"...this was enchanted Turkish Delight and anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it...till they killed themselves"

(The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe)

For today's post, we will be looking at C.S.Lewis' classic novel The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (1950). As a child reading his book, I often found myself craving the White Witch's sumptuous Turkish Delight. My young mind envisaging the powdery, squishy, sugary goodness piled high upon the kitchen table; I would scramble down the stairs in a rush to find anything sweet that I could grab with my chubby little sausage-fingers. 

Yet amidst the rose tinted (or flavoured, as the case may be) haze of a sugar rush, Lewis' Turkish Delight always left me feeling slightly uneasy. Through Lewis' use of language, readers are made to feel unstable within the novel - Edmund begins to trust this woman, who is described as "cold and stern", with her "eyes flaming". Why does he trust her? 

The answer is... *drum roll please*

SUGAR!

A sweet drink and Turkish Delight are used to tempt Edmund into revealing all to the White Witch. 

"The dwarf immediately took [the jewelled cup] and handed it to Edmund with a bow and a smile; not a very nice smile"

"Edmund felt much better as he began to sip the hot drink. It was something he had never tasted before, very sweet and foamy and creamy" 

Edmund is given a sweet drink to 'warm him up', however it is used as a way for the witch to lure him into her grasp. What's more, the dwarf's bitter-sweet delivery of the drink to Edmund implies that something is not quite right in Narnia. It doesn't take a detective to figure out that the dwarf and the witch are villains. 

Edmund, however, has one thing on his mind. Sugar, of course.

As if the "sweet and foamy and creamy" drink wasn't enough, he asks for MORE sweets. This time though, the witch is careful to conjure up something which will entice Edmund further - the infamous Turkish Delight.

This isn't any old Turkish Delight though. This is "enchanted Turkish Delight", used to squeeze out all the information the witch can get from Edmund about his brothers and sisters.  

Much like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, the White Witch uses sugary treats to tempt the young boy into her evil plan.

This, along with the sweet drink, is the device used by Lewis which pin points the moment at which Edmund's mind is corrupted with the treats that the witch has given him, causing him to betray his own siblings in his quest for more of the Turkish Delight. 

 

 *Dang it, Edmund!*