Alice Liddell The girl for whom Lewis CARROLL wrote Alice in Wonderland. Date of Birth: 04.05.1852 Country: Great Britain

1. Biography of Alice Liddell
2. Childhood and Youth
3. Relationship with Lewis Carroll
4. Inspiration for Alice's Adventures
5. Later Life

Biography of Alice Liddell

Alice Liddell, the girl for whom Lewis Carroll wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass," was the fourth child of Henry Liddell, a classical scholar and dean of one of the colleges at Oxford University. She had two older brothers who tragically died of scarlet fever in 1853, an older sister named Lorina, and six younger siblings. After Alice's birth, her father was appointed as the dean of Christ Church, and in 1856, the Liddell family moved to Oxford. It was there that Alice first met Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who would become a close friend of the family in the following years.

Childhood and Youth

Alice grew up in the company of her two sisters - Lorina, who was three years older, and Edith, who was two years younger. During holidays, the family would retreat to Gogarth Abbey, a country house on the west coast of North Wales that is now a hotel. Alice's father taught many notable artists, and he was also friends with the royal family. It was during the height of the Pre-Raphaelite movement that Alice's childhood and youth coincided. She practiced drawing, receiving lessons from John Ruskin, a famous artist and influential English art critic of the 19th century. Ruskin recognized her talent, and she even made several copies of his and his friend William Turner's paintings. Later, Alice posed for Julia Margaret Cameron, a renowned photographer closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and considered one of the pioneers of English photography's golden age.

Relationship with Lewis Carroll

According to some accounts, Mr. Dodgson approached Alice's parents with a request to seek her hand in marriage when she grew older. However, there is no precise information about this, and it is possible that it is part of the "myth of Lewis Carroll and Alice" that arose later. Alice eventually married Reginald Hargreaves, but she continued to maintain a friendship with Charles Dodgson.

Inspiration for Alice's Adventures

On July 4, 1862, during a boating trip, Alice Liddell asked her friend Charles Dodgson to create a story for her and her sisters, Edith and Lorina. Dodgson, who had previously told stories to the Liddell children, readily agreed. This time, he told the sisters about the adventures of a little girl in Wonderland, who fell down a rabbit hole. The main character closely resembled Alice (not only in name), and some secondary characters resembled her sisters, Lorina and Edith. Alice loved the story so much that she asked Dodgson to write it down. Although Dodgson promised, he needed several reminders before finally fulfilling Alice's request. He presented her with a manuscript called "Alice's Adventures Under Ground." Later, Dodgson decided to rewrite the book and added new details and illustrations by John Tenniel. The revised version of the book, now titled "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," was given to Alice as a Christmas gift in 1863. The sequel, "Through the Looking-Glass," was published six years later in 1871. Both stories, which are now over 100 years old, remain popular, and the handwritten manuscript given to Alice Liddell by Dodgson is preserved in the British Library.

Later Life

In Philip José Farmer's science fiction pentalogy "Riverworld," a character named Alice Liddell Hargreaves is introduced. According to the first novel in the series, she was awarded an honorary degree by Columbia University at the age of 80 for her significant role in the creation of Mr. Dodgson's famous book. These are real facts from the life of Alice Liddell Hargreaves.

In the novel "Maximus Grom: Escape from Eden" by Lilia Kim, Alice Liddell is one of the main characters, an agent of the Bureau of Information Security. However, in the following book, she becomes a minor character.