that he is referring to the celestial beings, not their earthly counterparts. Ransom and Merlin then discuss how the Seventh Law says that the Powers cannot come down to earth. Merlin says that Belbury, in its stupidity, has reached out and gone to the heavens, thereby breaking the Seventh Law and allowing the Masters to deal with them on earth. These Masters that will descend are in fact greater than spirits like Malacandra and Perelandra. Merlin searches for another way, like appealing to the King of the Emperor, but Ransom tells him that things are different now and that there is no other way but to use Merlin as a vessel.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Real Life is Meeting”
Mark is again visited by Frost, who asks him if he’s given more thought to becoming one of them. Mark knows he needs to play along and so asks Frost how and why the macrobes want to cooperate with humans. He finally realizes that Frost has become what priests and mystics aspire to: a willing vessel who sees things objectively and “believes” wholeheartedly.
Mark is fed and taken to a large room to begin his objectivity training. Mark tries to stay alert but realizes that the room is made to force his objectivity. Odd paintings that are quietly sinister, along with strange holes in the desk and ceiling, give him a sense of unease that he tries to hide from. Instead of causing Mark to see Belbury’s side, however, the effect of the room is that Mark differentiates between a definite right and wrong, where he sees the room and Belbury as wrong and Jane’s side as normal. He realizes that he needs to focus on the normal no matter what. Frost then retrieves him and takes him to the room with the man the N.I.C.E. think is Merlin. Mark is to watch over the man and alert them if he wakes or speaks. The man wakes when Mark is there and, when Mark says hello, the man responds in crude English.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Dimble and Jane prepare a cottage for Ivy and Mr. Maggs. Mr. Maggs is being released and Ivy has gone to town to await his release and bring him to St. Anne’s. The women prepare the room for the couple, and Jane notes just how much things are meshed together. To her, the joining of what seems sensual and ancient with modern-day propriety is interesting. She is not part of the world that allows the sensual in and is a bit shocked that Mrs. Dimble is. When Mrs. Dimble leaves, Jane has a vision or dream, though she isn’t sure which. In it, someone who looks like Mrs. Dimble is dressed in an old gown that shows her breasts. There are dwarves and other creatures around and they rush toward Jane in the cottage. They then start destroying everything, and the large woman has a torch that, on further inspection, is causing everything to grow. Jane is then awakened by Mrs. Dimble and sees that the cottage is a mess. She says she must speak to the Director at once.
Mr. Bultitudeclimbs over the fence though he seems to realize that he isn’t allowed to. On the other side, he is seen by a N.I.C.E. van. The two men put something on a sandwich and feed it to him, knocking him out. They then load him into the van and take him to Belbury.
Mark is put through the objectivity training more and more. One of the things that helps him is his conversation with the Man in the Bed. They are hardly conversations, as the man uses gestures more than speech. The man seems to know that they must keep his speaking a secret. Frost and Wither don’t seem to realize that the man is fooling them. Many people are brought in to try and converse with the man.
The Director tells Jane that her “dream” was likely real. Since Merlin’s appearance, a lot of happenings from ancient times are again occurring, especially in the area where they reside. He tells Jane that she is repressing things, which is the reason for the “dream.” Jane is not Christian, neither is she a virgin or on the worldly side. She is therefore a sort of middle ground, and she refuses to accept one side or the other, leaving her vulnerable to things like the Old Woman she saw. He tells Jane that she will most likely have to become Christian. He also says that obedience, the type of obedience she doesn’t like, is due to her mistrust of the masculine and that Jane is suffering from pride.
The Director then says that the Old Woman could be a counterpart to a celestial angel, as every celestial, or good, angel has an earthly, or bad, counterpart. A group of these celestial angels will descend and give power to Merlin, he reminds her, and the rest should stay in the kitchen or out of the way when it takes place. He mentions that the enemy is looking for experts in foreign languages, suggesting that Merlin might pretend to be one of these experts. The two are interrupted by Miss Ironwood, however, with terrible news. Ivy has returned without her husband. Under new rules, Mr. Maggs was taken to Belbury for remedial treatment.
Jane goes to the garden and thinks about religion. She realizes that no one else speaks of things in terms of religion. They all speak of God, not religion. As she’s thinking on the subject, she has a religious experience. It’s described as a Person coming to her, but a memory or a moment hard to explain or remember. She feels completely changed by the experience, even though her old self tries to warn her about being duped.
Chapter 15 Summary: “The Descent of the Gods”
The crew at St. Anne’s bunkers down in the kitchen while Merlin and Ransom await the eldils in the Blue Room. The house begins taking on strange qualities, and the passage to the Blue Room is described as experiencing earth as a spinning ball in space, which would turn back anyone trying to access the sacred space.
The first example of being visited comes when everyone in the kitchen becomes elated and starts speaking wittily and intelligently. Then they stop and fall silent. Upstairs, Ransom and Merlin experience things differently. Both men are taken with fits, and it feels as if their sanity is being broken, and then it is broken, as a beam of color that cannot be named seeks them out. Their being broken and put back together is on account of the first angel visiting them. This angel is Viritrilbia, the lord of Meaning itself. Viritrilbia is also known as Mercury or Thoth.
Downstairs, Jane sees the couples in lovely embrace or talking, and sees beings dancing and flittering about. Upstairs, Ransom and Merlin feel the heat rise and feel Charity (love) enter the room. These harbingers are from Perelandra, the eldila of Venus, who now descends.
Everyone confirms their love for one another. A cold descends. Malacandra, also known as Mars and Mavors and Tyr, enters the room. Then a burden as deep as antiquity falls upon the house, and possibly even the entire earth. The meaningless of time is felt with a coldness and Saturn, or Lurga, enters the room. Saturn is far more ancient than the other angels. Everyone downstairs begins dancing, as if in a kingly procession. Upstairs, lights fill the room. The greatest of angels, Glund-Oyarsa, King of Kings, also known as Jove, enters the room. Merlin receives power from these angels and, the next day, is dropped off near Belbury by MacPhee.
Mark wakes up in the tramp’s room and sees Frost and Wither enter with a stranger, who is Merlin. The stranger addresses the tramp in Latin, and the tramp begins sputtering and convulsing. He seems to Mark to be possessed. Frost and Wither take note and are elated to see that the tramp is now speaking. Merlin translates and tells them that they must bow to the tramp. Merlin pretends to be afraid of the tramp and his devilish ways and tries to flee the room. Frost and Wither wrestle with him and tell him to work with the tramp and no harm will befall him. Merlin tells them that the tramp desires new clothes, and then he speaks to Mark, who instantly dislikes his face, and Mark falls asleep.
Frost and Wither deliberate on the situation while obtaining a suit and tie for the tramp. Frost has his doubts about the tramp being Merlin and thinks that the Basque priest (whom the real Merlin is pretending to be) knows more about the situation than he is letting on. Wither tells him that it’s not their place to question Merlin or the powers who have orchestrated all this. When they return to the room, Mark is sleep and Frost wakes him. The real Merlin then tells them that the tramp demands to see the Head, the beasts and the rest of the manor before he continues, to which Frost objects. Wither says he will allow the tramp to see everything. Frost approaches the tramp to say something but cannot get words to come from his mouth. As soon as the tramp and Merlin leave with Wither for the tour, Frost is able to speak again, and takes Mark to the Objective Room.
In the Objective Room, Frost tells Mark to desecrate a cross with Christ on it. Mark is not religious, yet he feels somehow that even his desire to stay alive isn’t worth desecrating the statue and has a moral crisis. Mark believes the crooked shouldn’t win and refuses to desecrate the statue. Mark wonders how or when he will be killed for his refusal, but both men are interrupted by Merlin, the tramp and Wither entering the room.
In Belbury’s great drawing room, members of the N.I.C.E. that include Miss Hardcastle and Filostrato are attempting to entertain Jules, who has arrived earlier. Jules is described as a writer-turned-public figure who is renowned as a scientist, yet he has no clue as to the science and true purpose of the N.I.C.E. He is a figurehead, but a pompous figurehead, and he takes credit for most of the N.I.C.E.’s advancements. Wither is the only one who has the capacity to speak and think like Jules, but Wither is nowhere to be found. Suddenly, and to everyone’s relief (Jules is becoming increasingly annoyed at being kept waiting), Wither enters with the others in tow. He and Frost had no intention of allowing the tramp or his interpreter to join them for the banquet, but the tramp had insisted. Mark is relieved to be in formalwear again and a part of things. Wither tries to think of a way to present the tramp to Jules, who has no idea of the true purpose of things. He introduces the tramp, who is sleep, as Dr. Ambrosius. Jules takes an instant dislike to the tramp and his interpreter. He accuses Wither of hiring people—especially clergy—without his approval. Annoyed, the group all heads to dinner.
Chapters 13-15 Analysis
The real Merlin arrives at St. Anne’s and speaks with the Director. After asking the Director three questions, he determines that the Director is in fact the Pendragon of Logres and submits to him. This allegiance signifies that everything has changed in the narrative. The side of good now has Merlin fighting for it. Before, there was speculation as to which side Merlin might join. It’s clear now that he’s always had allegiance to the Pendragon, and to the side protecting what the Director calls Logres (the ancient land that the Pendragons protect).
Though Merlin is on the side of the Director, his presence brings up many issues. Merlin is from a time where the veil between good and evil is muddled. The Dimbles, as well as the Director, on a separate occasion, talk of how Merlin walks the line between the two sides. Though he’s known as a wizard, and though he has powers he’s obtained from conversing with powerful beings that are not human and that may not be eldils, he is a product of his time, a time when such beings roamed the earth and took no real part in the affairs of man. He is willing to do good and so, as the Director hints at later, is good.
Merlin wants to use his powers—what readers might call magic—to assist the Director. The Director tells Merlin that he cannot use his powers in the present time, as it’s unlawful. This signifies that there are rules or modes of conduct that the Director adheres to, despite Merlin’s powers possibly being all they might need to win. The Director also tells Merlin of the end plan: Merlin is to act as a vessel for the power of celestial eldils. With this power, they can defeat the N.I.C.E.
The celestial eldils indeed visit earth and imbue Merlin with their power. The descriptions of the celestial eldils are some of the most poetic in the narrative. Ransom and Merlin, in direct contact with the eldils, feel their arrival differently than Jane and the others, who are sequestered in the kitchen. The eldils all have planetary names, and are described as angels, underscoring the fact that Lewis includes space in his description of heaven for the narrative.
Jane also has a crisis point in these chapters as she comes face to face with the physical manifestation of the sensual, a side of her that she has always suppressed. The Director points this out and tells Jane that she must accept “erotic necessity” to fully understand. This means that she will need to be obedient as a wife, and that she will need to enact charity by eventually becoming Christian. Jane doesn’t necessarily want this but tries hard to accept it. In doing so, she has a religious experience.
Mark is put through objectivity training by Frost. He also meets the tramp, who he knows is not really Merlin. The tramp is milking the situation for all it’s worth, and Mark decides to join him in this task. The tramp adds a comical aspect to the story as he has no clue what the N.I.C.E. wants yet is smart enough to play along. Things come to a head when Merlin, after receiving the powers of the celestial eldils, visits Belbury and “translates” for the pseudo-Merlin. The reader sees that Merlin is enacting a plan to destroy Belbury. Merlin poses as a Basque priest. He hypnotizes the tramp, something that Mark gets glimpses of but doesn’t understand, and gets the man to say things that make Frost and Wither think he is indeed Merlin. Though Frost is skeptical, Wither wants so much to win that he believes that even if the priest is hiding something, it has all been designed by the bad eldils and is therefore part of the plan.
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By C. S. Lewis
