Will the Real Alice Please Stand?
The Story of a Little Girl who Inspired Alice in Wonderland
Alice told her son that she "was tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful? It is - only I do get tired."
Alice in Wonderland is a children’s classic. Written at a time when children’s literature was moralizing and dull, Alice in Wonderland was subversive and creative. The dramatic break from the norm was the result of an unexpected and intense relationship between one little girl, Alice Lidell, and bachelor Reverend Charles Dodgson.
Charles Dodgson was a professor of Mathematics at Christ’s Church College and an avid amateur photographer. He was fascinated by the idea of childhood and his ideal was the age when a child begins to understand life but is still innocent. This moment is the age when children are perceptive and insightful. Alice Liddell, at age seven, was the epitome of Dodgson’s ‘ideal child-friend.’
When Alice was seven, Dodgson, who had photographed the Liddell children before, seized an opportunity when Mrs. Liddell was out of the house to take an informal photograph of Alice. The photo shows Alice in a ragged dress looking directly at you with piercing eyes. The image called “Beggar Maid” is mysterious and compelling. In it, Dodgson captured his ideal. It is Alice as seen in that moment that motivates him.
On July 4, 1862, when Alice was ten, Dodgson took her and her sisters for a boat trip. While on the trip, the children begged him to tell a story. Dodgson complied and told them a story of Alice's adventures in a place called Wonderland. Alice asked him to write it down for her. Dodgson did, although, it took him nearly three years to give her the completed work. On July 4, 1865, Alice received her copy. By then, the relationship between them was faltering and soon ended. However, it wasn’t thirteen-year-old Alice that the book had been written for. It was written for and about seven-year-old Alice; although, Alice was ten before the story even existed.
Who was the real Alice Lidell? Alice Pleasance Lidell was born May 4, 1852 the fourth child of Henry and Lorina Liddell. She was a child of privilege in an era when many children’s lives were difficult and drear. Her father was the Dean of Christ’s Church College and so the family’s needs were well met.
Alice’s childhood was spent in the company of her nearest sisters. Lorina was three years older and Edith was two years younger. When Alice was four her family met Dodgson who was photographing the cathedral. That meeting gave birth to a fascinating relationship between a child and a man who loved children.
When Alice ‘outgrew’ Dodgson, her mother pushed her into seeking a socially advantageous marriage. She had a brief relationship with Prince Leopold, which was terminated by his family. In 1880, Alice married Reginald Gervis Hargreaves; they had little in common, Alice was an intellectual and Regi was a sportsman but he was wealthy.
As an adult Alice became conscious of class and position. She worked hard to make the Hargreaves’ home a center of culture and society. She was harsh to her servants; she was critical and paid them poorly. She bore three sons for Regi, two of whom died in WWI. Her husband died in 1926.
The inheritance he left was good but not adequate. In 1928, financial difficulty prompted Alice to sell her original manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Underground. It sold at Sotheby’s for more than $75,000. In 1932, at the age of 80, she received an honorary doctorate from Columbia University. When she returned to England, she retired to her home and turned down further invitations. Alice died in 1934, at the age of 82.
Her memorial is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – a white stone commemorating an age.
