Is Mary Jane?—Mary Neylan as a Model for Jane Studdock in 'That Hideous Strength'
Abstract
Seeking to understand how Lewis acquired the confidence to write in the voice of a young, unbelieving, married woman in That Hideous Strength, David Downing highlights similarities between Jane Studdock and Mary Shelley, a woman whom Lewis tutored at Magdalen and with whom he kept up a correspondence to the end of his life. After tracing many similarities through Lewis’s correspondence and That Hideous Strength, Downing concludes that Jane remains a composite creation, with some characteristics more reminiscent of Lewis than of Mary. However, That Hideous Strength “marks an important artistic departure for Lewis” in that it displays a willingness to anchor a story in the voice of a character who is not an alter ego.
