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The Silver Chair
The serpent is a representation of evil’s capacity to lurk in unexpected places and forms. The serpent first appears in a tranquil grove where the Queen of Narnia, Rilian’s mother, takes a nap. While the Queen is asleep, a serpent slithers into the grove, bites the Queen, and kills her. Many symbols and ideas throughout The Chronicles of Narnia align with those of the Christian tradition, and the serpent is no exception. In the book of Genesis, a serpent tempts Eve into committing the first sin in the Garden of Eden—a beautiful place where it was not thought evil could lurk. Like Eve, the Queen of Narnia did not expect evil in the form of a serpent to visit her and take her life in such an unassuming place. Later in the novel, Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum meet a woman on the road who, although they do not know it, is the Queen of the Underland. The Queen of the Underland—who is also the serpent that bit the Queen of Narnia—appears to Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum as a beautiful woman. However, when they ask her for advice, she deliberately leads them astray, hoping they will die. The Queen of the Underland appears a final time during the climax of the novel, during which she transforms back into a serpent. In her serpent form, the Queen almost kills Rilian, though he manages to hack her up with a sword before she can do so. Rilian’s victory over the Queen’s serpentine form represents the triumph of good over evil, as Rilian is able to return to Narnia and become its beneficent ruler.
The Serpent Quotes in The Silver Chair
The The Silver Chair quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Serpent. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
In the warm part of the day they came to a pleasant glade where a fountain flowed freshly out of the earth, and there they dismounted and ate and drank and were merry. After a time the Queen felt sleepy, and they spread cloaks for her on the grassy bank, and Prince Rilian with the rest of the party went a little way from her, that their tales and laughter might not wake her. And so, presently, a great serpent came out of the thick wood and stung the Queen in her hand. All heard her cry out and rushed toward her, and Rilian was first at her side. He saw the worm gliding away from her and made after it with his sword drawn. It was great, shining, and as green as poison, so that he could see it well: but it glided away into thick bushes and he could not come at it.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
By the time they had stepped off the end of the bridge onto the grass, the two strangers were quite close. One was a knight in complete armor with his visor down. His armor and his horse were black; there was no device on his shield and no banneret on his spear. The other was a lady on a white horse, a horse so lovely that you wanted to kiss its nose and give it a lump of sugar at once. But the lady, who rode side-saddle and wore a long, fluttering dress of dazzling green, was lovelier still.
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The Serpent Symbol Timeline in The Silver Chair
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Serpent appears in The Silver Chair. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...some distance so they would not wake her. However, while everyone else was away, a snake slithered up and bit the Queen’s hand. Rilian heard his mother cry out in pain,...
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After the Queen of Narnia’s death, Rilian went to great lengths to find the serpent. One day, he took his best friend, Lord Drinian, with him to the spot where...
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Chapter 11
...whoever is nearby. Additionally, if he is not restrained, he will turn into a giant serpent. However, the Queen of the Underland promises that his curse will be broken when they...
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Chapter 12
The Queen of the Underland transforms into a horrific giant serpent—the same one that killed the Queen of Narnia. After she transforms, she slithers up to...
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