Belief Under Enchantment

The Silver Chair

The witch’s attack on memory and reality is resisted through remembered experience, courageous reasoning, and costly action.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Witch’s Captive World The Witch’s Captive World from "The Silver Chair". A Realm of Managed Perception Sadness made ordinary The travelers pass through dim caves where Earthmen and sleeping creatures seem cut off from the surface.

The Witch’s Captive World from "The Silver Chair". A Realm of Managed Perception Sadness made ordinary The travelers pass through dim caves where Earthmen and sleeping creatures seem cut off from the surface.

A Realm of Managed Perception Sadness made ordinary The travelers pass through dim caves where Earthmen and sleeping creatures seem cut off from the surface. The Queen’s realm presents its limits as the only reality available. A prepared audience The travelers are tired, hungry, and isolated from sunlight. Their weakened condition makes later denial easier to impose.

A Room Made Drowsy A Room Made Drowsy from "The Silver Chair". The Spell Begins Quietly Sensory pressure The Lady of the Green Kirtle burns green powder and plays a monotonous instrument.

A Room Made Drowsy from "The Silver Chair". The Spell Begins Quietly Sensory pressure The Lady of the Green Kirtle burns green powder and plays a monotonous instrument.

The Spell Begins Quietly Sensory pressure The Lady of the Green Kirtle burns green powder and plays a monotonous instrument. Sweet smoke and repetitive music make clear thought increasingly difficult. A claim introduced She dismisses Narnia as an unknown name and treats the travelers as confused children. The attack starts by making their memories sound less credible than her calm certainty.

Narnia Denied Narnia Denied from "The Silver Chair". Repetition Replaces Memory The world questioned The witch asks where Narnia and the Overworld are, then suggests they are dreams.

Narnia Denied from "The Silver Chair". Repetition Replaces Memory The world questioned The witch asks where Narnia and the Overworld are, then suggests they are dreams.

Repetition Replaces Memory The world questioned The witch asks where Narnia and the Overworld are, then suggests they are dreams. Jill and Eustace begin repeating her claims as the enchantment deepens. Reality narrowed The witch declares that no world exists beyond her underground kingdom. Her manipulation threatens the travelers’ memories and the purpose of their mission.

The Sun Remembered The Sun Remembered from "The Silver Chair". Evidence Against the Spell An ordinary memory Puddleglum recalls seeing the sun rise and set over the sea and mountains.

The Sun Remembered from "The Silver Chair". Evidence Against the Spell An ordinary memory Puddleglum recalls seeing the sun rise and set over the sea and mountains.

Evidence Against the Spell An ordinary memory Puddleglum recalls seeing the sun rise and set over the sea and mountains. His concrete memories make the surface world more than an abstract argument. Others awaken Rilian and the children recover their confidence and remember Aslan. The spell weakens when their experience is spoken aloud and shared.

The Witch Defeated The Witch Defeated from "The Silver Chair". Pain and Choice A physical interruption Puddleglum stamps on the enchanted fire, burning his foot and clearing his mind.

The Witch Defeated from "The Silver Chair". Pain and Choice A physical interruption Puddleglum stamps on the enchanted fire, burning his foot and clearing his mind.

Pain and Choice A physical interruption Puddleglum stamps on the enchanted fire, burning his foot and clearing his mind. He refuses the witch’s account even while admitting that it cannot be conclusively disproved. A moral commitment He chooses the world and values associated with Aslan because they are better than the witch’s bleak reality. The travelers’ resistance becomes both intellectual and ethical.

During the travelers’ first night in Underland

During the meal in the underground castle

As the witch’s music continues

At the height of the enchantment

Moments after Puddleglum stamps out the fire