So Happy Birthday to Lewis Carroll! Next time you take a trip down the rabbit hole, maybe you'll spot some other references to the real Alice and her sisters.Since Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland debuted in 1865, the fantastical tale of a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in an alternate universe has inspired countless retellings, from the classic 1951 Disney animated film to a grown-up 2010 Tim Burton version, a Cirque de Soleil show, theme park rides and even an Instagram adaptation.Ī new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London, “ Alice: Curiouser and Curioser,” will chart a century and a half of the story’s cultural impact upon opening in March 2021. The Mock Turtle speaks of a drawling-master, who came once a week to teach "Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils" this is a reference to art critic John Ruskin, who came once a week to the Liddell house to teach drawing, sketching, and painting in oils.Ĭarroll himself is caricatured as the Dodo, as he often stuttered when he spoke, and common lore suggests he sometimes pronounced his last name as Dodo-Dodgson. The Lory and Eaglet are a reference to Alice Liddell's sisters Lorina and Edith. (Lorina Charlotte), Tillie is Edith (her nickname was Matilda), and Lacie is an anagram of Alice. In Chapter 3, A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale, the Dormouse tells a story of three sisters called Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie Martin Gardner suggests these are the Liddell sisters: Elsie is L.C. There are also several other hints throughout the story that link Alice Liddell (and her family) to Wonderland in the book The Annotated Alice, written by Martin Gardner, a number of suggestions are made: " Many a day had we rowed together on that quiet stream- the three little maidens and I - and many a fairy tale had been extemporised for their benefit yet none of these many tales got written down: they lived and died, like summer midges, each in its own golden afternoon until there came a day when, as it chanced, one of my little listeners petitioned that the tale might be written out for her."Īnd so Alice was born. ![]() ![]() He often created stories for the girls but, on this occasion, Alice begged Carroll to write the story down for her as she had enjoyed it so much. It was on one of these rowing trips on 4 July 1862 that Alice (the character, not the girl!) first fell down the rabbit hole whilst on an outing with the three Liddell daughters and Reverend Robinson Duckworth, Carroll created Wonderland. Carroll became a close friend of the family and spent a lot of time with the children, often taking them on rowing trips along the Thames. Whilst at Christ Church College in Oxford, Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, met the Liddell family as the father had become the college Dean. So how did this Alice inspire the character we know today? However, the 'real' Alice, Alice Liddell, was in fact a brunette with a short bob and fringe. However, as we discuss the story behind the book, you will see that this is in fact the case.įor many of us, when we envision Alice we see a blonde-haired girl in a blue dress the original illustrations drawn by John Tenniel appear to depict a blonde girl and this image is reinforced in the classic Disney animation of the story. It's difficult to imagine such a weird and wonderful story could have been inspired by real life. ![]() Today (27 January) marks Lewis Carroll's birthday, the celebrated author of the much loved books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.Īlice in Wonderland features on the Kumon Recommended Reading List and we encourage our students to join Alice on her adventures down the rabbit hole.
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