12/11/13

Biographical Interpretations

About Texts Images Interpretations Other Media Footnotes

Where am I? Home -> The Evolution of Alice Criticism -> Historical Criticism -> Biographical Aproach

The Biographical Interpretation

The more the details of his life and work are raked over, the more confusing they become - Humphrey Carpenter

Introduction
Fun Fact: In addition to writing, Carroll's other majoy hobby was photography, which was still a rather new form of art. Over the course of his life Carroll produced over 3,000 photographs and even set up his own studio in Oxford. -Wikipedia
The basic claim of the Biographical Interpretation is that the best thing any one could do to better understand the Alice books is to understand the man who created it. This is an older critical approach, and a popular one even in Carrolls day. And it makes a lot of sense. After all, a writers inspiration has to come from somewhere, so why not closely study Carrolls life to find that inspiration? However, understanding Lewis Carroll, aka Charles Dodgson is not so easy as it might first appear. Many biographers have tried, but few have managed to fully explain the link between the shy Oxford Don who would not even admit to being Lewis Carroll for many years, and the witty, irreverent and energetic author of childrens books. Different critical schools highlight different aspects of his biography: psychoanalysts focus on his sexual repression; mathematicians on his profession; and these days much attention is paid to his relationships with his child friends. The resulting picture is complex and enigmatic, making Carroll himself as elusive as the meaning of his most famous works. One of the major drawbacks of the biographical approach is that it tends to glorify the genius of the author in ways with which many modern critics do not feel quite comfortable. The approach also tends to disregard the meanings that some popular readings assign to the text. The psychedelic interpretation, for instance, cannot be proved from details of Carrolls life, therefore it must be ignored, despite the fact that it flavors a lot of Alice representations and adaptations even today. However, the biographical approach is certainly still an important facet of any Alice interpretation and certainly has been one of the major schools of Alice criticism for over a hundred years. We can glean some very important clues on how Alice is meant to be read by studying Lewis Carroll. For instance, it can be very useful to read Alice knowing that Carroll wrote I can guarantee that the books have no religious teaching in themin fact they do not teach anything at all (Warren 31). Knowing Lewis Carroll and the meaning he found in the Alice books is a fascinating and, many would argue, necessary step for any Alice interpreter.

Read about Lewis Carroll

There are several rather good mini-biographies of Lewis Carroll on the Internet. To get a sense of the man himself, click on one of these links.

The Victorian Web - "Lewis Carroll" The Victorian Station - "Lewis Carroll" Wikipedia - "Lewis Carroll" The Lewis Carroll Society (UK) - Charles Dodgson's Life

For some more essays on Lewis Carroll, try Contrariwise: the Association for New Lewis Carroll Studies

<- Go back to Historical Criticism <back to Alice Interpretations Home>

Site created and maintained by Lauren Millikan (Lauren.Millikan@alumni.carleton.edu) Carleton College, class of 2011 Last updated: March 4, 2011

www.carleton.edu/departments/ENGL/Alice/CritBio.html

1/2

12/11/13

Biographical Interpretations

Postings to Carleton's World Wide Web by individuals and student organizations reflect their own thoughts, interests, and activities; they do not implicitly or explicitly represent official positions and policies of Carleton College. Individual page maintainers assume responsibility and liability for the content of their documents. To read more about Carleton's web policy, click here. Please address all comments and other feedback to the owner of the pages, Lauren Millikan, Lauren.Millikan@alumni.carleton.edu. For further assistance, contact webmaster@carleton.edu.

www.carleton.edu/departments/ENGL/Alice/CritBio.html

2/2