54 pages 1 hour read

Patti Callahan Henry

Once Upon a Wardrobe

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

Margaret “Megs” Devonshire

Content Warning: This section refers to terminal illness and death.

Megs is the 17-year-old protagonist of Once Upon a Wardrobe. She is a fictional character, and much of the story is told from her first-person perspective. Megs’s intelligence is emphasized by her status as a scholarship student at a time when only five out of 31 Oxford colleges are open to women. Furthermore, her specialization in math and physics marks her out as a leader in a male-dominated field. The patriarchal nature of the world of academia and larger society is emphasized, as, despite her intellect, she is frequently reminded of her “youth and diminutive size” (16).

While Megs is confident in her academic abilities, she feels like an outsider in student circles. Her belief that “[i]f Margaret Devonshire is anything, she is sensible” makes her a detached observer of the fun that other students enjoy (230). By highlighting Megs’s lack of imagination and emphasis on the importance of logic and reason, Callahan presents her as a foil to C. S. Lewis. Consequently, she reflects, “In many ways, Mr. Lewis and I are opposites. He abhors algebra. I adore it. To me, the world makes much more sense as a sum or a string of numbers.

Related Titles

By Patti Callahan Henry

Study Guide

logo

Becoming Mrs. Lewis

Patti Callahan Henry

Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis

Patti Callahan Henry

Study Guide

logo

Surviving Savannah

Patti Callahan Henry

Surviving Savannah

Patti Callahan Henry

Study Guide

logo

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Patti Callahan Henry

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Patti Callahan Henry

Plot Summary

logo

The Stories We Tell

Patti Callahan Henry

The Stories We Tell

Patti Callahan Henry