What was C.S. Lewis’s first published work of literary criticism?

C.S. Lewis’s first published work of literary criticism was The Allegory of Love.

Published in 1936, The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition examines the development of allegorical and courtly love literature from the medieval period. Lewis traces ideas across writers and texts rather than treating literary works as isolated creations.

The book helped establish Lewis as a major literary scholar before he became famous as a Christian apologist and children’s novelist. Its argument connects medieval literary conventions with changing attitudes toward love, imagination, and allegorical representation. The work also reflects Lewis’s deep knowledge of medieval literature and his preference for studying literary history across long periods.

Several later Lewis criticism titles can cause confusion. A Preface to Paradise Lost appeared in 1942 and focuses on Milton’s epic. The Discarded Image, published in 1964, presents medieval and Renaissance models of the universe. English Literature in the Sixteenth Century appeared in 1954. None of those books was his first published work of literary criticism.