Creativity and biography of Lewis Carroll briefly for children

July 4, 1862 - the day, which in the journal of the British Royal Meteorological Society was described as overcast. However, for Charles Dodgson and his little girlfriends: Lorina, Edith and Alice Lidell - he became one of the sunniest in life. Carroll suggested that the girls go to the Thames to make a boat trip.

Alice Lidell, who was sitting on the steering wheel, was bored and demanded that Dodgson immediately tell the story, and it should contain as many stupid things as possible. Charles could not refuse his beloved, and in a desperate attempt to invent a new plot he decided to send the heroine on a journey through an endless rabbit hole. So one of the greatest fairy tales in the world was born, which children and adults around the world read with a sinking heart. However, the biography of Lewis Carroll is no less interesting than his works. This article is devoted to it.

Charles Dodgson: Early Years

Charles Dodgson was born in Cheshire, in the village of Dersbury, in 1832. The parents of the future mathematician and writer were the clergyman Charles Jodgson and Francis Lutvij.

Charles took a pseudonym in honor of the names of both parents. In Latin, Charles Lutwidge sounds like Carlyus Louis. If you change these words in places and translate again into English, Lewis Carroll will appear, a name that everyone knows in our time.

From childhood, Charlie was fascinated by mathematics. When it came time to choose a profession, there was no doubt: only the Oxford Mathematical Department. After completing his studies, Dodgson stayed at the university as a teacher.

Oxford Landmark

Having received a new status, Dodgson settled in a cozy house with towers. The young teacher quickly became one of the Oxford attractions, because his appearance was different: a slightly asymmetrical face, one corner of his lips raised, the other lowered. Besides, he stuttered a lot. Maybe that's why the professor was so alone: he tried to avoid dating and spent hours walking around the neighborhood of Oxford.

Lectures Dodgson students were considered boring: he dry lifeless voice read the right material, not trying to make the occupation more interesting.

Hobby with photography

The biography of Lewis Carroll could have developed quite differently. In his youth, Dodgson dreamed of becoming an artist: he drew a good drawing and illustrated his little stories himself. Once Dodgson even sent his illustrations to Time magazine. True, the editors did not find them sufficiently professional to publish.

The main passion for Charles was photography. In the XIX century, amateur photographers had to make a lot of effort to get pictures: photos were taken on special glass plates covered with a colloidal solution. However, these difficulties did not stop Dodgson: he was able to make wonderful portraits of Huxley, Tennyson, Faraday. True, critics believe that Dodgson dedicated his best works to Alice Lidell, the daughter of the rector of Oxford University.

Alice Lidell

In April 1856, Dodgson met the charming daughters of the rector of Oxford. And thanks to this meeting, the biography of Lewis Carroll made a sharp turn. Alisa Lidell became a real muse of the unsociable mathematician: it was to him that he devoted a book, which is one of the most widely read, published and quoted in the world. To our days, numerous portraits of Alisa Lidell have reached: critics point out their undoubted artistic value. However, the friendship lasted only a few years.

Parting with the Muse

When Alice turned 12, Charles Dodgson became a rare guest in the house of the rector of Oxford. Biographers are still arguing about the cause of this alienation. It is rumored that Dodgson was in love with Alice and even offered her hands and heart. Some argue that the mathematician has moved beyond decency in communicating with the girl. The latter is hardly the truth: all the meetings of Jodgson and the sisters of Lidell took place in the presence of adults. However, the pages of Carroll's diary, narrating about this time interval, are pulled out and destroyed. Therefore, many do not believe that Lewis Carroll, whose biography in English attracts a lot of attention, was only interested in girls. In addition, Alice's mother destroyed most of the pictures taken by her daughter, made by Dodgson, and also burned letters addressed to the girl.

However, whatever it was, Dodgson managed to give Alice Lidell immortality: even on her gravestone there is written "Alice from the fairy tale of Lewis Carroll".

Eternal child

They say that Lewis Carroll (a brief biography is given in this article) managed to keep his childhood in himself for the rest of his life. Perhaps this explains why all the friends of the mathematician were significantly younger than him. In the children's company, Dodgson stopped stuttering, his speech became alive, he seemed to turn into another person. However, as his friends grew older, Dodgson gradually lost interest in them. Children inspired him to work: it is worth reading the letters that the mathematician wrote to his little friends, they are no less interesting than Carroll's main work.

The secret of popularity

It's hard to say what made Carroll's tale so popular. Maybe it's all about the numerous experiments with the language: only small children can do so freely. It is possible that the tale helps to find answers to subtle philosophical and logical questions: after all, this story is loved not only by children, but also by adults. In addition, the biography of Lewis Carroll for children proves that this man was able to connect things that seem to be the opposite: humor and logic, mathematics and a good fairy tale.

By the way, many believe that it is Carroll who is the founder of paradoxical literature, whose characters violate logic at every turn. However, it is not. Ironically, the heroes of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice in the Looking-Glass" always follow the logic, however, bring it to the point of absurdity. That's why Lewis Carroll, a brief biography in English which is very interesting to anyone, was able to get the status of one of the greatest storytellers of mankind.

Two sides of the genius

Charles Dodgson not only created one of the greatest fairy tales in the world, he seemed to embody all the archetypal features of the Victorian eccentric scientist. The unsociable and taciturn mathematician always wore a tall cylinder and gloves. He rarely had fun and led an almost ascetic life. His works on logic are considered mathematical classics.

However, this person had a sunny side. Lewis Carroll's biography says that he could make any child laugh, write good stories and letters, draw and write humorous stories with enthusiasm. Who knows, maybe, genius is the ability to unite the unconnected? If so, then Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, can be called one of the greatest geniuses of mankind.

Lewis Carroll, a brief biography for children that seems amazing, left behind him a lot of work on mathematics, letters and stories. However, two books devoted to Alice Lidell brought him fame. Read "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice in the Looking Glass" is for everyone: there are very few such kind, bright and amazing books.