Honors Projects

Abstract

Stories, as a whole, are retold time and time again, changing slightly with each retelling and interpretation. The story of Cupid and Psyche follows this pattern, changing as it is retold to fit the norms and values of the culture it is told within. This project examines three versions of the story: Apuleius’s “Cupid and Psyche” which is told within his larger novel Metamorphoses, Till We Have Faces (1956) written by C. S. Lewis, and Luna McNamara’s Psyche and Eros (2023). This project examines Psyche’s characterization and how much autonomy or agency she is given, how the inequality inherent in Cupid and Psyche's relationship is handled, and how concepts of love and desire or attraction are defined and regarded in each of these versions of the story. Through literary analysis, these focuses in each version of the story are compared and contrasted with each other, and mapped to their audience’s wider culture, investigating how the changes and variations between the stories correspond to and reflect the particular norms, customs, and beliefs of the culture that the version was written for. This research concludes that, within these versions of the Cupid and Psyche story, the culture that the author is part of and writing for does influence how the story is adapted and retold, with the story taking on elements and themes from its surrounding culture.

Department

Honors Program

Major

Computer Science

First Advisor

James Pfundstein

First Advisor Department

Classical Studies

Second Advisor

Montana Miller

Second Advisor Department

Popular Culture

Third Advisor

Christine Shaal

Third Advisor Department

Honors Program

Publication Date

Spring 4-23-2026

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