Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Chronicles of Narnia task force/Character article example

The following is an example article for a character. The italicized text at the conclusion of each paragraph or element are notes. For suggestions, be bold and make them right on this, or for more potentially controversial suggestions, bring them up on the talk page.

Use a film image as the main image, if available. Otherwise, use a fair use image or public domain illustration from the original books, drawn by Pauline Baynes. If you have both, use the illustration below where appropriate. No fan art, please.

Wikipedia:WikiProject Narnia/Sandbox/NarniaCharacterInfobox2 Peter Pevensie is a fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Peter appears in three of the seven books; in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, he is a principal child character, and in The Last Battle, he is an adult. He is mentioned in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and in The Horse and His Boy.

This paragraph should only note that the character is fictional, and the books he or she is in/mentioned in.

Peter is the eldest of the four Pevensie children and shares his adventures in Narnia with his sisters Susan and Lucy and with his brother Edmund.

This previous paragraph should give some idea of this character's role in the Chronicles. Mention all related family and background info. Basic personality traits should be given, but no personal opinions.

Name

Peter shared some similarities with Saint Peter (see Christian elements below) and that may contribute to Lewis' choice for his name. An early draft of The Lion begins, "This book is about four children whose names were Ann, Martin, Rose, and Peter. But it is most about Peter who was the youngest." Peter is the only name that makes it into the final work, but as the oldest child instead of the youngest. (Hooper 1977, pp. 105–6)

Pevensey, on the southeast coast of England, is the site of a medieval castle that figures importantly in British history at several points. In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1907) at least one of the characters refers to Pevensey as "England's Gate", which the celebrated wardrobe in Lewis's books quite literally becomes. The surname "Pevensie" does not actually appear in the Chronicles until the third published book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Explain the character's name if it's not immediately obvious. Even a "realistic" name can have a reason behind it beyond "it just sounded good to the author." Such a reason usually includes symbolic significance. If it has no such significance, specify "None known."

Biographical summary

No need to summarize the plot here. Just major development of the character.

Prior story

Peter was born in 1927 and is about 13 years old when he appears in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

What happened to this character prior to any appearance in any novel of which he is a part? And make sure to link the birth year to Narnian timeline and not to the actual year (such as 1927).

Character development

Throughout the series, Peter undergoes little in the way of character development. Even before entering Narnia, Peter is shown to possess strong moral fibre. Perhaps for this reason he undergoes the least development of the major characters; his experiences in Narnia serve primarily to strengthen his innate tendency towards humility and courage. He possesses the traits of maturity and discernment. In the books he is rewarded for this with the position as King Peter the Magnificent, High King over all kings of Narnia.

This is the overall character arc for this character. It should, in a few sentences, summarize the development of the character.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

As the eldest brother, he tries his best to protect his other siblings and to act like a responsible young adult. He is evacuated to the countryside with his siblings by train because of the air-raids of World War II. In the countryside, they stay at the old mansion of Professor Digory Kirke until the end of the war.

When Lucy first stumbles on the wardrobe, Peter doesn't believe her, thinking it is just her imagination until he and the other Pevensies enter the wardrobe themselves; "A jolly good hoax, Lu".(Lewis 1950, pp. 27) He later apologizes to Lucy for not believing her and is quite angry with Edmund for earlier denying Narnia's existence; "Well, of all the poisonous little beasts".(Lewis 1950, pp. 55) This is caused by Edmund's revelation of his deceit when, upon entering Narnia, he says; "I say...oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left, that is, if we are aiming for the lamp-post?".(Lewis 1950, pp. 54–55)

Peter is knighted as Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane.(Lewis 1950, pp. 121) by Aslan after he kills Maugrim the wolf, chief of the White Witch's secret police, who was trying to kill Susan. This is Peter's first battle. In the American editions of the books and in the 1979 animated film, the chief wolf is named Fenris-Ulf, after a figure from Norse mythology. In those versions, Peter is given the epithet "Fenris-bane".

After defeating the White Witch Jadis, self-styled Queen of Narnia, and her evil allies, he is crowned by Aslan as His Majesty King Peter, High King of Narnia, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion. The ancient prophecy of two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve coming to sit on the four thrones of Narnia at Cair Paravel has come to fruition. This marks the end of the hundred years of winter and the reign of the White Witch, and is the beginning of Narnia's Golden Age.

In Prince Caspian

After the Pevensie children help defeat Miraz, Peter formally gave authority to Caspian to rule Narnia as king. He later confided to Lucy and Edmund that he was told by Aslan that he and Susan will never return to Narnia, as they are now too old. The four children returned to their world. In which they were waiting for their train that will take them to a boarding school.

In Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Not physically present in the book, it was mentioned that Peter was under the tutelage of Professor Kirke in preparation for exams. Around this time, the professor fell onto hard times, losing his mansion in the process, which is why Edmund and Lucy were forced to stay with their relatives and their cousin Eustace Scrubb, as their parents and their sister Susan went to a trip in America.

In The Silver Chair

No mention, so remove this section

In The Horse and His Boy

Was mentioned that High King Peter around this time was leading a battle to drive away the giants from the North.

In The Magician's Nephew

No mention, so remove this section

In The Last Battle

Though Peter has a minor role in the story, he was the first one who introduced himself to Tirian when the young king begged them to come to their aid. And as Narnia was destroyed in the end, Peter was the one who was asked by Aslan to close the door, and was one of the many people admitted in Aslan's country.

Literary significance and criticism

description based on the work of literature critics and commentators over the years, give citations

Christian elements

Lewis, himself an expert on allegory, did not consider The Chronicles of Narnia allegory. He saw them as "suppositional" answering the question, "What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all." (Martindale & Root 1990) While not allegorical, Narnia does present significant parallels with elements from Christianity.

This preceding paragraph would be standard with specific examples developed in subsequent paragraphs

There are similarities between Peter Pevensie and St. Peter, who was one of Jesus's original twelve disciples. In the story, Peter is the leader of the children as St. Peter is considered the leader of the twelve disciples. Peter leads the army of Narnia to fight against the White Witch as St. Peter led the early Christian church in spreading Christianity. Like St. Peter, who was given that name from Christ, Peter is given the name Sir Peter Wolfsbane by Aslan. The biblical St. Peter, according to Catholic tradition, was given the key to the gate of Heaven and Peter Pevensie shut the door, with a golden key, sealing the destroyed Narnia after the judgment in The Last Battle.

Portrayals

In the 2005 Disney film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter is portrayed by a British actor William Moseley.
In the 1988 television serial produced by the BBC, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter was played by actor Richard Dempsey.

references to portraits of this character in film or TV, if applicable. Give title of film, date of release, and name of actor who portrayed this character. If the actor won or was nominated for an acting award for his portrait of this character, give details.

Allusions or references from other works

description of works that mention this character, if applicable

Quotations

A few key quotations could go here. If no quotes, remove this section

References

I would suggest we use Wikipedia:Harvard referencing. I believe that cite.php (ref tags) will be a better system once the bugs are ironed out, and Harvard references seem to be the closest to that.

This reference is used in the template. Keep it

Martindale, Wayne; Root, Jerry (1990), The Quotable Lewis, Tyndale House, ISBN 0-8423-5115-9

Use these as needed:

Lewis, C.S. (1950), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, London: Geoffrey Bles
Lewis, C.S. (1951), Prince Caspian, London: Geoffrey Bles
Lewis, C.S. (1952), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, London: Geoffrey Bles
Lewis, C.S. (1953), The Silver Chair, London: Geoffrey Bles
Lewis, C.S. (1954), The Horse and His Boy, London: Geoffrey Bles
Lewis, C.S. (1955), The Magician's Nephew, London: Geoffrey Bles
Lewis, C.S. (1956), The Last Battle, London: Geoffrey Bles

Or if you need to cite the American editions:

Lewis, C.S. (1950a), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, New York: Macmillan
Lewis, C.S. (1951a), Prince Caspian, New York: Macmillan
Lewis, C.S. (1952a), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, New York: Macmillan
Lewis, C.S. (1953a), The Silver Chair, New York: Macmillan
Lewis, C.S. (1954a), The Horse and His Boy, New York: Macmillan
Lewis, C.S. (1955a), The Magician's Nephew, New York: Macmillan
Lewis, C.S. (1956a), The Last Battle, New York: Macmillan

Other reference examples (journal, newspaper):

Nelson, Michael (2005), "For the Love of Narnia", The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52 (15): B14
Brady, Erik (2005), "A Closer Look at the World of 'Narnia'", USA Today

Footnotes

footnotes, not references. There usually won't be any of these so remove section

Additional reading

Ford, Paul F. (2005), Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition, SanFrancisco: Harper, ISBN 0060791276
Duriez, Colin (2004), A Field Guide to Narnia, InterVarsity Press, ISBN 0830832076
Wagner, Richard J. (2005), C.S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies, For Dummies, ISBN 0764583816

These works apply to all characters in Narnia. Add more if they specifically deal with this character

External links

I don't think we would have these in the character articles, so remove if not used

Don't forget to include any necessary categories.