THE MOVE FROM DIDACTICISM TO FANTASY

1. THE MOVE FROM DIDACTICISM TO FANTASY LEWIS CARROLL AS PIONEER

2. Studying Alice

3. Karen Smith’s Table on the Move to Fantasy

4. Smith on the Shift that Occurred • In the early part of the the 19th-century, “the recommendations of [Locke and Rousseau] in regard to reading matter were cheerfully ignored as the production of works modeled after the fable dropped dramatically, and imagination in the form of fairy tales, as well as full-length fantasy novels, made their entrance with a grand flourish. There had been a shift in attitudes, and the Victorians began to see imagination as a delightful and even quite normal part of childhood, rather than as something to be dreaded and avoided” (98).

5. Key Features of Victorian Fantasy Lit • Focus turns to the child as protagonist • Parents are often absent, enabling the child to have adventures • The development of simultaneous worlds – one set in reality, the other set in a fantastic realm – was a major achievement • Didacticism was not entirely removed, however. As Smith notes, “The moral message had not changed significantly; rather, it was the style of presentation of that message that would become a unique factor” (123).

6. Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson ) A Key Author of the “Golden Age”

7. Carroll’s Oxford Beginnings • A graduate of Christ Church College, Oxford University, Carroll was a mathematics teacher who enjoyed creating puzzles, word games, and magic tricks. • He was one of the first professional photographers – and his subjects included young Alice Liddell, the model for his heroine.

8. Carroll’s Best Known Photographs

9. Controversy • “I am fond of children (except boys),” Carroll wrote, and his interest in young girls has been debated since his lifetime. • A confirmed bachelor, Carroll preferred the company of young, female children – and while there is no suggestion that he ever initiated any sexual behavior with them, his eccentricities were frowned upon by some of the young women’s parents, including the parents of Alice Liddell, the girl for whom Carroll wrote his Alice books.

10. Intro to Annotated Alice • What might readers consider to be controversial today about Carroll’s photography hobby? • “Upon occasion he sketched or photographed them in the nude, with the mother’s permission, of course” (xvii) • “Lest these undraped pictures later embarrass the girls, he requested that after his death they be destroyed or returned to the children or their parents. None seems to have survived” (xvii)

11. Intro to Annotated Alice • “He became adept at meeting little girls in railway carriages and on public beaches. A black bag that he always took with him on these seaside trips contained wire puzzles and other unusual gifts to stimulate their interest. He even carried a supply of safety pins for pinning up skirts for little girls when they wished to wade in the surf” (xviii)

12. Intro to Annotated Alice • According to the editor on pages xix and xxvi-xxvii, was Carroll in love with Alice Liddell ? • “there is not the slightest evidence for it” (xix) • Why do critics ask these sorts of questions? • Biographical insight is important, as are the insights readers can draw from an author’s motivations. However, we can never know the “truth” about Carroll’s feelings – what we can do is to read this text with a sensitivity to the different ways in which the Victorians viewed adult/child relationships.

13. Intro to Annotated Alice • 5)What does the editor mean when he writes, “Carroll’s little girls appealed to him precisely because he felt sexually safe with them”? (xix) • If Carroll were afraid of intimate contact with women or men, he may have felt more comfortable interacting with people who, because of their age and experience, were not inclined to desire sexual contact with him nor to initiate it.

14. Intro to Annotated Alice • How does the editor provide an explanation on page xxvii for Carroll’s interest in little girls? • “There was a tendency in Victorian England, reflected in much of its literature and art, to idealize the beauty and virginal purity of little girls” (xxvii).

15. Distain for Typical Children’s Literature • Though socially conservative, Carroll disliked the didactic tone of children’s books. When he wrote his stories for children, he mocked the sorts of texts that were thought to be “safe” and “good” for children, such as “Speak Gently,” a poem by G. W. Langford that was popular during Carroll’s lifetime. Speak gently! It is better far To rule by love than fear; Speak gently; let no harsh words mar The good we might do here! Speak gently! Love doth whisper low The vows that true hearts bind; And gently Friendship's accents flow; Affection's voice is kind.

16. “Speak Roughly” Speak roughly to your little boy and beat him when he sneezes he only does it to annoy because he knows it teases. I speak severely to my boy I beat him when he sneezes for he can thoroughly enjoy the pepper when he pleases

17. The Inspiration for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland • In 1862, Carroll and his friend the Reverend Robinson Duckworth took Lorina, Alice, and Edith Liddell on a boating excursion along the River Thames. To amuse the girls, Carroll told them a story that would become the basis for his Alice books. • Twenty-five years later, Carroll wrote, “In a desperate attempt to strike out some new line of fairy-lore, I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole, to begin with, without the least idea what was to happen afterwards” (qtd in Gardner 7-8).

18. The Groundbreaking Nature of Alice • Published in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland caused an instant sensation and has influenced subsequent authors of children’s literature, right up to this day. Any serious scholar of children’s literature needs to have read Carroll’s text in its entirety.

19. Why Alice Was Different • First, as mentioned earlier, Carroll disliked the sort of didacticism present in most children’s stories. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland presents a fantasy in which a young girl learns to adapt to strange surroundings and to enjoy adventure, but she is never “punished” for her behavior. • Second, Carroll portrays a female protagonist who becomes increasingly forceful, opinionated, and talkative – just the opposite of the way most authors chose to portray young women.

20. Why Alice Was Different • Third, Carroll portrayed adults as being flawed – this was a revolutionary move. • Fourth, Carroll mixed genres, bringing together fantasy, nonsense verse, poetry, and fables (though his animal fables have no real moral lessons). • Fifth, Carroll was able to have his books elaborately illustrated and had input as to the composition of John Tenniel’s drawings.

21. The Legacy • No other children’s literature text has been referenced as much as the Alice texts – even mainstream authors such as James Joyce paid tribute to Carroll’s work in his novels.

22. Intro to Annotated Alice • Why might readers benefit from using an annotated edition of Alice? • “In the case of Alice we are dealing with a very curious, complicated kind of nonsense, written for British readers of another century, and we need to know a great many things that are not part of the text if we wish to capture its full wit and flavor” (xiii)

23. Intro to Annotated Alice • What are two types of notes that the editor chooses to avoid and why? • Allegorical and psychoanalytic exegesis (xiv) • “Like Homer, the Bible, and all other great works of fantasy, the Alice books lend themselves readily to any type of symbolic interpretation—political, metaphysical, or Freudian” (xiv)

24. Intro to Annotated Alice • “The rub is that any work of nonsense abounds with so many inviting symbols that you can start with any assumption you please about the author and easily build up an impressive case for it” (xiv)