Alice in Wonderland

Who made her?What’s her story?Who was/is she?

By: Hannah Paquette

Who is Alice?

• Alice is the main character of the classic story by Charles Dodgson, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and its sequel, “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.”

• The Alice in these stories is a seven year old from England with a vast imagination and lots of smarts.

• She is polite, outgoing, but she sometimes makes the wrong remarks and upsets the creatures in Wonderland. None the less, she is easily put off by rudeness of others.

• In Through the Looking Glass, she is 6 months older and more sure of her identity.

Was she real?• The character of Alice is based on a

real girl, called Alice Liddell, who was one of the author's child-friends.

• In the article ‘Alice on Stage’, Carroll gives the following description of her: "Loving, first, loving and gentle: loving as a dog (forgive the prosaic smile, but I know no earthy love so pure and perfect), and gentle as a fawn; then courteous - courteous to all, high or low, grand or grotesque, King or Caterpillar, even as though she were herself a King’s daughter, and her clothing of wrought gold: then trustful, ready to accept the wildest impossibilities with all that utter trust that only dreamers know; and lastly, curious – wildly curious, and with the eager enjoyment of Life that comes only in the happy hours of childhood, when all is new and fair, and when Sin and Sorrow are but names – empty words signifying nothing!“

• So basically he says that she is loving, gentle, royal, trustful, a dreamer ready for a challenge, and very, very curious.

• To Charles Dodgson, Alice Liddel (the real Alice) was a pure and genuine spirit.

Charles Dodgson• Mr. Dodgson was also an

excellent mathematician and was part of the mathematics department at Oxford for most of his adult life.

• Oddly enough, the books he wrote concerning mathematics he would have published under his real name. So, it is implied that he simply liked keeping his professional life separate from his lucrative hobby of writing fiction almost entirely for children.

• Carroll not only got along nicely with the MacDonald children but with their parents as well. He was a regular guest at their home for many years, and when not having fun with their youngsters, he and George MacDonald would often talk of literature, metaphysics, and the spiritual life.

His Talents

• Although we all know Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to be Carrolls first story, he actually wrote his first "Alice" story with his own illustrations in 1863 then called, Alice's Adventures Under Ground.

• He brought the fairytale to George MacDonald wanting his opinion on the story's merits. MacDonald instead decided that the best test of the story would be to have his wife read it to his own small children.

• The MacDonald tots thoroughly enjoyed the tale and the whole family then urged Carroll to try to have it published. At the time, the manuscript was approximately half the size we know it today, and it was George MacDonald who encouraged Carroll to lengthen it.

• Aside from Dodgson’s math skills and Carroll’s writing skills, he was also an avid photographer.

• He photographed all eleven of the MacDonald children, although not all of the photos seem to have been preserved.

The MacDonald Family

Spiritual Dodgson• Carroll's father was a minister in the

Anglican Church, and he brought his son up to be a minister as well.

• Carroll had all the schooling and preparation needed to be an ordained clergyman but turned down the call.

• It's very difficult to ascertain why he did so. Greville MacDonald tells us that he believes it was Carroll's stuttering problem that kept him from refusing the ordination.

• At any rate, Lewis Carroll was a deeply religious man, though not a "high church" Anglican like his father.

• Carroll had a great attraction to the mystical life and at least had a passing interest in Theosophy and Spiritualism in general.

Was Carroll on Drugs?

• There is a classic myth created by many druggies that states that, because of the vivid images described in Carroll’s book, and the “trippy” expieriences Alice encounters, Lewis Carroll must have been on drugs to create such imaginative visualizations….

• No!!! Carroll did not use drugs while writing the story.

• The larger part of the story was invented when he was on a boat trip with a friend, the real Alice and her sisters. He invented it while they rowed.

• The drug rumor was first spread in the 1960's by supporters of the then new LSD subculture. The rumor is believed to have originated from the psychiatrists who introduced LSD into our society.

• If Carroll was on drugs, the Alice books would probably be a series of rambling, disconnected, surrealist scenarios. But the Alice books are far from random. They contain some very intricate logic problems and very clever puns (not to mention Alice's journey in "Through the Looking-Glass", which follows the moves of a chess game), that could only be the work of a sharp mind in full control of its abilities.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120 people whowant to believeCarroll was ondrugs

people whoknow theactual reality

*on a saleof 1-100

*Chart showing the ignorance of some people. (of which I used to part of)

**notice that less than half the people were aware of the truth.

No Drugs • Furthermore, you'll find the same style of

writing in the magazines he wrote in his youth, his various poems, stories, and other writings, and especially in the letters he wrote.

• If the Alice books were drug induced, the rest of his voluminous output would seem to suggest he was on drugs 24/7.

• There is indeed one part in the book that may describe the use of drugs: the hookah smoking Caterpillar who advises Alice to eat from the mushroom.

• But with the story Carroll made fun of all aspects of society, and it may be possible that he was just reflecting the age with this part (note that this chapter wasn't even part of the original story, but was added later!).

• In the Victorian era there were no drug laws like we know them. Opium, cocaine, and laudanum (a painkiller that contained opium) were used for medicinal purposes, and could be obtained from a pharmacist. Mind that LSD was not even invented yet!

• So in Carroll's days it was not uncommon to experience the effect of being 'high', whether or not accidentally.

• However, it was definitely not Carroll's intention to write a book about drugs: he wanted to entertain a little girl whom he loved. No evidence has ever been found that linked Carroll to drug use. Even in his diaries, Carroll has never made any reference to the use of drugs.

Who is the Mad Hatter

Anyway?

• The Mad Hatter is one of the members of the Mad Tea Party.

• Later he also appears as a witness during the trial.

• He occasionally is very rude and provokes Alice during the tea party.

• When he is called upon by the Queen, he is very nervous and frightened.

• In 'Through the Looking Glass', the Hatter returns in the form of the Anglo-Saxon messenger 'Hatta‘

The Hatter’s Name Origin

• The phrase 'mad as a hatter' was common in Carroll's time. 'Mad as a hatter' probably owes its origin to the fact that hatters actually did go mad, because the mercury they used sometimes gave them mercury poisoning.

• Carroll may have asked Tenniel to draw the Mad Hatter to resemble Theophilus Carter, a furniture dealer near Oxford. Carter was known in the area as the Mad Hatter, partly because he always wore a top hat and because of his eccentric ideas. It is also often suggested that Tenniel made the Mad Hatter resemble the politician Disraeli.

Mad Hatter Controversy!

• This is also just a myth and his hat simply says 10/6, very boring and plain with no hidden meanings.

• Many may ask, “Why 10/6?well, it is a price tag in 'old' English money: pounds, shillings and pennies, which was then written as l/s/d. (another reason it was thought to say 420/69)

• Lewis Carroll has explained the meaning of the tag in his 'Nursery Alice':

The Hatter used to carry about hats to sell: and even the one that he's got on his head is meant to be sold. You see it's got its price marked on it - a "10" and a "6" - that means "ten shillings and sixpence." Ten shillings and six pennies (expressed in conversation as "Ten-and-Six") was quite a large sum in the mid-1800's.

Illustrations• John Tenniel's

illustrations of Alice do not portray the real Alice Liddell, who had dark hair and a short fringe.

• Carroll sent Tenniel a photograph of Mary Hilton Badcock, another child-friend, who was the daughter of the Dean of Ripon.

• He recommended her as a model, but whether Tenniel accepted this advice remains a matter of dispute Illustration by John Tenniel of the poem

“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carrol

The Ever-famous Cheshire Cat

• The Cheshire Cat is the cat of the Duchess.

• Alice meets it when she leaves the Duchess house, and finds it in a tree. It constantly grins and can disappear and reappear whenever it likes. Sometimes it disappears and leaves its grin behind. (portrayed very well in the Disney version)

• The Cheshire Cat is the only character in Wonderland who actually listens to Alice. With his remarks, he teaches Alice the ‘rules’ of Wonderland. He gives her insight in how things work down there.

The White Rabbit• The White Rabbit is the first

Wonderland character Alice encounters. She follows him when he hurries into his hole and thereby enters Wonderland.

• He appears to be late for his job with the Duchess. While walking through Wonderland, Alice comes upon his house where the White Rabbit, still in a hurry, mistakes her for his housemaid Mary Ann, and orders her to get his gloves and a fan. When she grows and gets stuck in the house, the Rabbit orders Pat to get her out. In the end we discover that the White Rabbit is a herald in the Queen of Heart's court.

• The White Rabbit is nervous and always in a hurry. However, he is confident enough about himself to contradict the King of Hearts.

• Because Alice follows him, he gets things moving again whenever he appears during the story. In a way, he is some kind of a guide through Wonderland for her, only unintentionally.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Mad Hatter

Cheshire Cat

White Rabbit

*on a scale of1-100

*This is a chart showing just a few of the main characters (besides Alice) and how insane, mad, they are.

**Notice that although the Cheshire Cat helps Alice the most, he is probably the most crazy.

***Also that the White Rabbit may be quirky, jumpy, and odd, he is not nearly as mad as the other two.

“Alice” Series the Gateway for Many

Artist’s Inspirations• The vivid images created in the

Alice in Wonderland series are the ever-changing inspirations for many artists young and old alike.

• People have created photographs, photoshoots, clothing, jewlery, paintings, drawings, and pretty much any type of art you can think of (including literary art) based on Alice and her adventures.

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

86

Alice inWonderland

most otherDisney films

*on a scale of1-100

*This chart shows the overall impact of ALL of Alice’s adventures as compared to other films made by Disney

**Note that the chart is not really drawn to scale because it’s supposed to be 1-100 and there’s really only a small difference.

Works Cited!

• http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice2a.html

• http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/• Google Image• http://www.insite.com.br/rodrigo/text/lewis_

carroll.html• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/

topic/97087/Lewis-Carroll• http://georgemacdonald.info/carroll.html