[3] It was the first of The Chronicles of Narnia to be written and published, but is marked as volume two in recent editions that are sequenced according the stories' internal chronology.
[1][2] Most of the novel is set in Narnia, a land of talking animals and mythical creatures that is ruled by the evil White Witch.
[7] Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are evacuated from London in 1940, to escape the Blitz, and sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke at a large house in the English countryside.
Tumnus invites her to his cave for tea and admits that he had intended to report Lucy to the White Witch, the false ruler of Narnia who has kept the land in perpetual winter, but he repents and guides her back home.
The children are befriended by Mr and Mrs Beaver, who tell them of a prophecy that the White Witch's rule will end when "two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve" sit on the four thrones of Cair Paravel, and that Narnia's true ruler – a great lion named Aslan – is returning after several years of absence, and will go to the Stone Table.
The White Witch arrives and parleys with Aslan, invoking the "Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time" which gives her the right to kill Edmund for his treason.
The next morning, Aslan is resurrected by the "Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time", which has the power to reverse death if a willing victim takes the place of a traitor.
Lewis described the origin of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in an essay titled "It All Began with a Picture":[9] At the beginning of the Second World War, many British children were evacuated from London and other cities to the countryside to escape bombing attacks by Nazi Germany.
On 2 September 1939, three schoolgirls, Margaret, Mary and Katherine,[10][11] came to live at The Kilns in Risinghurst, Lewis's home 3 mi (4.8 km) east of Oxford city centre.
"[17] The major ideas of the book echo lines Lewis had written 14 years earlier in his alliterative poem "The Planets": This resonance is a central component of the case, promoted chiefly by Oxford University scholar Michael Ward, for the seven Chronicles having been modelled upon the seven classical astrological planets, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe being based on Jupiter.
[20] When on 16 October 1950 Geoffrey Bles in London published the first edition, three new "chronicles", Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Horse and His Boy, had also been completed.
The popular U.S. paperback edition published by Collier between 1970 and 1994, which sold many millions, had only 17 illustrations, many of them severely cropped from the originals, giving many readers in that country a very different experience when reading the novel [weasel words].
[22] Lewis very much enjoyed writing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and embarked on the sequel Prince Caspian soon after finishing the first novel.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe had few readers during 1949 and was not published until late 1950, so his initial enthusiasm did not stem from favourable reception by the public.
[23] While Lewis is known today on the strength of the Narnia stories as a highly successful children's writer, the initial critical response was muted.
Nevertheless, the novel and its successors were highly popular with young readers, and Lewis's publisher was soon eager to release further Narnia stories.
[25] A 2004 U.S. study found that The Lion was a common read-aloud book for seventh graders in schools in San Diego County, California.
[28] In 2012, it was ranked number five among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with a primarily U.S.
[29] A 2012 survey by the University of Worcester determined that it was the second most common book that UK adults had read as children, after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
[33]: 46–48 Schakel argues the matter through repeated further examples (e.g., the appearances of the lamp-post, the delineation of the characters of the White Witch and Jadis), concluding that "the 'new' arrangement may well be less desirable that the original".
[37] Critically, the reissue of the Puffin series in England, which was proceeding at the time of Lewis's death in 1963 (with three volumes, beginning with The Lion..., already out, and the remaining four due soon) maintained the original order, with contemporary comments ascribed to Lewis—made to Kaye Webb, the editor of that imprint—suggesting he intended "to re-edit the books ... [to] connect the things that didn't tie up".
"[40] The main story is an allegory of Christ's crucifixion:[41][42] Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund, a traitor who may deserve death, in the same way that Christians believe Jesus sacrificed himself for sinners.
The trapping of Edmund by the White Witch is reminiscent of the seduction and imprisonment of Kai by the Snow Queen in Hans Christian Andersen's novella of that name.
[46] Edith Nesbit's short story "The Aunt and Amabel" includes the motif of a girl entering a wardrobe to gain access to a magical place.
[47] The freeing of Aslan's body from the Stone Table is reminiscent of a scene from Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Pit and the Pendulum", in which a prisoner is freed when rats gnaw through his bonds.
[52] After the children enter the world of Narnia through the wardrobe, Edmund finds himself in trouble under the service of the White Witch, as she tempts him with Turkish delight.
[51] Because of labour union rules,[53] the text of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was reset for the publication of the first American edition by Macmillan US in 1950.
It was directed by notable film director Nadia Tass, and starred Amanda Muggleton, Dennis Olsen, Meaghan Davies, and Yolande Brown.
[80] In 2012, Michael Fentiman with Rupert Goold co-directed The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at a Threesixty "tented production" in Kensington Gardens, London.
[84][85] Directed by Michael Fentiman, the production stars Samantha Womack as the White Witch; Ammar Duffus, Robyn Sinclair, Shaka Kalokoh, and Delainey Hayles as the Pevensie siblings; and Chris Jared as Aslan.