The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Week 7: Chapter 6 — The Tragedian and the Lady (Part 1)
Read Chapter 6 of The Great Divorce.
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One of the book's longest and most heartbreaking encounters begins here: a Ghost who has made emotional manipulation his entire identity meets a radiant woman who loves him — but will not be manipulated by him.
Discussion Questions
6 questions1.The Ghost arrives leading a little puppet-like figure on a chain — 'the Tragedian.' Lewis shows us that the Ghost has, over time, allowed one part of himself (the self-pitying, emotionally manipulative part) to grow so large that it has become almost a separate entity. What does this image suggest about the cumulative effect of habitual emotional patterns?
2.The Solid Woman who meets him — Hilda (or in some editions Sarah Smith — the great lady of Heaven) — is full of joy and genuine love. She is not cold or indifferent; she deeply wishes him to stay. But she will not perform the expected emotional transaction: she will not feel guilty, she will not pity him in the way he wants. Why is refusing to enable manipulation actually an act of love?
3.The Ghost-Tragedian speaks in a language of exaggerated suffering: 'You have broken my heart,' 'I only lived for you,' 'You cannot imagine what I have suffered.' Lewis calls this kind of emotional performance 'the Tragedian's art.' Have you encountered this pattern in real life? What makes it so difficult to respond to wisely?
a.What is the difference between genuine suffering that deserves compassion and emotional performance that demands compliance?
b.How do you love someone caught in this pattern without feeding it?
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