Alice Pleasance Liddell (May 4, 1852 - November 16, 1934) was the inspiration for the heroine of the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Contents

1 Alice in Wonderland 2 Biography 3 Alice's Relationship with Lewis Carroll 4 Comparison with fictional Alice 5 External links

Alice in Wonderland

On July 4, 1862, in a rowboat travelling on the river Thames from Oxford to Godstow for a picnic outing, Alice asked Charles Lutwidge Dodgson to entertain her and her sisters Edith and Lorina with a story. As Rev. Robinson Duckworth rowed the boat, Dodgson regaled the girls with fantastic stories of a girl, not so coincidentally named Alice, and her adventures after she fell through a rabbit-hole. The story was not so unlike those Dodgson had spun for the sisters before, but this time there was one significant difference. When it was done, Alice asked Mr. Dodgson to write it down for her. She asked him again. And again. And eventually, he did write it down. He printed it by hand, illustrated it, and presented it to Alice on November 26 1864, titling it Alice's Adventures Under Ground. In 1865, the story was professionally published under the pen name Lewis Carroll, in an expanded version, as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with illustrations by John Tenniel. A second "Alice" book, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There was published in 1871.

Biography

Alice Liddell was a daughter of Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and his wife Lorina Hanna, née Reeve. Alice was the fourth child, having two older brothers and an older sister, Lorina. Her second brother, Arthur, later died of scarlet fever. She had six younger siblings, including her sister, Edith, to whom she was very close. One of her younger brothers died as an infant.

At the time of her birth, her father was the dean of Westminster School, but was soon after appointed to the deanery of Christ Church, Oxford. The Liddell family moved to Oxford in 1856. It was soon after this move that Alice first met Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who came across the dean’s family while he was photographing the cathedral.

Alice grew up primarily in the company of her two nearest sisters, Lorina, who was three years older, and Edith, who was two years younger.

When Alice was a young woman, she set out on a grand tour of Europe with Lorina and Edith, as was the custom in those days for families of her standing. Two years later, tragedy struck when her younger sister, Edith, died of measles shortly before she was to be married.

At this time, Alice was a romantic interest of Prince Leopold, the youngest son of Queen Victoria. Many believe that Alice’s grief over the loss of her sister caused the relationship with Leopold to cool down, whilst others speculate that Leopold was dissuaded from pursuing a suit with a commoner by his mother. In the end, Alice married Reginald Hargreaves on September 15, 1880, at the age of 28 in Westminster Abbey. They had three sons: Alan Knyveton Hargreaves, Leopold Reginald "Rex" Hargreaves (both killed in action in World War I), and Caryl Liddell Hargreaves, who survived to have a daughter of his own.

The cost of maintaining their home, Cuffnells, was such that it was deemed necessary to sell Alice's copy of Alice's Adventures Under Ground. The manuscript, fetched nearly four times the reserve price given it by the auction house Sotheby’s, selling for £15,400. It became the possession of Eldridge R. Johnson, and was displayed at Columbia University on the centenial of Carroll's birth (Alice was present, aged 80, and it was on this visit to America that she met Peter Llewellyn-Davies, one of the brothers who were the inspiration for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan). At Johnson's death, the book was bought by a consortium of American bibliophiles and presented to the British people "in recognition of Britain's courage in facing Hitler before America came into the war." The manuscript now resides in the British Library.

Alice's Relationship with Lewis Carroll

Much of Alice’s childhood was spent in the company of her sisters and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who soon after their initial meeting became a frequent visitor. He entertained the girls by taking them on frequent boat trips and picnics in the scenic areas around Oxford, telling them fantastic stories to while away the time. He also used them as frequent subjects for his hobby, photography. Alice was clearly the favorite throughout these years, and she became the heroine of his tales, whilst her sisters Lorina and Edith played supporting roles.

The close relationship between Alice and Dodgson came to an abrupt end in 1863. There is no record of why the rift occurred, as Dodgson's heirs later destroyed the pages in his diary from that time period. It has been speculated that Alice’s mother, the socially-ambitous Lorina Liddell, disapproved of Dodgson’s interest in her daughter as she saw him as an unfit suitor. What we do know, from Alice’s own comments as an old woman, is that Lorina Liddell destroyed all of the letters Dodgson wrote to the young Alice.

Comparison with fictional Alice

Alice Liddell and "Alice", the character in the book, are clearly not identical, but it is fair to say that Alice Liddell was the inspiration for certain characteristics of "Alice" the character. She did not, however, inspire the illustrations of "Alice" in the published books: Tenniel had never met her.

A fictional personification of Alice Liddell is also one of the main characters of the Riverworld series of books, by Philip José Farmer.

External links

• A biographical page http://www.aliceinoxford.net/teach_alice.htm about Alice Liddell from the Alice in Oxford http://www.aliceinoxford.net/ website
• Alice Liddell http://www.pancakeparlour.com/Wonderland/Wonderland/Alice_Liddell/alice_liddell.
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