(no subject)

[violsva]

 So okay, I’m rereading the (selected) Chronicles of Narnia, because they’re calming, and came across this:

“This is the Island where Dreams come true.”

“That’s the island I’ve been looking for this long time,” said one of the sailors. “I reckon I’d find I was married to Nancy if we landed here.”

“And I’d find Tom alive again,” said another.

We can draw two conclusions from this: 1) There are gay sailors on the Dawn Treader (it’s established earlier that Lucy is the only woman) and 2) C. S. Lewis was not aware of this.

Look at the parallel structure there. “I’d have my wife,” “And I’d have my husband." You can come up with alternative explanations, sure, but this is the most logical.

Lewis did not intend this to be gay. This isn’t representation. But this is evidence for queer relationships being relatively accepted in Narnia. And we can use it as that when reading the books.

What I’m saying, basically, is that something not being intended by the author doesn’t mean it isn’t there. And just because something’s there, or even obviously there to modern/fandom eyes, doesn’t mean it was intended by the author.

And, to some degree, in fandom, that shouldn’t matter. All we have to work with is what’s actually on the page.