Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson. Dodgsonwas born in Daresbury, Cheshire, and was the third eldest of eleven children. Dodgsonentered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1851 to study mathematics, and he stayed there as aprofessor of math for the next twenty-six years. He was fascinated by games and puzzles,and the plot of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland leans heavily on card games. In 1855,Henry Liddell became the dean of Christ Church, and Dodgson became a fast friend tohis three daughters, Lorina, Alice and Edith, whom he would take on rowing expeditionson the Thames. Dodgson's meetings with these girls were the basis for this famous story.Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865. The elements that makeAlice such an enduring and fascinating story are the setting, characters and theme. The narrative of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is told within the frameworkof a dream. However, that does not become clear until the end of the story. Springtime,the setting for Alice's dream, is the traditional time in English literature for frivolity andstrange stories. The setting for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales also takes place in the spring,at the beginning of April. This accounts for many of the fantastic elements and for thenon-linear nature of the story; ideas and conversations are not to be taken seriously, butrather to be enjoyed for their lack of connection and straightforward meaning. Thedream world in which Alice finds herself when she enters the rabbit hole is calledWonderland. Wonderland is populated by animals that talk and act like real people andby playing cards that act as a royal court. It does not conform to the reality or physics ofthe real world. Characters (including Alice herself) grow large and small and disappearat will, games and logic are twisted so that they resemble reality, but only if taken as ahalf-truth.These same characters contribute much to the enjoyment of the s...
