Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid, even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up, they were so used to quarrelling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently. Ch. 15 : Rabadash the Ridiculous.

Actually that quote from HHB is a fairly good description of what most "romance" looks like from an outsider's POV. If you have ever casually watched a day-time soapie - such as what we laughingly refer to as "Days of our Drearies", it is mostly about quarrelling and who did this and who did that etc etc, analysed repeatedly and excruciatingly to the tiniest petty detail, and that is also true of reading some romances, let alone the fan-fiction variety. There is always a difference of opinion, and there is always the fun part where they are either making up or have already made up. And yes, getting married does make it more convenient. It is also clear that C.S.Lewis thinks that physical fights are going too far, and yes, he is right, even when Corin the pugnacious is one of the combatants. Though I did enjoy that DH Harry Potter scene of Hermione & Ron

, the episode of Digory forcing Polly away so he could ring the bell was coming perhaps a bit close to domestic violence.

That's a very unromantic way of describing the relationship between Aravis and Cor, and I think it fits very well into the way Lewis writes all the books.

It all depends on what you mean by "romance", though I agree it fits well with the entire book. I've eventually come to the realisation that the ongoing nature of married life makes some arguments, if not fights, unavoidable, and it is how well both parties handle this key part of married life which determines whether the two parties can get married and stay married. Is it a vibrantly alive marriage where the parties concerned come to agreement about their shared goals and priorities, or is it one where only one opinion prevails, and where an icy silence masks the other partner's true opinion? What is C.S.Lewis really saying about marriage and romance in HHB, when at the end he is making the quoted HHB statement, after he has Aravis fleeing an arranged marriage with Ahoshta, and when Edmund warns Susan against marrying Rabadash, who expects everyone else, especially the ladies, to agree with himl?

I've seen fan fiction stories that go deeper into their relationship, and which focus on adventures they had together - and gives examples of the quarrels! I think that's better than making them too romantic - most of Lewis' characters aren't. Except perhaps Lasaraleen. But then again he doesn't give us a lot of details about her.

Yes, Lasaraleen might be a romantic fan-fiction subject, but we never see her husband, and when she gushes over Rabadash, along with all the other princesses, it doesn't seem that her husband matters very much. Yes, Rabadash might be a pleasant suitor at Cair Paravel but is invading another country in pursuit of a reluctant bride truly a romantic way to behave?

I've a feeling that C.S.Lewis has something really worthwhile to say in HHB, the most 'romantic' of the 7 Chronicles, that might not be echoed as well in a fan-fiction, especially if the fan-fiction "romance" is all about appearances and good looks, not about substance.

Actually that quote from HHB is a fairly good description of what most "romance" looks like from an outsider's POV. If you have ever casually watched a day-time soapie - such as what we laughingly refer to as "Days of our Drearies", it is mostly about quarrelling and who did this and who did that etc etc, analysed repeatedly and excruciatingly to the tiniest petty detail, and that is also true of reading some romances, let alone the fan-fiction variety.

That's probably right. Literature usually needs to describe some conflict, and quarrelling fits that term very well. The least romantic bit of Lewis' description is that it is such a short summary, which makes it funny more than anything else. But he does have a point.

I've eventually come to the realisation that the ongoing nature of married life makes some arguments, if not fights, unavoidable, and it is how well both parties handle this key part of married life which determines whether the two parties can get married and stay married.

Someone told about a minister who wouldn't marry a young couple until they had had a quarrel and made up again. He would have agreed with you. The ability to handle disagreements and differences of opinion, and to handle irritation over the other party's conduct, is indeed very important for people trying to live together in a marriage.

I've a feeling that C.S.Lewis has something really worthwhile to say in HHB, the most 'romantic' of the 7 Chronicles, that might not be echoed as well in a fan-fiction, especially if the fan-fiction "romance" is all about appearances and good looks, not about substance.

I suppose you are right. The kind of fan-fiction that doesn't have much substance is one kind that I try to avoid. It wouldn't be able to convey useful advice about real life and real life conflicts in connection with marriage. Lewis does that, and not necessarily by "preaching" about it.

I admittedly like shipping characters in various stories, but I generally stay away from it as far as Narnia is concerned. I think it's less because I don't want the stories to be "tainted" by romance (though the lack of such is refreshing in its own way), though, and more that I can't really think of too many non-canon pairings to begin with that aren't weird or creepy or that probably wouldn't work out.

As for Digory and Polly, I think that, had Lewis planned for MN when he wrote LWW and/or had not written the Professor as single to start with, there's a chance he would have had them be married. At the same time, I can kind of see how a world-travelling professor like Digory might not have really wanted to "settle down", so to speak. The two don't have any overtly romantic interactions as children, anyways, so it's not something I'm too worried about.

Really, as far as non-canon pairings go, the closest I've seen the Chronicles come to a "ship tease" is when, in The Last Battle, after Eustace makes his first human kill, and Jill is mentioned at suddenly feeling a bit shy around him at that moment. Not a whole lot (and probably explainable without necessitating a romance), but it's there, I guess. Whether it's enough to justify a Eustace/Jill ship is debatable. (There's also the issue of how, at the end of the book, they're essentially in a place where "men neither marry nor are given in marriage", but that's a whole 'nother can of snails.)

I honestly have nothing against those who wish to come up with their own non-canon or even counter-canon romantic pairings, including if they want to write fanfiction about said pairings. As long as they don't get all egotistical about it and try to pass it off as actual canon or anything, that is really their individual right. That said, I have about as much interest in reading such fanfiction as I have in watching canned snails race.