Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, was an eminent mathematician, philosopher, photographer and inventor who enjoyed writing in his free time. With her book Alice in Wonderland, she has set aside classical didactic and moralistic literature to make way for a vast universe where dream, imagination and joy have shaped an unforgettable work. Today we will expose a brief biography of Lewis Carroll so you can get to know him better.
The literary mastery he demonstrated with this novel and, later, with Alice through the mirror, or even with his fantastic (meaningless) poems, such as Jaguadarte, marked a style never before seen. A path between Dadaism and Surrealism, Carroll was an innovator. Someone who has opened a direct door to the most illusory and suggestive fantasy.
- He filled his writing with a dream universe where he played with dimensions.
- Shapes and distances through the inspiration of his knowledge of mathematics and logic.
- Your language was also something extraordinary.
However, Lewis Carroll’s fantasy and genius were also accompanied by something less positive: publications such as The Man Who Loved Girls reveal not only the story of Alice Liddell (the girl in which she was inspired to create her mythical character), but also the Obsession reflected in her letters for photographing girls and trying to capture her purity.
The girls’ families reportedly gave her permission to do so, in fact, Alice Liddell’s descendant explains that there was never a sexual connotation in Lewis Carroll’s behavior, anyway there will always be mysteries around Alice’s creator in Wonderland.
“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality” – Alice in Wonderland –
Charles Lutwige Dodgson was born in 1832 in Daresbury, Cheshire, Royaume-Uni. I was the third of eleven children. His father, Charles Dodgson, was a reverend. From a very young age he showed a great mastery of games and literature.
At the age of 12, he created what he called the rector’s magazines. There were series of poems, comics and also short films to amuse his acquaintances. It should be noted that his childhood and adolescence were not easy. He was very shy, expensive, with many diseases (he was deaf in one ear) and also suffered from stuttering. However, he was enrolled at Christ Church University in Oxford to study mathematics.
His spirit was prodigious for science, so he always reached the most prestigious scholarships until he graduated with honors. In 1857 he became professor of mathematics at Christ Church, a position he reconciled with his training as a deacon.
It should be noted that, although he demonstrated great potential for the mathematical sciences, his personality was distracted, infallible and dreamy; he did not enroll much in this academic medium, where he also suffered many times the provocations of students and peers for his performance. stuttering and epileptic seizures.
It was in 1856 that young Dogson’s life changed; it was that year that a new dean, Henry Liddell, came to college; Henry later became rector of Oxford University and chaplain at Christ Church; his young wife and his daughters were also present with him: Lorina, Alice and Edith.
Dogson quickly established a friendship with the family. Before long, he became a young deacon always willing to take the girls picnic, to the river or to walk around the city, this was common. In fact, he also did so with the sons of writer George Macdonald and those of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. However, liddell girls have always had a special place in their lives.
On 4 July 1862, Dodgson and his friend Robinson Duckworth, a member of Trinity, took the girls for a boat ride on the Támesis from Oxford to Godstow. This little adventure served to write the beginning of a story of which Alice was the protagonist. protagonist The girl was so happy to meet her that she asked for more.
Dodgson did what he was told. So, week after week, he offered the girls exciting new adventures in Alice. This task gradually grew into a vast self-illustrated novel. When he finished, his friend George Macdonald, the author of some of the best children’s stories of the time, was so fascinated that he offered to publish it.
Lewis Carroll could never have imagined what would happen next
Charles Dogson thought of several titles for his book. After discussing ideas such as Alice Among the Hadas, Alice’s Golden Hour, she decided on Alice in Wonderland, also signed her under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, the publication was made in 1865 and, although she initially went unnoticed, the following year she was already thinking of writing a sequel.
Thus, the book Alice Through the Mirror reached the public in 1872, many critics have said that this work is much better than the first, so much so that it quickly became the most popular children’s book in the UK. . However, it should be noted that success was not something Lewis Carroll felt comfortable with.
In addition to writing (he has also published several books on creative mathematics), Lewis Carroll has dedicated his life to another great passion: photography, portraying the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and the pre-Argentine painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. as actresses of the time, such as Ellen Terry,She has also photographed children, being famous her fantasy series and controversial nudes.
It is impossible to talk about the Lewis Carroll biography without mentioning his nictogram, the nictogram was a card that he took under his pillow to record what was going through his head or part of what was happening in his dreams, he could do it without having to. to expose your hands to the cold in the room. To make it possible, he first invented an alphabet using corner points and side lines.
In this way, everything that was born in your dream universe could become your books, a technique that was improved later with another recognized onironaut: Salvador Dalí.
Lewis Carroll has not had other literary successes such as that achieved with Alice, he had a quiet life as a math teacher and also as a clergyman. Carroll died of pneumonia in 1898, at the age of 65.