We can never know what caused the rift, though it has been the subject of much speculation and many writer’s have joined the rumor mill, keeping the story alive, using each other’s work to support their theories; so quick to jump to conclusions, that one begins to think that even if nothing perverse happened, they almost wish it had. A sort of vicarious thrill. Because several years of Dodgson’s diaries were destroyed, some assume that there must have been something to hide, some transgression or sin. Many write with authority (though in truth there is really no evidence to support these theories) that Dodgson overstepped his bounds with Alice when she was about eleven.
Florence Becker Lennon, in her 1945 book Victoria Through the Looking Glass, proclaimed that “Carroll was actually in love with [Alice Liddell] and proposed honorable marriage.” (24, dreaming) Another chronicler, Alexander Taylor, wrote that Dodgson was “in love with his heroine,” and that “as she grew up” she became “the real disappointment in his life.” (25, dreaming) Even Morton Cohen, considered Carroll’s most authoritative biographer, offers, in Nickel’s words, only “gossip, elliptical correspondence, and the existence of other ‘May-December’ marriages” - something not uncommon in the Victorian period – as further evidence of Dodgson’s infatuation. (25, dreaming)
When we cut through the guess-work, the real facts, found in the surviving diaries, it is clear that Dodgson did not always think very well of Alice: Thus, it is equally plausible that the missing pages said angry or unflattering things about her, which the Dodgson family destroyed not only to protect his character, but to spare the Liddells’ (and her married name, Hargreaves') feelings as well. Whatever the case, it is important to note that while Alice was the inspiration for the books, contrary to popular belief she was by no means his favorite photographic model.
That distinction, by Dodgson’s own admission, belonged to Alexandra (“Xie”) Kitchin, whom he photographed for a period of eleven years and sitting for him for at least fifty times that we know of, a longer relationship and more intense study than he had made of any other child. The photographs of Xie are among the most captivating Dodgson ever produced, not only because of Xie’s natural and haunting beauty, but also because she is often used to convey Dodgson’s fascination with altered states of consciousness. Xie appears in photographs in various stages of consciousness. She is reclining in her nightdress, dozing sleepily on the couch, other times, a wide-eyed insomniac.
Several photographs of Xie are titled “Sleepless” and “A Summer Night.” Whatever the post, Xie demonstrates a remarkable ease in front of the camera and with the photographer. Her gaze is direct, questioning, even, dare we say, provocative. Of the many portraits Dodgson took in his lifetime, practically the only close-ups are of Xie, her face and neck flooding the frame. If he wanted to get close to anyone, it was the dreamy and hypnotic Xie Kitchin. '
Article comments
1 - Lono
Charles Dodgeson is a phenomenal genius. I regard the Alice books as my favorite ever written, and I have a literature degree to back that up. It's unfortunate that history will probably judge him as a creepy pedophile. He was a mathmatic genius, and several of the passages in the second book (through the looking glass) are actually working puzzles.
The first piece of music I wrote I put to Charles Dodgeson words (I think it was Shadowland).
take care,
lono
2 - srp
agreed. it is sad. I don't judge him that way myself, and i hope that is clear in the piece. It would indeed be sad if he were judged so. I'd like to think that as biographers, we really do our research before condemning anyone to something as serious as that... Let's hope so.
Be well
s.r.p.
3 - Eric Olsen
exceptional and infomative - I love your theory on stopping time
4 - Purple Tigress
I also have found Lewis Carroll's writings exceptional.
I wasn't aware of his suffering from epilepsy and stuttered. I think this goes a long way to explaining his love of photography and his preference for the company of children.
I also prefer not to think of him as a creepy pedophile although there are some more modern "art photographers" that I would consider coming under that category.
Thanks for the book reviews.
5 - Robert Nagle
This is a fascinating essay, especially the part about the epilepsy (which I'd never heard of).
It's interesting to contemplate how our view of photographs differ from other generations. The generational difference is seen today by how nonchalantly teenagers take photos of themselves and friends without inhibition (and how in contrast, a middle aged man or woman grumpily declines).
The novelty of the device in Dodgson's time probably ensured that neither parents nor children thought too hard about issues of exploitation. It also ensured that poses were more spontaneous (contrast this with Americans who see glamour shots of all kinds of models everyday and everywhere).
Aside from the pseudo-prurience of these photos, it would be interesting to view these photos as indicating what people of that time period considered as tableux. In that time, the cliches were cherubs; in the time of playboy pinups, the cliches were water hoses and horses and automobiles. Future historians will find the setups more fascinating that the models themselves.
6 - m
a pity there is no posting of his pictures
7 - sadi
i can organize some pics online for you to look at. give me a few days and i'll post the link and you can go to it. be sure to check back. i'll try and get it done before the end of the day on monday and will post the link back here.
be well,
sadi
8 - sadi
here is the link on my site to Dodgson's photographs. i've uploaded quite a good sample, but no doubt, this will increase over time....
http://www.tantmieux.squarespace.com/display/ShowGallery?moduleId=68673&galleryId=8877
cut and paste that into your browser, OR,
go to
www.tantmieux.squarespace.com and go to IMAGES and then select the gallery marked Lewis Carroll nee Charles Dodgson.
Hope this helps and good luck...
Cheers,
Sadi
9 - Melisande
Excellent work, enjoyed exploring the essay.
Interestingly, Dodgson's epilepsy is, of course, a matter of some dispute. The fact that he tended towards neologisms, clang assosications and listmaking, indicates bipolar disorder rather than/in addition to temporal absence epilepsy.
While looking up Dodgson's epilepsy, I happened across this interesting medical diagnosis, termed Alice In Wonderland Syndrome.
10 - sadi
yes, i've heard of alice in wonderland syndrome. i believe it's called that becaus eof the macropsia and micropsia, that are common to many temporal lobe seizures. the sense of time, things growing and shrinking, even the headaches, as you noted, the listmaking, the compulsive hypergraphia, etc etc. are all signs.
Dodgson WAS officially diagnosed in his life several times as someone with temporal lobe epilepsy and had several grand mal seizures that are well-documented, themost famous of them being the one at the chapel at Christ Church where he was teaching. He was on several medications for seizures though none of them agreeable. He also had the classic migraine symptoms that often accompany TLE and took Dilaudid and other opiates for this.
His friend Tennyson was also diagnosed with epilepsy and took treatment for it, though he was very private about it.
this is understandable; at the time, epileptics were considered 'insane' or 'mad' and were often confined to asylums. sad, when i know that in other cultures, epileptics are often revered as shamans and medicine men (inuit and native american cultures often do this).
What would be best would be for those with epilepsy to be treated just like everyone else, or for society to recognize the many good qualities that often accompany TLE and the many great men and women who have been the best leaders, artists, writers, etc. who all had well-documented cases - a few, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Van Gogh, Napoleon, Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great, Alfred Nobel, Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagorus, Lewis Carroll (of course), Tennyson, as noted, and on and on... i'm compiling a master list of document cases only that i hope to soon have on my site.
Be well, and thanks for reading...
Sadi