That Hideous Strength Themes

Mark Studdock is one of the two protagonists of That Hideous Strength, and his driving goal for most of the story is his desire to be part of elite and exclusive groups. His enjoyment of his job at Bracton College doesn’t come from his work itself, but instead the fact that his colleague Curry includes him in an exclusive clique of Bracton Fellows. When Lord Feverstone challenges Mark’s belief that this group is impressive…

In That Hideous Strength, England is made up of two conflicting yet coexisting countries: Logres and Britain. Logres, the country of honorable poets and kings, was once led by King Arthur and is now led by Elwin Ransom, while Britain is a country of imperialists and traitors. The ancient war between Logres and Britain plays out on a smaller scale in the novel’s recurring themes of nature against industrialization and organic life against…

In its quest to take over England, the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.) manipulates both its own members as well as the general population by blurring the truth and sowing doubt and confusion. The N.I.C.E.’s propaganda confuses everyday people, but deception is also a key component in the N.I.C.E.’s internal functions. Even high-ranking members like Dr. Filostrato are kept in the dark about matters concerning the organization’s mysterious Head, and the N.I.C.E. leadership…

Though Mark and Jane Studdock are separated for most of That Hideous Strength, their strained marriage and complicated relationship to gender roles are central to the story. When Ransom meets with the eldils, he reflects that the feminine Venus and masculine Mars represent only two of the divine genders, which transcend biological sex. However, the human characters are often divided along gendered lines that adhere to the traditionally binary view of gender. Jane…