Peter Pevensie
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Peter Pevensie is a major character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and is the eldest of the four Pevensie children (the others are Susan, Edmund, and Lucy). He appears in four of the seven books; in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian he is a principal child character, he is mentioned in The Horse and His Boy, and he is an adult in The Last Battle.
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Portrayals
In the 2005 Disney film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Peter is portrayed by a British actor William Moseley.
Synopsis
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
As the eldest brother, he tried his best to protect his other siblings and to act like a responsible young adult. He was evacuated to the countryside with his siblings by train as the air-raids of World War II devastated the city of London. In the countryside, they stayed at the old mansion of Professor Digory Kirke until the end of the war.
When Lucy first stumbles on the wardrobe, Peter doesn't believe her at first, believing it was just her imagination until he and the other Pevensies enter the wardrobe themselves. He apologized to Lucy for not believing her and was quite angry with Edmund for lying about Narnia's existence, as Edmund had previously entered the wardrobe himself but denied it.
He was knighted as Sir Peter Wolf's Bane by Aslan after he slayed Maugrim the wolf, chief of the White Witch's secret police, who tried to kill Susan and Lucy. This was Peter's first battle.
After defeating the White Witch Jadis, self-styled Queen of Narnia, and her evil allies during the battle, he was crowned by Aslan as His Majesty King Peter the Magnificent, High King of Narnia, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion. The ancient prophecy of two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve coming to sit on the four thrones of Narnia at Cair Paravel had come to fruition. This marked the end of the hundred years of winter and the reign of the White Witch, and the beginning of Narnia's Golden Age.
Commentary
Even before entering Narnia, Peter demonstrates his strong moral fibre. Perhaps for this reason he undergoes the least development of the major characters; his experiences in Narnia serve primarily to strengthen his innate tendency towards humility and courage. He possesses the traits of maturity and discernment, as befits his position as King Peter the Magnificent, High King over all kings of Narnia.
Given Lewis's penchant for the use of significant names (for example, Aslan is Turkish for lion), the surname "Pevensie" is worthy of notice. Pevensey, on the southeast coast of England, is the site of a medieval castle that figures importantly in British history at several points. In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1907) at least one of the characters refers to Pevensey as "England's Gate," which the celebrated wardrobe in Lewis's books quite literally becomes.
| The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The World of Narnia | ||
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