Essay Questions

Explain the significance of the title of The Great Divorce.

William Blake, one of the major influential figures of Romantic poetry, published a book in the late 18th century called The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in which he explores (via a similar narrative device, visiting Hell in a dream) the natures of Heaven and Hell, which he paints as being not diametrically opposed but coexisting in a bound state he refers to as "marriage."

Over a century later, Lewis addresses this so-called "marriage" with this novel, which he entitled The Great Divorce (prompted by his publisher) in reference to the aforementioned 'marriage' of Blake. Although he claims not to be attacking Blake in the preface, Lewis's stark dichotomy of Heaven and Hell contrasts dramatically with the cosmology promoted by the Romantic poet. The title also refers to the harsh divergence of paths ('divorce') after a person's death into the dual realms of Heaven and Hell.

What similarities does this novel bear to the Divine Comedy of Dante?

The similarities between these two fictional works are extensive, and the resemblance is certainly not accidental, as Lewis was a professor of the humanities at Oxford and therefore was obviously well acquainted with Dante's epic poem. In both works, the narrator finds himself in a dark, grey place, eventually realizing he is in Hell. In Dante's work, the narrator journeys from Hell (Inferno) through Purgatory (Purgatorio) into Heaven (Paradiso), where he finds the answers he seeks about life and the nature of God. Similarly, Lewis's protagonist makes a trip from Hell to Heaven, ascending through the spiritual realms to enter the vibrant land of Heaven. While in Paradise, both Dante and Lewis have spiritual guides to explain the mysteries of their visions: Beatrice for Dante, and George MacDonald for Lewis, both figures who had major impacts on the lives of the real-world authors.

One of the most striking resemblances between these two masterworks comes at the very end of each respective work, where the narrator gazes upon the unadulterated Light of God, the ultimate answer to all questions and the purest form of Goodness. In the Divine Comedy, Dante views God in the Empyrean and is struck with enlightenment, but it's completely inexplicable, and the third installment of his epic poem ends with Dante beholding God and then, presumably, re-entering the waking world (as this has all been a dream). Lewis's narrator experiences a similar awakening from his allegorical dream, gazing upon the Light of the World and being unable to process Him with his mortal mind, resulting in significant pain and ejection from the world of the dream. Both The Divine Comedy and The Great Divorce use a constructed cosmology of the afterlife to demonstrate truth about the nature of real, contemporary life on Earth, as well as truth about God and the divine.