Lucy Barfield
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Lucy Barfield (2 November 1935 – 3 May 2003) was the godchild of C.S. Lewis. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is dedicated to Lucy, who also lent her name to the book's heroine, Lucy Pevensie.
Lewis's Letter
Lewis's letter and the dedication to The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe reads:
My Dear Lucy,
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say but I shall still be,
your affectionate Godfather,
C. S. Lewis.
Life
In 1923 Owen Barfield, who had been friends with Lewis since 1919, married musician and choreographer Maud Douie (1888–1980). They had two children: Alexander, born in 1928, and his younger sister Lucy, born on 2 November 1935. Geoffrey, born in 1940, was a foster child. In May 1949, Lewis sent Lucy the completed manuscript of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with a letter in which he wrote that the book was originally written for her. On 16 October 1950, when the book was published, this letter became its dedication. In September 1952, Lewis dedicated his The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to Lucy's brother Geoffrey.
Lucy was born in Carlisle, Cumbria. She was a very lively, friendly and happy child. From an early age she trained hard to be a ballet dancer. She also showed marked musical taste and ability as well, and later taught dance and music at a Kentish school for girls. She was also interested in her father's work and accompanied him in 1965–66 during his second visiting professorship in America at Brandeis University. Lucy Barfield, then 30 years old, was a piano teacher at the local music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the end of the school year Lucy's mother, Maud, joined them and, as part of their holiday, the three went together to visit Owen Barfield's friend Professor Craig Miller in Vancouver. Upon their return to England, Lucy was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Lucy fought her disease, even trying to continue dancing and teaching. But after a while, she could not leave her home and finally even her bed. In 1968 she had to be hospitalized.
In 1977, Lucy had to be hospitalized for the second time. Then, in June 1978, she married her friend Bevan Rake (1921–1990). But in 1990, after Bevan died of a heart attack, Lucy had to return to the hospital. She was never to leave it again.
Failing health
Her body continued to decline. For the last five years of her life she was unable to move, speak or feed herself. However she continued to fight her disease becoming an inspiration to everyone who knew her. Walter Hooper writes in his obituary and also Paul Ford notes it in his Companion to Narnia: "As every creature comfort was taken from her, Lucy's faith in God grew and blessed not only her, but also those who knew her. Owen Barfield, touched by her humility, said many times, "I could go down on my knees before my daughter."
Death
Her mother died in 1980, her father in 1997. Her brother Alexander visited her often. She liked to listen to Geoffrey reading her The Chronicles of Narnia over and over again. Lucy Barfield died at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in west London on 3 May 2003, having battled multiple sclerosis for nearly 40 years.[citation needed]
Bibliography
- Owen A. Barfield. In search of Lucy: The Life of Lucy Barfield. In SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review, Volume 27, 2010, p. 29.
- Walter Hooper. Lucy Barfield (1935–2003). An Obituary. In SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review, Volume 20, 2003, p. 5.
- Paul F Ford. Companion to Narnia: Dedications. Fifth Edition, 2005, pp 160–61.
- Nicholas Roe. The Lion, The Witch and the real Lucy. The Times (UK), 11 January 1999: pp. 4–5. An excerpt here.
- Simon Blaxland-de Lange. Owen Barfield: Romanticism Come of Age. A Biography. 2006, pp 69, 142, 309, 337.
- Into the Wardrobe Forum. Lucy Barfield: The Real Lucy of Narnia. 40 posts, 13247 views. 2006-2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
