ana.words, diesen sonntag alice im wunderland

nächster läsezirkel diesen sonntag

25. 11. 2007 bei mirjam halter

14:30 bruggstrasse 35, 8942 oberrieden

alice im wunderland von lewis carroll

nach der buchbesprechung schauen wir den trickfilm.

thought you might be able to use some of this background for

the ana.words reading group reading of Alice in Wonderland.

our conversation wednesday reminded me of some research I

did once on the literary muse.

Certainly, one of the most fascinating would have been our

darling Alice Pleasance Liddell. Her entire life was shaped

by her undeniable and innocent allure. And this beginning

at the pre-nubile age of 6. As the daughter of the Dean of

Christ Church in Oxford, she befriended Charles Dodgson (aka

Lewis Carroll) while playing in the church yard with her

three sisters. As reported by her diaries (now accessible

in the british public record) Dodgson approached the girls

and asked if he might photograph them.

"Before they left, Mr. Dodgson gave me a photograph of

himself and his friend. I put these photographs in the

diary for safe keeping. Then Mr. Dodgson winked at me

and said that he would certainly see me again soon. I

can hardly wait to play with my new friend."

If you go on to read the contrasting and contemporaneous

diary entries of both Alice and Dodgson, you would find

numerous instances of such coyly sexual and flirtatious

scintillations; whispering secrets, clandestine letters

detailing future meetings, afternoons spent strolling in the

woods, boating, luncheons on the banks. I dare not critique

the nature and beauty of their interactions...for truly they

enjoyed each other immensely.

The controversy enshrouding the relationship between the

Liddell sisters, alice in-particular, and Mr. Dodgson has

never been cleared or confirmed. Between his death in 1898

and the yielding of his personal papers to the british

public record in 1969, four of the eighteen volumes of his

personal diaries were destroyed. Furthermore, additional

pages and sections were removed from the remaining volumes.

The most compelling entries removed being those surrounding

the dates Dodgson's contact with the Liddell family became

strained and finally ceased, at the demand of Mrs. Liddell.

Clearly, we will never know exactly what prompted the

termination of their relationship, though speculatively it

shouldn't be hard to assume it had something to do with the

intensity of his interests. Especially in consideration of

the attached photographs by Dodgson titled "Alice as Beggar

Child".

The first oral version of Alice In Wonderland was told to

the girls on the legendary "golden afternoon", during a

leisurely boating expedition he had planned for them. He

then further elaborated over several months, and many more

outings and afternoons, as the children began to play a

central role in his life.

Dodgson himself may be grouped in the rank of England's 19th

c. gentlemanly scholars. He was an accomplished

mathematician, aside from his clearly profound career as an

author and, less known as Pre-Raphaelite photographer. In

fact, he is often even grouped with such mega stars of the

history of photography as Julia Margaret Cameron and Henry

Robinson Peach. Though, interestingly in contra-point, all

three of their works have stood enormous amounts of disdain

and criticism.

It is further worth noting that Alice was again photographed

in her twenties by Julia Margaret Cameron. Here she is

meant to represent Althaea, greek goddess of spirit, truth

and sincerity. I would venture to point out that this

created her not only as the sexualized child muse of the

19th c. ultra masculine gentleman elite but contrastingly as

the muse of photography's first female star! I'd say it's

not clear whether Cameron photographed Alice as a means of

repossessing the feminine allure and immortalizing the

allusions of a child sexual object, though it would

implicate early forms of feminism in art. Surely though,

like all pre-Raphaelites', Cameron would have been far too

naive to be concerned with anything but hazy and languorous

beauty:)

Aside from Alice Liddell's embodiment of the fictional Alice

in Wonderland and her portraits by Julia Margaret Cameron,

she endured numerous other mythologizing encounters. She

and Prince Leopold of England, son of Queen Victoria, fell

madly in love while at Oxford but the monarchy disdained

their marriage. Later, and after little contact, Leopold

named his first child Alice...and Alice her first son

Leopold. Sooooo romantic!

There was little contact between Alice and Dodgson during

the span of her adult life before his death. one of the

surviving eleven letters from C.D. to A.L. expresses a

wistful nostalgia for the old days, inviting her to tea

anytime, adding, pitifully, that ''to a prisoner in his

cell, all days are alike.''

In her old age, Alice was forced to live from the income of

selling Charles Dodgson's hand written manuscripts.

Eventually, even touring and lecturing on her experiences as

"Alice" until her death in 1934. Her immortalization became

a burden, writing to her son, "''But oh my dear I am tired

of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful? It

is. Only I do get tired.''

unfortunately and undeniably...even inexplicable

romanticized beauty is fragile and burdensome...to a

prisoner in his cell, all days are alike...

for further reference and numerous other amusing tales of

the muse: The LIves of the Muses: Nine Women and the

Artists they Inspired; Harper Perennial; Reprint edition

(Oct 2003) by Francine Prose. She really does have

laudable prose style:) unfortunately, i don't keep books

for hygienic reasons so i haven't got a copy.

hope you're well

best regards,

reto mikal

http://ana.ch/words/archive/?id=5038

-- = -- -- = -- -- = --

a n a . w o r d s

aus dem hellblauen salon

words@ana.ch

http://ana.ch/words/

ana.txt seite 444

reicht ana.words weiter!

_____________

________________________

______________________________

____________________________________

________________________________________

_____________________ __________________

____________________ ___________________

______________________ ___________________

______________________ _____________________

____________________ ____________________

______________________ __ _____________

____________ _______

_________ ___________

_______ ______________

______ _________________

______ ________ ____________________

_____________________ ______________________

____________________ ___ ________________________

____________________ ______ ________________________

__________________ _______ __ _______________________

__________________ ________ ___ ________________________

____________________ ______ _ ________________________

______________________ ____ __________________________

_________________________ __ ____________________________

_____________________________ ____________________________

_______________________________ ____________________________

_______________________________ ____________________________

_______________________________ ___________________________

_______________________________ ___________________________

_______________________________ ___________________________

______________________________ ___________________________

_____________________________ ___________________________

____________________________ ____________________________

____________________________ _ ___________________________

____________________________ __ ___________________________

___________________________ ____ ___________________________

___________________________ _____ ___________________________

__________________________ _______ ___________________________

_________________________ ______ __________________________

________________________ ________ __________________________

______________________ __ __________ ___________________________

______________________ _ _________ __ ________________________

___________________ ___________ ________________________

___________________ ___________ ______________________

__________________ _____________ _____________________

_________________ _____________ ____________________

______________ ______________ ___________________

_____________ _______________ __________________

____________ ________________ ________________

__________ ______________ _____________

________ ______________ _________

_______ _____________________ ____

______ ____________________________

_______________________________

________________________

______________

best viewed in a fixed-width font such as monaco or courier