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| | [[Image:LewisCarrollSelfPhoto.jpg|thumb|right|Charles Lutwidge Dodgson ('Lewis Carroll') - believed to be a self-portrait]] | | [[Image:LewisCarrollSelfPhoto.jpg|thumb|right|Charles Lutwidge Dodgson ('Lewis Carroll') - believed to be a self-portrait]] |
| − | '''Charles Lutwidge Dodgson''' ([[January 27]] [[1832]] – [[January 14]] [[1898]]), better known by the [[pen name]] '''Lewis Carroll''', was an [[England|English]] [[author]], [[mathematics|mathematician]], [[logic|logician]], [[Anglican]] [[clergyman]], and [[photography|photographer]]. | + | '''Charles Lutwidge Dodgson''' (January 27 1832 – January 14 1898), better known by the pen name '''Lewis Carroll''', was an English author, [[mathematics|mathematician]], [[logic|logician]], [[clergyman]], and [[photography|photographer]] who is best remembered today as one of the world's most beloved authors of children's stories and nonsense poetry. Carroll's genius for surreal storytelling, wordplay, and pure humor has made him one of the most enduring and critically acclaimed of all writers in the genre. His most famous works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass'' as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky". His facility at word play, [[logic]], and [[fantasy]] has delighted audiences ranging from children to the literary elite. But beyond this, his work has become embedded deeply in modern culture, and he has influenced a wide range of artists, from other children's writers to literary giants such as [[Jorge Luis Borges|Borges]] and [[James Joyce|Joyce]]. |
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| − | His most famous writings are ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' and its sequel ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' as well as the poems "[[The Hunting of the Snark]]" and "[[Jabberwocky]]". | |
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| − | His facility at word play, [[logic]], and [[fantasy]] has delighted audiences ranging from children to the literary elite. But beyond this, his work has become embedded deeply in modern culture. He has directly influenced many artists. | |
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| − | There are societies dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life in many parts of the world including [[North America]], [[Japan]], the [[United Kingdom]], and [[New Zealand]].
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| − | His biography has recently come under much question as a result of what has come to be termed the [[#"The Carroll Myth"|"Carroll Myth."]]
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| | ==Early life== | | ==Early life== |
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| | The elder of these sons — yet another Charles — was Carroll's father. He reverted to the other family business and took [[holy orders]]. He went to [[Rugby School]], and thence to [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. He was [[mathematics|mathematically]] gifted and won a double first degree which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career. Instead he married his first cousin in 1827 and retired into obscurity as a country [[parson]]. | | The elder of these sons — yet another Charles — was Carroll's father. He reverted to the other family business and took [[holy orders]]. He went to [[Rugby School]], and thence to [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. He was [[mathematics|mathematically]] gifted and won a double first degree which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career. Instead he married his first cousin in 1827 and retired into obscurity as a country [[parson]]. |
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| − | Young Charles' father was an active and highly conservative clergyman of the Anglican church who involved himself, sometimes influentially, in the intense religious disputes that were dividing the Anglican church. He was High Church, inclining to [[Anglo-Catholicism]], an admirer of [[John Henry Newman|Newman]] and the [[Tractarian movement]], and he did his best to instill such views in his children. Young Charles, however, was to develop an ambiguous relationship with his father's values and with the Anglican church as a whole.
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| | ===Young Charles=== | | ===Young Charles=== |
| − | Young Dodgson was born in the little [[parsonage]] of [[Daresbury]] in [[Warrington]], [[Cheshire]], the oldest boy but already the third child of the four-and-a-half year old marriage. Eight more were to follow and, remarkably for the time, all of them—seven girls and four boys (including [[Edwin H. Dodgson]])— survived into adulthood. When Charles was 11, his father was given the living of [[Croft-on-Tees]] in north [[Yorkshire]], and the whole family moved to the spacious Rectory. This remained their home for the next twenty-five years. | + | Young Charles Dodgson was born in the little parsonage of Daresbury in Warrington, Cheshire, the oldest boy but already the third child of the four-and-a-half year old marriage. Eight more were to follow and, remarkably for the time, all of them—seven girls and four boys — survived into adulthood. When Charles was 11, his father was given the living of Croft-on-Tees in north Yorkshire, and the whole family moved to the spacious Rectory. This remained their home for the next twenty-five years. |
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| − | In his early years, young Dodgson was educated at home. His "reading lists" preserved in the family testify to a precocious intellect: at the age of seven the child was reading ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''. He also suffered from a [[stammer]] — a condition shared by his siblings — that often influenced his social life throughout his years. At twelve he was sent away to a small private school at nearby Richmond, where he appears to have been happy and settled. But in 1845, young Dodgson moved on to [[Rugby School]], where he was evidently less happy, for as he wrote some years after leaving the place:
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| − | ''I cannot say ... that any earthly considerations would induce me to go through my three years again ... I can honestly say that if I could have been ... secure from annoyance at night, the hardships of the daily life would have been comparative trifles to bear.'' <ref> Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson. ''[http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/11483/1.html The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll]'', [http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/11483/18.html 18].</ref>
| + | In his early years, young Dodgson was educated at home. His "reading lists" preserved in the family testify to a precocious intellect: at the age of seven the child was reading ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. He also suffered from a stammer — a condition shared by his siblings — that often influenced his social life throughout his years. At twelve he was sent away to a small private school at nearby Richmond, where he appears to have been happy and settled. But in 1845, young Dodgson moved on to Rugby School, where he was evidently greatly depressed. |
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| − | The nature of this nocturnal "annoyance" will probably never now be fully understood, but it may be that he is delicately referring to some type of sexual molestation. Scholastically, though, he excelled with apparent ease. "I have not had a more promising boy his age since I came to Rugby" observed R.B. Mayor, the Mathematics master.<ref> Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson. ''[http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/11483/1.html The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll]'', [http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/11483/18.html 18].</ref>
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| | ===Oxford=== | | ===Oxford=== |
| − | He left Rugby at the end of 1849 and, after an interval which remains unexplained, went on in January 1851 to [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], attending his father's old college, [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]]. He had only been at Oxford two days when he received a summons home. His mother had died of "inflammation of the [[brain]]" — perhaps [[meningitis]] or a [[stroke]] — at the age of forty-seven. | + | He left Rugby at the end of 1849 and, after an interval which remains unexplained, went on in January 1851 to [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], attending his father's old college, Christ Church. He had only been at Oxford two days when he received a summons home. His mother had died of "inflammation of the brain" — perhaps meningitis or a stroke — at the age of forty-seven. |
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| − | His early academic career veered between high-octane promise and irresistible distraction. He may not always have worked hard, but he was exceptionally gifted and achievement came easily to him. In 1852 he received a first in Honour Moderations, and shortly after he was nominated to a [[Studentship]], by his father's old friend Canon [[Edward Pusey]]. However, a little later he failed an important scholarship through his self-confessed inability to apply himself to study. Even so, his talent as a [[mathematician]] won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship, which he continued to hold for the next twenty-six years. The income was good, but the work bored him. Many of his pupils were older and richer than he was, and almost all of them were uninterested. However, despite early unhappiness, Dodgson was to remain at Christ Church, in various capacities, until his death.
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| − | ==Character and appearance==
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| − | ===Physical appearance===
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| − | The young adult Charles Dodgson was about six feet tall, slender and handsome, with curling brown hair and blue eyes. He was described in later life as somewhat [[Asymmetry|asymmetrical]], or as carrying himself rather stiffly and awkwardly, though this may be on account of a knee injury sustained in middle age. At the age of seventeen, he suffered a severe attack of [[whooping cough]] which left him with poor hearing in his right ear and was probably responsible for his chronically weak chest in later life. The only overt defect he carried into adulthood was what he referred to as his "hesitation", a [[stammer]] he acquired in early childhood and which plagued him throughout his life.
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| − | ===Stammer===
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| − | The stammer has always been a potent part of the [[legend|conceptions]] of him; it is part of the belief that Dodgson stammered only in adult company and was free and fluent with children, but there is no evidence to support this idea.<ref>Leach, p. 91</ref> Many children of his acquaintance remembered the stammer while many adults failed to notice it. It came and went for its own reasons, but not as a clichéd manifestation of fear of the adult world. Dodgson himself seems to have been far more acutely aware of it than most people he met; it is said he [[caricature]]d himself as the [[Dodo (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Dodo]] in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', referring to his difficulty in pronouncing his last name, but this is one of the many 'facts' oft-repeated, for which no firsthand evidence remains. He did indeed refer to himself as the dodo, but that this was a reference to his stammer is simply speculation.
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| − | ===Personality===
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| − | Although Dodgson's stammer troubled him, it was never bad enough to stop him using his other qualities to do well in society. At a time when people devised their own amusements, and singing and recitation were required social skills, the young Dodgson was well-equipped as an engaging entertainer. He could sing tolerably well and was not afraid to do so in front of an audience. He was adept at mimicry and storytelling, and was reputedly quite good at [[charades]].
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| − | Dodgson was also quite socially ambitious, anxious to make his mark on the world as a writer or an artist. In the interim between his early published writing and the success of the ''Alice'' books, he began to move in the [[Pre-Raphaelite]] social circle. His scholastic career may well have been intended as something of a stop-gap on the way to other more exciting achievements. He first met [[John Ruskin]] in 1857 and became friendly with him. He developed a close relationship with [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] and his family, and also knew [[William Holman Hunt]], [[John Everett Millais]] and [[Arthur Hughes (artist)|Arthur Hughes]] among other artists. He also knew the fairy-tale author [[George MacDonald]] well — it was the enthusiastic reception of ''Alice'' by the young MacDonald children that convinced him to submit the work for publication. The traditional image of his social life as entirely child-centered has recently been challenged (see 'Karoline Leach's work on the "Carroll Myth"' below), and we have been reminded that he did enjoy a very active adult social life.
| + | His early academic career veered between high-octane promise and irresistible distraction. He may not always have worked hard, but he was exceptionally gifted and achievement came easily to him. In 1852 he received a first in Honour Moderations, and shortly after he was nominated to a Studentship, by his father's old friend Canon Edward Pusey. However, a little later he failed an important scholarship through his self-confessed inability to apply himself to study. Even so, his talent as a mathematician won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship, which he continued to hold for the next twenty-six years. The income was good, but the work bored him. Many of his pupils were older and richer than he was, and almost all of them were uninterested. However, despite early unhappiness, Dodgson was to remain at Christ Church, in various capacities, until his death. |
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| | ==Dodgson the artist== | | ==Dodgson the artist== |
| − | ===The author===
| + | From a young age, Dodgson wrote poetry and short stories, sending them to various magazines and enjoying moderate success. Between 1854 and 1856, his work appeared in the national publications, ''The Comic Times'' and ''The Train'', as well as smaller magazines like the ''Whitby Gazette'' and the ''Oxford Critic''. Most of this output was humorous, sometimes satirical, but his standards and ambitions were exacting. "I do not think I have yet written anything worthy of real publication (in which I do not include the ''Whitby Gazette'' or the ''Oxonian Advertiser''), but I do not despair of doing so some day", he wrote in July 1855. |
| − | From a young age, Dodgson wrote poetry and [[short story|short stories]], sending them to various magazines and enjoying moderate success. Between 1854 and 1856, his work appeared in the national publications, ''The Comic Times'' and ''The Train'', as well as smaller magazines like the ''[[Whitby Gazette]]'' and the ''Oxford Critic''. Most of this output was humorous, sometimes [[satire|satirical]], but his standards and ambitions were exacting. "I do not think I have yet written anything worthy of real publication (in which I do not include the ''Whitby Gazette'' or the ''Oxonian Advertiser''), but I do not despair of doing so some day", he wrote in July 1855. | + | |
| − | In 1856 he published his first piece of work under the name that would make him famous. A very predictable little romantic poem called "Solitude" appeared in ''The Train'' under the authorship of 'Lewis Carroll'. This [[pseudonym]] was a play on his real name; ''Lewis'' was the [[anglicise]]d form of ''Ludovicus'', which was the [[Latin]] for ''Lutwidge'', and ''Carroll'' being an anglicised version of ''Carolus'', the Latin for ''Charles''. | + | In 1856 he published his first piece of work under the name that would make him famous. A very predictable little romantic poem called "Solitude" appeared in ''The Train'' under the authorship of 'Lewis Carroll'. |
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| − | ====Alice====
| + | In the same year, 1856, a new Dean, Henry Liddell, arrived at Christ Church, bringing with him his young family, all of whom would figure largely in Dodgson's life, and greatly influence his writing career, over the following years. Dodgson became close friends with the mother, Lorina, and the children, particularly the three sisters: Ina, Edith and Alice Liddell. Although Dodgson himself later denied his "little heroine" was based on any real child, <ref> Cohen, Morton N. (ed), ''The Letters of Lewis Carroll'', London: Macmillan, 1979.</ref>, he is widely assumed to have derived his own "Alice" from Alice Liddell. However,there is an acrostic poem at the end of Through the Looking Glass which supports this view. Reading downward, taking the first letter of each line, spells out Alice's name in full. The poem has no title in Through the Looking Glass but is usually referred to by its first line, "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky" |
| − | [[Image:GodstowNunneryRuin20050326 CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg|thumb|300px|The ruin of Godstow Nunnery.]]
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| − | In the same year, 1856, a new Dean, [[Henry Liddell]], arrived at [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]], bringing with him his young family, all of whom would figure largely in Dodgson's life, and greatly influence his writing career, over the following years. Dodgson became close friends with the mother, Lorina, and the children, particularly the three sisters: Ina, Edith and Alice Liddell. Although Dodgson himself later denied his "little heroine" was based on any real child, <ref> Cohen, Morton N. (ed), ''The Letters of Lewis Carroll'', London: Macmillan, 1979.</ref>, he is widely assumed to have derived his own "Alice" from Alice Liddell. However,there is an acrostic poem at the end of Through the Looking Glass which supports this view. Reading downward, taking the first letter of each line, spells out Alice's name in full. The poem has no title in Through the Looking Glass but is usually referred to by its first line, "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky" | |
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| − | Though information is scarce (Dodgson's diaries for the years 1858-1862 are missing), it does seem clear that his friendship with the family was an important part of his life in the late 1850s, and he grew into the habit of taking the children (first the boy, Harry, and later the three girls) on rowing trips to nearby Nuneham or Godstow. | + | Though information is scarce, it does seem clear that his friendship with the family was an important part of his life in the late 1850s, and he grew into the habit of taking the children (first the boy, Harry, and later the three girls) on rowing trips to nearby Nuneham or Godstow. |
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| − | It was on one such expedition, on [[July 4]] [[1862]], that Dodgson invented the outline of the story that eventually became his first and largest commercial success. Having told the story and been begged by Alice Liddell to write it down, Dodgson eventually (after much delay) presented her with a handwritten, illustrated manuscript entitled ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'' in November 1864. | + | It was on one such expedition, on July 4 1862, that Dodgson invented the outline of the story that eventually became his first and largest commercial success. Having told the story and been begged by Alice Liddell to write it down, Dodgson eventually presented her with a handwritten, illustrated manuscript entitled ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'' in November 1864. |
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| − | Before this, the family of friend and mentor [[George MacDonald]] read Dodgson's incomplete manuscript and the enthusiasm of the MacDonald children encouraged Dodgson to seek publication. | + | Before this, the family of friend and mentor George MacDonald read Dodgson's incomplete manuscript and the enthusiasm of the MacDonald children encouraged Dodgson to seek publication. |
| − | In 1863, he had taken the unfinished manuscript to Macmillan the publisher, who liked it immediately. After the possible alternative titles ''Alice Among the Fairies'' and ''Alice's Golden Hour'' were rejected, the work was finally published as ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' in 1865 under the Lewis Carroll pen name which Dodgson had first used some nine years earlier. The illustrations this time were by [[John Tenniel|Sir John Tenniel]]; Dodgson evidently realised that a published book would need the skills of a professional artist. The first edition copy of ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'', now highly sought after by literary collectors, changed hands to a private collector on [[January 26]], [[2006]]. It was sold at Christie's for [[Pound sterling|GBP]]4,800 by the [[Duke of Gloucester]], its previous owner, to pay for his father's death duties<ref>"Rare book by Alice author makes £4,800," by Paul James. ''The Sunderland Echo'' page 9, Saturday [[28 January]] [[2006]].</ref> | + | In 1863, he had taken the unfinished manuscript to Macmillan the publisher, who liked it immediately. After the possible alternative titles ''Alice Among the Fairies'' and ''Alice's Golden Hour'' were rejected, the work was finally published as ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' in 1865. The illustrations this time were by [[John Tenniel|Sir John Tenniel]]; Dodgson evidently realised that a published book would need the skills of a professional artist. |
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| | The overwhelming commercial success of the first Alice book changed Dodgson's life in many ways. The fame of his alter ego 'Lewis Carroll' soon spread around the world. He was inundated with fan mail and with sometimes unwanted attention. He also began earning quite substantial sums of money. However, perhaps oddly, he didn't use this income as a means of abandoning his seemingly disliked post at Christ Church. | | The overwhelming commercial success of the first Alice book changed Dodgson's life in many ways. The fame of his alter ego 'Lewis Carroll' soon spread around the world. He was inundated with fan mail and with sometimes unwanted attention. He also began earning quite substantial sums of money. However, perhaps oddly, he didn't use this income as a means of abandoning his seemingly disliked post at Christ Church. |
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| − | In 1872, a sequel — ''[[Through the Looking-Glass]]'' — was published. Its somewhat darker mood possibly reflects the changes in Dodgson's life. His father had recently died (1868), plunging him into a depression that would last some years. | + | In 1872, a sequel — ''Through the Looking-Glass'' — was published. Its somewhat darker mood possibly reflects the changes in Dodgson's life. His father had recently died (1868), plunging him into a depression that would last some years. |
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| − | ====The Hunting of the Snark====
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| − | In 1876, Dodgson produced his last great work, [[The Hunting of the Snark]] a fantastic 'nonsense' poem, exploring the adventures of a bizarre crew of variously inadequate beings, and one beaver, who set off to find the eponymous creature. The painter [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] reputedly became convinced the poem was about him.
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| − | ===The photographer===
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| − | [[Image:Alice_Liddell 2.jpg|thumb|Photo of [[Alice Liddell]] by Lewis Carroll. (1858)]]
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| − | In 1856, Dodgson took up the new art form of [[photography]], first under the influence of his uncle Skeffington Lutwidge, and later his Oxford friend [[Reginald Southey]].
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| − | He soon excelled at the art and became a well-known gentleman-photographer, and he seems even to have toyed with the idea of making a living out of it in his very early years.
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| − | A recent study (Roger Taylor and Edward Wakeling's ''Lewis Carroll, Photographer'' (2002) exhaustively lists every surviving print, and Taylor calculates that just over fifty percent of his surviving work depicts young girls. [[Alexandra Kitchin]], known as 'Xie', was his favorite photographic subject; Dodgson made at least 50 studies of her from 1869 until his cessation of photography in 1880, just before her sixteenth birthday. However before attempting to draw any conclusions, it should be noted that less than a third of his original portfolio has survived (see below). We do know he also made many studies of men, women, male children and landscapes and in all his subjects ranged from skeletons, through dolls, dogs, statues and paintings to trees, scholars, old men, scientists and (indeed) little girls. His infamous (and possibly misunderstood) studies of child nudes were long presumed lost, but six have since surfaced, four of which have been published and another two of which little is known.
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| − | [[Image:Effie&john.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Photo of [[John Everett Millais]] and his wife [[Effie Gray]] with two of their children, signed by Effie. (c1860)]] He also found photography to be a useful entré into higher social circles. During the most productive part of his career, he made portraits of notable sitters such as [[John Everett Millais]], [[Ellen Terry]], [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]], [[Julia Margaret Cameron]], [[Michael Faraday]] and [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]].
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| − | Dodgson abruptly ceased to photograph in 1880. Over 24 years, he had completely mastered the medium, set up his own studio on the roof of Tom Quad, and created around 3,000 images. Fewer than 1,000 have survived time and deliberate destruction. His reasons for abandoning photography remain uncertain. | + | In 1876, Dodgson produced his last great work, The Hunting of the Snark a fantastic nonsense poem, exploring the adventures of a bizarre crew of variously inadequate beings, and one beaver, who set off to find the eponymous creature. |
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| − | With the advent of [[Modernism]] tastes changed, and his photography was forgotten from around 1920 until the 1960s. He is now considered one of the very best Victorian photographers, and is certainly the one who has had the most influence on modern [[Fine art photography|art photographers]].
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| − | ===The inventor===
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| − | To promote letter writing Carroll invented ''The Wonderland Postage-Stamp Case'' in 1889. This was a cloth-backed folder with twelve slots, two marked for inserting the then most commonly used 1d. stamp, and one each for the other current denominations to 1s. The folder was then put into a slip case decorated with a picture of Alice on the front and the Cheshire Cat on the back. All could be conveniently carried in a pocket or purse. When issued it also included a copy of Carroll's pamphletted lecture, ''Eight or Nine Wise Words About Letter-Writing''.<ref>Flodden W. Heron, "Lewis Carrol, Inventor of Postage Stamp Case" in ''Stamps'', vol. 26, no. 12, [[March 25]] [[1939]]</ref> <ref>http://www.parkhurstrarebooks.com/newarrivals.htm</ref> <ref>http://lewiscarrollsociety.org.uk/pages/inspired/stamps.htm</ref>
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| − | He also appears to have invented, and certainly popularised, the [[Word Ladder]] (or "doublet" as it was known at first): a form of brain-teaser which is still popular today: the game of changing one word into another by altering one letter at a time, each successive change always resulting in a genuine word. For instance, CAT is transformed into DOG by the following steps: CAT, COT, DOT, DOG.
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| | ==The later years== | | ==The later years== |
| − | Over the remaining twenty years of his life, throughout his growing wealth and fame, his existence remained little changed. He continued to teach at Christ Church until 1881, and remained in residence there until his death. His last novel, the two-volume ''[[Sylvie and Bruno]]'', was published in 1889 and 1893 respectively. Its extraordinary convolutions and apparent confusion baffled most readers and it achieved little success. He died at his sisters' home in [[Guildford]] on [[January 14]] [[1898]] of pneumonia following influenza. He was not quite sixty-six years old. He is buried in Guildford at the [[Mount Cemetery]]. | + | Over the remaining twenty years of his life, throughout his growing wealth and fame, Dodgson's existence remained little changed. He continued to teach at Christ Church until 1881, and remained in residence there until his death. His last novel, the two-volume ''Sylvie and Bruno'', was published in 1889 and 1893 respectively. Its extraordinary convolutions and apparent confusion baffled most readers and it achieved little success. He died at his sisters' home in Guildford on January 14 1898 of pneumonia following influenza. He was not quite sixty-six years old. He is buried in Guildford at the [[Mount Cemetery]]. |
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| − | ==Controversies and mysteries==
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| − | ===The possibility of drug use===
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| − | There has been much speculation that Dodgson used [[psychoactive drug]]s, however there is no direct evidence that he ever did. It is true that the most common painkiller of the time—[[laudanum]]—was in fact a tincture of opium and could produce a 'high' if used in a large enough dose. Most historians can infer Dodgson probably used it from time to time to ease the pain of his arthritis, since it was the standard domestic painkiller of its day and was to be found in numerous patent medicines of the time, but there is no evidence he ever abused it or that its effects had any impact on his work. There is no factual evidence to support a suggestion that he smoked [[cannabis]]. However, many people regard Alice's [[hallucinations]] in the Wonderland, when surrounded by teas, [[Psychedelic mushrooms|mushrooms]] and smoking insects, as references to [[Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants|psychedelic substances]].
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| − | ===The priesthood===
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| − | Charles Dodgson had been groomed for the priesthood from a very early age and was expected, as a condition of his residency at Christ Church, to take holy orders within four years of obtaining his master's degree. However, for reasons not presently explained, he became reluctant to do this. He delayed the process for some time but eventually took deacon's orders in December 1861. But when the time came, a year later, to progress to full orders, Dodgson appealed to the dean for permission not to proceed. This was against college rules, and Dean Liddell told him he would very likely have to leave his job if he refused to take orders. He told Dodgson he would have to consult the college ruling body, which would almost undoubtedly have resulted in his being expelled. However, for unknown reasons, Dean Liddell changed his mind and permitted Dodgson to remain at the college, in defiance of the rules.<ref> Dodgson's MS diaries, volume 8, [[October 22]]-[[October 24]][[1862]] </ref> Dodgson never became a priest. Dean Liddell's behavior remains puzzling and unexplained, though some theories have been put forward to explain it.
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| − | There is currently no conclusive evidence about why Dodgson rejected the priesthood. Some have suggested his stammer made him reluctant to take the step, because he was afraid of having to preach, but this seems unlikely given his willingness to take on other public performances (story-telling, recitations, magic lantern shows), and the fact that he did indeed preach in later life, even though not in orders. Others have suggested, perhaps more plausibly, that he was having serious doubts about the Anglican church. It is known that he was interested in minority forms of Christianity (he was an admirer of [[Frederick Maurice|FD Maurice]]) and 'alternative' religions ([[Theosophy]]) so this may well have been a reason. However, it is also true that Dodgson was deeply troubled by an unexplained sense of sin and guilt at this time (the early 1860s), and frequently expressed the view in his diaries that he was a "vile and worthless" sinner, unworthy of the priesthood <ref> Dodgson's MS diaries, volume 8, see prayers scattered throughout the text</ref>, so this may well also have been a contributing factor.
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| − | Currently it is unknown why Dodgson was consumed with a sense of sin at this time, though again several theories have been put forward.
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| − | ===The missing diaries===
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| − | At least four complete volumes<ref>Leach, p. 48</ref> and around seven pages<ref>Leach, p. 51</ref> of text are missing from Dodgson's 13 diaries. The loss of the volumes remains unexplained; the pages have been deliberately removed by an unknown hand. Most scholars assume the diary material was removed by family members in the interests of preserving the family name, but this has not been proven.<ref>Leach, pp. 48-51</ref> All of the missing material, except for a single page, is believed to date from the period between 1853 (when Dodgson was 22) and 1863 (when he was 32).<ref>Leach, p. 52</ref>
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| − | Many theories have been put forward to explain the missing material. A popular explanation for one particular missing page (June 27, 1863) is that it might have been torn out to conceal the fact that Dodgson had proposed marriage on that day to the 11-year old Alice Liddell. However, there has never been any evidence to suggest this was so, and a paper <ref>Dodgson Family Collection, Cat. No. F/17/1. "[http://www.lookingforlewiscarroll.com/cutpages.html Cut Pages in Diary]". (For an account of its discovery see ''The Times Literary Supplement'', [[3 May]] [[1996]].)</ref> that came to light in the Dodgson family archive in 1996 provides some evidence to the contrary. This paper, known as the 'cut pages in diary document', offers a brief summary of two missing diary pages, including the one for June 27, 1863. It states that there was gossip circulating about Dodgson and the Liddell family's governess, as well as about his relationship with 'Ina', presumably Alice's older sister, Lorina Liddell. The 'break' with the Liddell family that occurred soon after was presumably in response to this gossip. <ref> Leach, Karoline [http://shadowofthedreamchild.wild-reality.net''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild''] pp. 170-2. </ref> <ref>(text of the document available online at [http://www.lookingforlewiscarroll.com/cutpages.html Looking for Lewis Carroll/cutpages.html]).</ref> An alternate interpretation has been made regarding Carroll's rumored involvement with 'Ina': Lorina was also the name of Alice Liddell's mother. The reason for the break has never been made clear.
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| − | ===Suggestions of paedophilia===
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| − | Dodgson's friendships with young girls, together with his perceived lack of interest in romantic attachments to adult women, and psychological readings of his work - especially his photographs of nude or semi-nude girls<ref>Cohen, Morten N. (1996) ''Lewis Carroll: A Biography.''(Macmillan, 1995) pp. 166-167, 254-255.</ref> - have all led to speculation that he was, in modern parlance, a [[pedophile|paedophile]]. This possibility has underpinned numerous modern interpretations of his life and work, particularly [[Dennis Potter]]'s play ''Alice'' and his screenplay for the motion picture, ''Dreamchild'', and a number of recent biographies, including [[Michael Bakewell]]'s ''[[Lewis Carroll: A Biography]]'' (1996) , Donald Thomas's ''[[Lewis Carroll: A Portrait with Background]]'' (1996) and [[Morton N. Cohen]]'s ''[[Lewis Carroll: A Biography]]'' (1995). All of these works more or less unequivocally assume that Dodgson was a paedophile, albeit a repressed and celibate one.
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| − | Cohen claims Dodgson's "sexual energies sought unconventional outlets", and further writes:
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| − | :''We cannot know to what extent sexual urges lay behind Charles's preference for drawing and photographing children in the nude. He contended the preference was entirely aesthetic. But given his emotional attachment to children as well as his aesthetic appreciation of their forms, his assertion that his interest was strictly artistic is naïve. He probably felt more than he dared acknowledge, even to himself. ''<ref> Cohen, Morton, ''Lewis Carroll, a biography''(Macmillan, 1995) </ref>
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| − | Cohen notes that Dodgson "apparently convinced many of his friends that his attachment to the nude female child form was free of any [[erotic]]ism", but adds that "later generations look beneath the surface" (p 229).
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| − | Cohen and other biographers argue that Dodgson may have wanted to marry the 11-year old Alice Liddell and that this was the cause of the unexplained 'break' with the family in June, 1863 (Cohen pp 100-4). But there has never been much evidence to support such an idea, and the 1996 discovery of the 'cut pages in diary document' (see above) seems to imply that the 1863 'break' had nothing to do with Alice. However, the document's provenance has been disputed, and its final significance is unknown.
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| − | Some writers, e.g., [[Derek Hudson]] and [[Roger Lancelyn Green]], who have fallen short of accepting Dodgson was a paedophile, have tended to concur that he had a passion for small female children and next to no interest in the adult world. The issue is considered at length in [[Darien Graham-Smith]]'s 2005 PhD thesis ''Contextualising Carroll.''
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| − | =="The Carroll Myth"==
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| − | The accepted view of Dodgson's biography — and most particularly his image as a potential paedophile — has received a challenge in quite recent times, when a new and controversial analysis of Dodgson's sexual proclivities (and indeed the evolution of the entire process of his biography) appeared in [[Karoline Leach]]'s 1999 book ''[[In the Shadow of the Dreamchild]]''. She states that the image of Dodgson's alleged paedophilia was built out of a failure to understand Victorian morals, as well as the mistaken idea that Dodgson had no interest in adult women which evolved out of the minds of various biographers. She termed this simplified — and often, in her view, fictional — image "the Carroll Myth".
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| − | According to Leach, Dodgson's real life was very different from the accepted biographical image. He was not, she says, exclusively interested in female children. She acknowledges he was fond of children, but says this interest has been exaggerated. She says that he was also keenly interested in adult women and apparently enjoyed several relationships with them, married and single; furthermore, she goes on to state that many of those Dodgson described as 'child-friends' were not children at all, but girls in their late teens and even twenties.<ref>Leach, pp. 16-17</ref> She cites examples of many such adult friendships, such as Catherine Lloyd, Constance Burch, May Miller, Edith Shute, Ethel Rowell, Beatrice Hatch and Gertrude Thomson, among others. Some of these were girls he met as children but continued to be close to in adulthood. Others were, says Leach, women he met as adults and with whom he shared very close and meaningful friendships. Suggestions of paedophilia only evolved many years after his death, says Leach, when his well-meaning family had suppressed all evidence of his adult friendships in order to try to preserve his reputation, thus giving a false impression of a man interested only in little girls.
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| − | According to Leach the image of 'Lewis Carroll' was constructed almost accidentally by generations of biographers. One of these, Langford Reed, writing in 1932, was the first to state that many of Carroll's female friendships ended when the girls reached the age of 14,<ref>Leach, p. 33</ref> though Reed apparently only intended to suggest that Dodgson was thereby a "pure man" untainted by sexual desire.<ref>Leach, p. 32</ref> This statement, that Dodgson lost interest in girls once they reached puberty, was later caught up by other biographers, including [[Florence Becker Lennon]] (''[[Victoria Through the Looking-Glass]]'' — UK title "Lewis Carroll", 1945) and the highly influential [[Alexander Taylor]] (''[[The White Knight]]''), 1952 who remained unaware of the evidence to the contrary since Dodgson's family refused to publish his diaries and letters. By the time more evidence became available, this image was so ingrained that any revision seemed "unnecessary, even impertinent," <ref>Leach, Ch. 1</ref>and thus a supposed biography was preserved. This, in essence, is Leach's case.
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| − | Reactions to Leach's book have been generally polarised. She has been joined by a group of supportive scholars and writers (most notably [[Hugues Lebailly]]) in the formation of [[Contrariwise]], an 'association for new Lewis Carroll studies'. The group argues collectively that a rumour has grossly distorted our understanding of Dodgson's true nature, and that considered in the context of his real life — as opposed to the misconceptions of it — and the fashions and mores of his time, assertions of paedophilia become nonsensical and amount to a failure to understand the complexity of Dodgson's character, as well as the Victorian "Cult of the Child."
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| − | Dodgson biographer [[Morton N. Cohen]] repudiates Leach's position as being simply a plea for the defence, and, in a recent article in the ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'' labeled Leach and her supporters as 'revisionists' attempting to rewrite history. <ref>Cohen, Morton N. "When Love was Young", ''Times Literary Supplement'', October 2003</ref> Similarly, in a review published in Victorian Studies (Vol. 43, No 4), Donald Rackin wrote, "As a piece of biographical scholarship, Karoline Leach's ''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild'' is difficult to take seriously". [[Martin Gardner]] was likewise dismissive in an article published by the Lewis Carroll Society of North America.<ref> Gardner, Martin, comments in ''Knight Letter'', the journal of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, Autumn 2005</ref>
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| − | Writing in The Carrollian, Michael Bakewell takes a measured view, saying that Leach's book has irrevocably changed Carroll studies. "[W]e may not agree with it but we cannot ignore it and it should certainly be read by anyone concerned with Dodgson's life and work."<ref> Bakewell, Michael, review of ''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild'' in ''The Carrollian'', Spring 1999</ref>
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| − | ==Trivia==
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| − | *There is a popular [[urban legend]] that [[Queen Victoria]], having enjoyed one of Carroll's children's books, wrote to him graciously suggesting that he dedicate his next book to her. Carroll, according to the story, obligingly did so dedicate it, but the work happened to be a mathematical opus (which [[We are not amused|did not amuse]] her) entitled ''An Elementary Treatise on Determinants''. This story originated in Carroll's lifetime, and he wrote himself that "nothing even resembling it has occurred".<ref> {{cite web
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| − | |url = http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/carroll.htm
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| − | |title = Fit for a Queen
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| − | |work = Snopes
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| − | |date = [[1999-03-26]]
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| − | |accessdate = 2006-07-09
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| − | }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Carroll |first= Lewis |coauthors= Alexander Woolcott |title= [[The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll]] |publisher= [[Random House]] |date= 1976 |month= May |id= ISBN 0-394-71661-2 }}</ref>
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| | ==Notes== | | ==Notes== |
| Line 145: |
Line 45: |
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| | ==References== | | ==References== |
| − | * Bowman, Isa (1899), ''The Story of Lewis Carroll, Told by the Real Alice in Wonderland'', London: Dent | + | * Bowman, Isa (1899), ''The Story of Lewis Carroll, Told by the Real Alice in Wonderland'', London: Dent ISBN 0-8128-2870-4 |
| − | * [[Morton N. Cohen|Cohen, Morton N.]] (1995), ''Lewis Carroll: A Biography'', London: Macmillan | + | * Cohen, Morton N. (1995), ''Lewis Carroll: A Biography'', London: Macmillan ISBN 0679745629 |
| − | * Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson (1898), ''The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll'', London: T. Fisher Unwin | + | * Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson (1898), ''The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll'', London: T. Fisher Unwin ISBN 1417926252 |
| − | * [[Darien Graham-Smith|Graham-Smith, Darien]] (2005), ''Contextualising Carroll'', University of Wales, Bangor: PhD Thesis ([http://library.bangor.ac.uk/search/Xcontextualising&searchscope=5&b=&SORT=A&l=&m=&Da=&Db=&p=/Xcontextualising&searchscope=5&b=&SORT=A&l=&m=&Da=&Db=&p=/1%2C19%2C19%2CB/frameset&FF=Xcontextualising&SORT=A&4%2C4%2C])
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| | * Huxley, Francis (1976), ''The Raven and the Writing Desk''. (ISBN 0-06-012113-0). | | * Huxley, Francis (1976), ''The Raven and the Writing Desk''. (ISBN 0-06-012113-0). |
| − | * Kelly, Richard, ''Lewis Carroll''. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. | + | * Kelly, Richard, ''Lewis Carroll''. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. ISBN 155111223X |
| − | * Kelly, Richard, [http://www.broadviewpress.com/bvbooks.asp?BookID=208 ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''.] | + | * Leach, Karoline (1999), ''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild: A New Understanding of Lewis Carroll'', London: Peter Owen Publishers ISBN 0720610443 |
| − | * [[Karoline Leach|Leach, Karoline]] (1999), ''[[In the Shadow of the Dreamchild: A New Understanding of Lewis Carroll]]'', London: Peter Owen Publishers
| + | * Lennon, Florence Becker (1947), ''Lewis Carroll'', London: Cassell ISBN 048622838X |
| − | * Lennon, Florence Becker (1947), ''Lewis Carroll'', London: Cassell | + | * Reed, Langford (1932), ''The Life of Lewis Carroll'', London: W. and G. Foyle ISBN 0848222512 |
| − | * Reed, Langford (1932), ''The Life of Lewis Carroll'', London: W. and G. Foyle | + | * Taylor, Alexander L., Knight (1952), ''The White Knight'', Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd ISBN 0849227003 |
| − | * Taylor, Alexander L., Knight (1952), ''The White Knight'', Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd | + | * Taylor, Roger & Wakeling, Edward, ''Lewis Carroll, Photographer'', 2002 (Catalogues nearly every Carroll photograph known to be still in existence.) ISBN 0691074437 |
| − | * Taylor, Roger & Wakeling, Edward, ''Lewis Carroll, Photographer'', 2002 (Catalogues nearly every Carroll photograph known to be still in existence.) | + | * Wullschläger, Jackie, ''Inventing Wonderland'', (ISBN 0-7432-2892-8) |
| − | * Wullschläger, Jackie, ''Inventing Wonderland'', (ISBN 0-7432-2892-8) — also looks at [[Edward Lear]] (of the "nonsense" verses), [[J. M. Barrie]] (''[[Peter Pan]]''), [[Kenneth Grahame]] (''[[The Wind in the Willows]]''), and [[A. A. Milne]] (''[[Winnie-the-Pooh]]''). | |
| − | * n.n., ''Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll''. Yale University Press & SFMOMA, 2004. (Places Carroll firmly in the [[art photography]] tradition.)
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | * [[Barbershop paradox]]
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| − | * [[Jack the Ripper, Light-Hearted Friend]]: deals with the unusual idea that Carroll may have been the Ripper
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| | ==External links== | | ==External links== |
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson ('Lewis Carroll') - believed to be a self-portrait
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 27 1832 – January 14 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, clergyman, and photographer who is best remembered today as one of the world's most beloved authors of children's stories and nonsense poetry. Carroll's genius for surreal storytelling, wordplay, and pure humor has made him one of the most enduring and critically acclaimed of all writers in the genre. His most famous works are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky". His facility at word play, logic, and fantasy has delighted audiences ranging from children to the literary elite. But beyond this, his work has become embedded deeply in modern culture, and he has influenced a wide range of artists, from other children's writers to literary giants such as Borges and Joyce.
Early life
Antecedents
Dodgson's family was predominantly northern English, with some Irish connections. Conservative and High Church Anglican, most of Dodgson's ancestors were army officers or Church of England clergymen. His great-grandfather, also Charles Dodgson, had risen through the ranks of the church to become a bishop; his grandfather, another Charles, had been an army captain, killed in action in 1803 when his two sons were hardly more than babies.
The elder of these sons — yet another Charles — was Carroll's father. He reverted to the other family business and took holy orders. He went to Rugby School, and thence to Christ Church, Oxford. He was mathematically gifted and won a double first degree which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career. Instead he married his first cousin in 1827 and retired into obscurity as a country parson.
Young Charles
Young Charles Dodgson was born in the little parsonage of Daresbury in Warrington, Cheshire, the oldest boy but already the third child of the four-and-a-half year old marriage. Eight more were to follow and, remarkably for the time, all of them—seven girls and four boys — survived into adulthood. When Charles was 11, his father was given the living of Croft-on-Tees in north Yorkshire, and the whole family moved to the spacious Rectory. This remained their home for the next twenty-five years.
In his early years, young Dodgson was educated at home. His "reading lists" preserved in the family testify to a precocious intellect: at the age of seven the child was reading The Pilgrim's Progress. He also suffered from a stammer — a condition shared by his siblings — that often influenced his social life throughout his years. At twelve he was sent away to a small private school at nearby Richmond, where he appears to have been happy and settled. But in 1845, young Dodgson moved on to Rugby School, where he was evidently greatly depressed.
Oxford
He left Rugby at the end of 1849 and, after an interval which remains unexplained, went on in January 1851 to Oxford, attending his father's old college, Christ Church. He had only been at Oxford two days when he received a summons home. His mother had died of "inflammation of the brain" — perhaps meningitis or a stroke — at the age of forty-seven.
His early academic career veered between high-octane promise and irresistible distraction. He may not always have worked hard, but he was exceptionally gifted and achievement came easily to him. In 1852 he received a first in Honour Moderations, and shortly after he was nominated to a Studentship, by his father's old friend Canon Edward Pusey. However, a little later he failed an important scholarship through his self-confessed inability to apply himself to study. Even so, his talent as a mathematician won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship, which he continued to hold for the next twenty-six years. The income was good, but the work bored him. Many of his pupils were older and richer than he was, and almost all of them were uninterested. However, despite early unhappiness, Dodgson was to remain at Christ Church, in various capacities, until his death.
Dodgson the artist
From a young age, Dodgson wrote poetry and short stories, sending them to various magazines and enjoying moderate success. Between 1854 and 1856, his work appeared in the national publications, The Comic Times and The Train, as well as smaller magazines like the Whitby Gazette and the Oxford Critic. Most of this output was humorous, sometimes satirical, but his standards and ambitions were exacting. "I do not think I have yet written anything worthy of real publication (in which I do not include the Whitby Gazette or the Oxonian Advertiser), but I do not despair of doing so some day", he wrote in July 1855.
In 1856 he published his first piece of work under the name that would make him famous. A very predictable little romantic poem called "Solitude" appeared in The Train under the authorship of 'Lewis Carroll'.
In the same year, 1856, a new Dean, Henry Liddell, arrived at Christ Church, bringing with him his young family, all of whom would figure largely in Dodgson's life, and greatly influence his writing career, over the following years. Dodgson became close friends with the mother, Lorina, and the children, particularly the three sisters: Ina, Edith and Alice Liddell. Although Dodgson himself later denied his "little heroine" was based on any real child, [1], he is widely assumed to have derived his own "Alice" from Alice Liddell. However,there is an acrostic poem at the end of Through the Looking Glass which supports this view. Reading downward, taking the first letter of each line, spells out Alice's name in full. The poem has no title in Through the Looking Glass but is usually referred to by its first line, "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky"
Though information is scarce, it does seem clear that his friendship with the family was an important part of his life in the late 1850s, and he grew into the habit of taking the children (first the boy, Harry, and later the three girls) on rowing trips to nearby Nuneham or Godstow.
It was on one such expedition, on July 4 1862, that Dodgson invented the outline of the story that eventually became his first and largest commercial success. Having told the story and been begged by Alice Liddell to write it down, Dodgson eventually presented her with a handwritten, illustrated manuscript entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground in November 1864.
Before this, the family of friend and mentor George MacDonald read Dodgson's incomplete manuscript and the enthusiasm of the MacDonald children encouraged Dodgson to seek publication.
In 1863, he had taken the unfinished manuscript to Macmillan the publisher, who liked it immediately. After the possible alternative titles Alice Among the Fairies and Alice's Golden Hour were rejected, the work was finally published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. The illustrations this time were by Sir John Tenniel; Dodgson evidently realised that a published book would need the skills of a professional artist.
The overwhelming commercial success of the first Alice book changed Dodgson's life in many ways. The fame of his alter ego 'Lewis Carroll' soon spread around the world. He was inundated with fan mail and with sometimes unwanted attention. He also began earning quite substantial sums of money. However, perhaps oddly, he didn't use this income as a means of abandoning his seemingly disliked post at Christ Church.
In 1872, a sequel — Through the Looking-Glass — was published. Its somewhat darker mood possibly reflects the changes in Dodgson's life. His father had recently died (1868), plunging him into a depression that would last some years.
In 1876, Dodgson produced his last great work, The Hunting of the Snark a fantastic nonsense poem, exploring the adventures of a bizarre crew of variously inadequate beings, and one beaver, who set off to find the eponymous creature.
The later years
Over the remaining twenty years of his life, throughout his growing wealth and fame, Dodgson's existence remained little changed. He continued to teach at Christ Church until 1881, and remained in residence there until his death. His last novel, the two-volume Sylvie and Bruno, was published in 1889 and 1893 respectively. Its extraordinary convolutions and apparent confusion baffled most readers and it achieved little success. He died at his sisters' home in Guildford on January 14 1898 of pneumonia following influenza. He was not quite sixty-six years old. He is buried in Guildford at the Mount Cemetery.
Notes
- ↑ Cohen, Morton N. (ed), The Letters of Lewis Carroll, London: Macmillan, 1979.
References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Bowman, Isa (1899), The Story of Lewis Carroll, Told by the Real Alice in Wonderland, London: Dent ISBN 0-8128-2870-4
- Cohen, Morton N. (1995), Lewis Carroll: A Biography, London: Macmillan ISBN 0679745629
- Collingwood, Stuart Dodgson (1898), The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll, London: T. Fisher Unwin ISBN 1417926252
- Huxley, Francis (1976), The Raven and the Writing Desk. (ISBN 0-06-012113-0).
- Kelly, Richard, Lewis Carroll. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. ISBN 155111223X
- Leach, Karoline (1999), In the Shadow of the Dreamchild: A New Understanding of Lewis Carroll, London: Peter Owen Publishers ISBN 0720610443
- Lennon, Florence Becker (1947), Lewis Carroll, London: Cassell ISBN 048622838X
- Reed, Langford (1932), The Life of Lewis Carroll, London: W. and G. Foyle ISBN 0848222512
- Taylor, Alexander L., Knight (1952), The White Knight, Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd ISBN 0849227003
- Taylor, Roger & Wakeling, Edward, Lewis Carroll, Photographer, 2002 (Catalogues nearly every Carroll photograph known to be still in existence.) ISBN 0691074437
- Wullschläger, Jackie, Inventing Wonderland, (ISBN 0-7432-2892-8)
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