Charles Williams (British Writer)
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Charles Walter Stansby Williams (20 September 1886 – 15 May 1945) was a British poet, novelist, playwright, theologian, literary critic, and member of the Inklings, an informal
literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...
discussion group associated with
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
and J. R. R. Tolkien at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
.


Early life and education

Charles Williams was born in London in 1886, the only son of (Richard) Walter Stansby Williams (1848–1929) and Mary (née Wall). His father Walter was a journalist and foreign business correspondent for an importing firm, writing in French and German, who was a 'regular and valued' contributor of verse, stories and articles to many popular magazines. His mother Mary, the sister of the ecclesiologist and historian J. Charles Wall), was a former
milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...
(hatmaker), of Islington. He had one sister, Edith, born in 1889. The Williams family lived in 'shabby-genteel' circumstances, owing to Walter's increasing blindness and the decline of the firm by which he was employed, in Holloway. In 1894 the family moved to
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...
in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...
, where Williams lived until his marriage in 1917. Educated at St Albans School, Williams was awarded a scholarship to
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, but he left in 1904 without attempting to gain a degree due to an inability to pay tuition fees. Williams began work in 1904 in a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
bookroom. He was employed by the
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
(OUP) as a proofreading assistant in 1908 and quickly climbed to the position of editor. He continued to work at the OUP in various positions of increasing responsibility until his death in 1945. One of his greatest editorial achievements was the publication of the first major English-language edition of the works of
Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...
. His work was part of the literature event in the art competition at the
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. Although chiefly remembered as a novelist, Williams also published poetry, works of literary criticism, theology, drama, history, biography, and a voluminous number of book reviews. Some of his best known novels are ''War in Heaven'' (1930), '' Descent into Hell'' (1937), and ''
All Hallows' Eve Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
'' (1945). T. S. Eliot, who wrote an introduction for the last of these, described Williams's novels as "supernatural thrillers" because they explore the sacramental intersection of the physical with the spiritual while also examining the ways in which power, even spiritual power, can corrupt as well as sanctify. All of Williams's fantasies, unlike those of J. R. R. Tolkien and most of those of
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
, are set in the contemporary world. Williams has been described by Colin Manlove as one of the three main writers of "Christian fantasy" in the twentieth century (the other two being C.S. Lewis and T. F. Powys). More recent writers of fantasy novels with contemporary settings, notably
Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tide ...
, cite Williams as a model and inspiration. W. H. Auden, one of Williams's greatest admirers, reportedly re-read Williams's extraordinary and highly unconventional history of the church, ''The Descent of the Dove'' (1939), every year. Williams's study of Dante entitled ''The Figure of Beatrice'' (1944) was very highly regarded at its time of publication and continues to be consulted by
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...
scholars today. His work inspired Dorothy L. Sayers to undertake her translation of ''
The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
''. Williams, however, regarded his most important work to be his extremely dense and complex Arthurian poetry, of which two books were published, ''Taliessin through Logres'' (1938) and ''The Region of the Summer Stars'' (1944), and more remained unfinished at his death. Some of Williams's essays were collected and published posthumously in ''Image of the City and Other Essays'' (1958), edited by Anne Ridler. Williams gathered many followers and disciples during his lifetime. He was, for a period, a member of the Salvator Mundi Temple of the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. He met fellow Anglican
Evelyn Underhill Evelyn Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. Her best-known is ''Mysticism'', published ...
in 1937 and would later write the introduction to her published ''Letters'' in 1943. When
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broke out in 1939,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
moved its offices from London to
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Williams was reluctant to leave his beloved city, and his wife Florence refused to go. From the nearly 700 letters he wrote to his wife during the war years, a generous selection has been published — "primarily… love letters," the editor calls them. But the move to Oxford did allow him to participate regularly in Lewis's literary society known as the Inklings. In this setting Williams was able to read (and improve) his final published novel, ''All Hallows' Eve'', as well as to hear J. R. R. Tolkien read aloud to the group some of his early drafts of ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...
''. In addition to meeting in Lewis's rooms at Oxford, they also regularly met at
The Eagle and Child The Eagle and Child, nicknamed The Bird and Baby, is a pub in St Giles' Street, Oxford, England, owned by St. John's College, Oxford and operated by Mitchells & Butlers as a Nicholson's pub. The pub had been part of an endowment belonging to ...
pub in Oxford (better known by its nickname "The Bird and Baby"). During this time Williams also gave lectures at Oxford on
John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politica ...
,
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...
, and other authors, and received an honorary M.A. degree. Williams is buried in
Holywell Cemetery Holywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, south of Holywell Manor on Manor Road and north of Longwall Street, in the parish of Holywell. History In the mid 19th cen ...
in Oxford. His headstone bears the word "poet" followed by the words "Under the Mercy", a phrase often used by Williams himself.


Personal life

In 1917 Williams married his first sweetheart, Florence Conway, following a long courtship during which he presented her with a sonnet sequence that would later become his first published book of poetry, ''The Silver Stair''. Their son Michael was born in 1922. Williams was an unswerving and devoted member of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
, reputedly with a tolerance of the scepticism of others and a firm belief in the necessity of a "
doubting Thomas A doubting Thomas is a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience — a reference to the Gospel of John's depiction of the Apostle Thomas, who, in John's account, refused to believe the resurrected Jesus had appeared t ...
" in any apostolic body. Although Williams attracted the attention and admiration of some of the most notable writers of his day, including T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden, his greatest admirer was probably
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
, whose novel '' That Hideous Strength'' (1945) has been regarded as partially inspired by his acquaintance with both the man and his novels and poems. Williams came to know Lewis after reading Lewis's then-recently published study '' The Allegory of Love''; he was so impressed he jotted down a letter of congratulation and dropped it in the mail. Coincidentally, Lewis had just finished reading Williams's novel '' The Place of the Lion'' and had written a similar note of congratulation. The letters crossed in the mail and led to an enduring and fruitful friendship.


Theology

Williams developed the concept of co-inherence and gave rare consideration to the theology of romantic love. Falling in love for Williams was a form of mystical envisioning in which one saw the beloved as he or she was seen through the eyes of God. Co-inherence was a term used in
Patristic Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...
theology to describe the relationship between the human and divine natures of
Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
and the relationship between the persons of the blessed
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
. Williams extended the term to include the ideal relationship between the individual parts of God's creation, including human beings. It is our mutual indwelling: Christ in us and we in Christ, interdependent. It is also the web of interrelationships, social and economic and ecological, by which the social fabric and the natural world function. But especially for Williams, co-inherence is a way of talking about the Body of Christ and the communion of saints. For Williams, salvation was not a solitary affair: "The thread of the love of God was strong enough to save you and all the others, but not strong enough to save you alone." He proposed an order, the Companions of the Co-inherence, who would practice substitution and exchange, living in love-in-God, truly bearing one another's burdens, being willing to sacrifice and to forgive, living from and for one another in Christ. According to Gunnar Urang, co-inherence is the focus of all Williams's novels.


Works


Fiction

* 1930: ''War in Heaven'' (London: Victor Gollancz) – The
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...
surfaces in an obscure country parish and becomes variously a sacramental object to protect or a vessel of power to exploit. * 1930: '' Many Dimensions'' (London: Victor Gollancz) – An evil antiquarian illegally purchases the fabled Stone of Suleiman (Williams uses this Muslim form rather than the more familiar King Solomon) from its Islamic guardian and returns to England to discover not only that the Stone can multiply itself infinitely without diminishing the original, but that it also allows its possessor to transcend the barriers of space and time. * "Et in Sempiternum Pereant," a short story first published in ''The London Mercury'', December 1935, in which Lord Arglay (protagonist in ''Many Dimensions'') has his life put at risk encountering a ghost on the path to damnation. * 1931: '' The Place of the Lion'' (London: Mundanus) –
Platonic Plato's influence on Western culture was so profound that several different concepts are linked by being called Platonic or Platonist, for accepting some assumptions of Platonism, but which do not imply acceptance of that philosophy as a whole. It ...
archetypes The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
begin to appear around an English country town, wreaking havoc and drawing to the surface the spiritual strengths and flaws of individual characters. * 1932: ''The Greater Trumps'' (London: Victor Gollancz) – The original
Tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...
deck is used to unlock enormous metaphysical powers by allowing the possessors to see across space and time, create matter, and raise powerful natural storms. * 1933: ''Shadows of Ecstasy'' (London: Victor Gollancz) – A humanistic adept has discovered that by focusing his energies inward he can extend his life almost indefinitely. He undertakes an experiment using African lore to die and resurrect his own body thereby assuring his immortality. His followers begin a revolutionary movement to supplant European civilisation. The first of Williams's novels to be written, though not the first published. * 1937: '' Descent into Hell'' (London: Faber & Faber) – Generally thought to be Williams's best novel, ''Descent'' deals with various forms of selfishness, and how the cycle of sin brings about the necessity for redemptive acts. In it, an academic becomes so far removed from the world that he fetishises a woman to the extent that his perversion takes the form of a
succubus A succubus is a demon or supernatural entity in folklore, in female form, that appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. According to religious tradition, a succubus needs male semen to survive; repeated sexual activi ...
. Other characters include a
doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
, the ghost of a suicidal Victorian labourer, and a playwright modelled in some ways on the author. Illustrates Williams's belief in the replacement of sin and substitutional love. * 1945: ''
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'' (London: Faber & Faber) – Follows the fortunes of two women after death and their interactions with those they knew before, contrasting the results of action based either on selfishness or an accepting love. * 1970–72: ''The Noises That Weren’t There''. Unfinished. First three chapters published in ''Mythlore'' 6 (Autumn 1970), 7 (Winter 1971) and 8 (Winter 1972).


Plays

* c. 1912: ''The Chapel of the Thorn''David Llewellyn Dodds, "''The Chapel of the Thorn'', an Unknown Dramatic Poem by C. Williams," ''Inklings Jahrbuch'' 5 (1987): 134. (edited by Sørina Higgins; Berkeley: Apocryphile Press, 2014) * 1930: ''A Myth of Shakespeare'' (London: Oxford University Press) * 1930: ''A Myth of Francis Bacon'' (Published in the Charles Williams Society Newsletter, 11, 12, and 14) * 1929–31: ''Three Plays'' (London: Oxford University Press) ** ''The Rite of the Passion'' (1929) ** ''The Chaste Wanton'' (1930) ** ''The Witch'' (1931) * 1963: ''Collected Plays by Charles Williams'' (edited by John Heath-Stubbs; London: Oxford University Press) ** ''Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury'' (1936). Canterbury Festival play, following T. S. Eliot's ''Murder in the Cathedral'' in the preceding (inaugural) year. ** ''Seed of Adam'' (1937) ** ''Judgement at Chelmsford'' (1939) ** ''The Death of Good Fortune'' (1939) ** ''The House by the Stable'' (1939) ** ''Terror of Light'' (1940) ** ''Grab and Grace'' (1941) ** ''The Three Temptations'' (1942) ** ''House of the Octopus'' (1945) * 2000: ''The Masques of Amen House'' (edited by
David Bratman David Bratman is a librarian and Tolkien scholar. Biography David Bratman was born in Chicago to Robert Bratman, a physician, and his wife Nancy, an editor. He was one of four sons in the family. He was brought up in Cleveland, Ohio and then in ...
. Mythopoeic Press). ** ''The Masque of the Manuscript'' (1927) ** ''The Masque of Perusal'' (1929) ** ''The Masque of the Termination of Copyright'' (1930)


Poetry

* 1912: ''The Silver Stair'' (London: Herbert and Daniel) * 1917: ''Poems of Conformity'' (London: Oxford University Press) * 1920: ''Divorce'' (London: Oxford University Press) * 1924: ''Windows of Night'' (London: Oxford University Press) * 1930: ''Heroes and Kings'' (London: Sylvan Press) * 1954: ''Taliessin through Logres'' (1938) and ''The Region of the Summer Stars'' (1944) (London: Oxford University Press) * 1991: ''Charles Williams'', ed. David Llewellyn Dodds (Woodbridge and Cambridge, UK: Boydell & Brewer: Arthurian Poets series). Part II, Uncollected and unpublished poems (pp. 149–281).


Theology

* 1938: ''He Came Down from Heaven'' (London: Heinemann). * 1939: ''The Descent of the Dove: A Short History of the Holy Spirit in the Church'' (London: Longmans, Green) * 1941: ''Witchcraft'' (London: Faber & Faber) * 1942: ''The Forgiveness of Sins'' (London: G. Bles) * 1958: ''The Image of the City and Other Essays'' (edited by Anne Ridler; London: Oxford University Press). Parts II through V * 1990: ''Outlines of Romantic Theology'' (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans)


Literary criticism

* 1930: ''Poetry at Present'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press). * 1932: ''The English Poetic Mind'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press). * 1933: ''Reason and Beauty in the Poetic Mind'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press) * 1940: ''Introduction to Milton'' (based on a lecture at Oxford University), in ''The English Poems of John Milton'' (Oxford University Press) * 1941: ''Religion and Love in Dante: The Theology of Romantic Love'' (Dacre Press, Westminster). * 1943: ''The Figure of Beatrice'' (London: Faber & Faber) * 1948: ''The Figure of Arthur'' (unfinished), in ''Arthurian Torso'', ed. C. S. Lewis (London: Oxford University Press) * 1958: ''The Image of the City and Other Essays'' (edited by Anne Ridler; London: Oxford University Press). Parts I and VI * 2003: ''The Detective Fiction Reviews of Charles Williams'' (edited by Jared C. Lobdell; McFarland) * 2017: ''The Celian Moment and Other Essays'' (edited by Stephen Barber; Oxford: The Greystones Press)


Biography

* 1933: ''Bacon'' (London: Arthur Barker) * 1933: ''A Short Life of Shakespeare'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Abridgment of the 2-volume work by Sir Edmund Chambers * 1934: ''James I'' (London: Arthur Barker) * 1935: ''Rochester'' (London: Arthur Barker) * 1936: ''Queen Elizabeth'' (London: Duckworth) * 1937: ''Henry VII'' (London: Arthur Barker) * 1937: ''Stories of Great Names'' (London: Oxford University Press). Alexander, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Joan of Arc, Shakespeare, Voltaire, John Wesley * 1946: ''Flecker of Dean Close'' (London: Canterbury Press)


Other works

* 1931: Introduction, ''Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins'' (Ed. Robert Bridges; 2nd ed.; London: Oxford University Press; ) * 1936: ''The Story of the Aeneid'' (London: Oxford University Press; ) * 1939: ''The Passion of Christ'' (Oxford University Press, New York, London ) * 1940: Introduction, Søren Kierkegaard's ''The Present Age'' (trans. Dru and Lowrie; Oxford University Press; ) * 1943: Introduction, ''The Letters of Evelyn Underhill'' (Longmans, Green and Co.) * 1958: ''The New Christian Year'' (Oxford University Press ) * 1986: "Et in Sempiternum Pereant" (a short story) in ''The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories'' (London: Oxford University Press) * 1989: ''Letters to Lalage: The Letters of Charles Williams to Lois Lang-Sims'' (Kent State University Press) * 2002: ''To Michal from Serge: Letters from Charles Williams to His Wife, Florence, 1939–1945'' (edited by Roma King Jr.; Kent State University Press)


Sources

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * Hillegas, Mark R., ed. (1969), ''Shadows of Imagination: The Fantasies of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams'', Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. * . * . * . * . * King, Roma A., Jr. (1990), ''The Pattern in the Web: The Mythical Poetry of Charles Williams''. Kent, O., and London: Kent State University Press. * Lewis, C. S. (1948), "Williams and the Arthuriad," in ''Arthurian Torso'', ed. C. S. Lewis, London: Oxford University Press, pp. 93–200. * * Moorman, Charles (1960), ''Arthurian Triptych: Mythic Materials in Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and T. S. Eliot'', Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. * Moorman, Charles (1966), ''The Precincts of Felicity: The Augustinian City of the Oxford Christians''. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. * Roukema, Aren (2018),
Esotericism and Narrative: The Occult Fiction of Charles Williams
'. Brill * . * features Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien as the main characters. * . * . * . * Wendling, Susan (2006), "Charles Williams: Priest of the Co-inherence", in ''INKLINGS Forever'', Vol. V, a collection of essays presented at the Fifth Frances White Ewbank Colloquium on C.S. Lewis and Friends, presented at Taylor University.


References


External links


The Charles Williams Society
*
The Marion E. Wade Center
* * *

* ttp://theoddestinkling.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/intro/ An Introduction to Charles Williams {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Charles 1886 births 1945 deaths Alumni of University College London Writers of modern Arthurian fiction Christian writers Protestant mystics English fantasy writers 20th-century English theologians 20th-century Christian mystics Inklings Mythopoeic writers Oxford University Press people People from St Albans People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire Taliesin British male poets English male short story writers English short story writers English male novelists 20th-century English poets 20th-century English novelists English Christian theologians 20th-century British short story writers Christian novelists Burials at Holywell Cemetery Olympic competitors in art competitions