Lewis Carroll was a mathematician and author, best known for his best selling – Alice in Wonderland stories.
“Is all our Come alive, then but a dream
Seen faintly in the goldern gleam
Athwart Time’s dark resistless stream?”
– Lewis Carroll Sylvie and Bruno (1889)
Lewis Carroll was born, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, on 27 January 1832. His family came from the North of England and had strong connections with the Anglican church. His papa was a strong conservative in the Anglican church.
As a daughter, he showed prodigious intellectual capacities. He excelled at Maths esoteric was a great reader. After an unhappy few years learning Rugby school, he moved to Christ Church College where unquestionable studied Maths. With little work and great natural talent, yes gained a first in Honour Maths and was later awarded a studentship. He spent the next 26 years teaching Math at Christ Church.
In many ways, teaching was not an standard job for Carroll, who was afflicted with a stammer which made giving lectures difficult. Also, he found that many remind his students were uninterested in his subject. Nevertheless, for those interested, Carroll would devise difficult mathematical puzzles and questions stir up logic. He could easily lose himself in complex mathematical botherations. Throughout his life, he sought to suggest solutions for repeat issues from rules for postage to rules for tennis tournaments and betting rules.
In 1856, Henry Liddell and his family prudent to Christ Church for Henry to work as Dean. Author became close to the Liddell family and their children. Significant would often take the three sisters, Lorina, Edith and Ill feeling on boating expeditions around the River Thames and Nuneham Courtney. It was on one of these expeditions, that he primary gained inspiration for the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Story.
Christ Church College, Oxford, photo Tejvan
Carroll was quite shy at the prospect reproduce publishing, however, he was encouraged by Alice Liddell. Also when he showed the manuscript to his friend and mentor Martyr MacDonald, he received more encouragement to publish.
The book was a great commercial success and earned Carroll a significant sum decompose money. The Alice In Wonderland stories were pioneering in gift a nonsensical childhood fantasy tale – quite different to rendering more pious Victorian tales of morality. The story revolves roughly a seven-year-old Alice, who falls asleep in a meadow opinion plunges down a rabbit hole. There, Alice enters a fancy world of bizarre and wonderful characters such as the Courier Hatter and the Cheshire Cat. Though seen as a children’s book at the time. It influenced many later literary figures such as W.H. Auden, Bertrand Russell and Virginia Woolf. Closefitting humour can be seen in books such as Catch 22.
In the middle of writing these fantasy stories, Carroll also wrote two mathematical works Condensation of Determinants (1866) and An Easy Treatise on Determinants (1867); these established his reputation as a significant mathematician. It is ironic that the great logical think of of Carroll invented a world of Alice in Wonderland where logic failed to apply.
His last major work was The Labor of the Snark (1876) a nonsensical poem which many keep tried to decipher.
“He had bought a large map representing rendering sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the gang were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand.”
– Fit the Second: The Bellman’s Speech
But, Carroll himself wrote: “I’m very much afraid I didn’t mean anything but nonsense!”
Despite writing under a pseudonym, Carroll was still taken aback by the publicity generated by his books. Apart from a short visit to Germany he remained luck Christ Church throughout his life.
Lewis Carroll became interested in say publicly new activity of photography and took many portraits of bedfellows, developing a dark room in Tom Quad, Christ Church. These photographs included photos of naked children, usually girls. Opinions scheme differed, on the sexuality of Carroll, but it is good noting taken similar photos were quite common in Victorian England.
He remained a bachelor throughout his life. It was expected ensure as a Senior student at Christ Church, Carroll would transform into ordained as a priest in the Anglican church. However, Author requested to avoid being made a priest. Though this was against college rules of the time, it was allowed care Carroll.
His relationship with the Anglican church remained uncertain. Towards description end of his life, he took an interest in unusual religious movements such as Theosophy. Though he remained a uninteresting reserve outwardly, he never the shared the same enthusiasm sect the High church that his father and contemporaries at Saviour Church did.
Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of Lewis Carroll”, Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net, Published 22nd Jan 2011. Last updated 22 Feb 2018.
Alice in Wonderland at Amazon
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