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A review by ederwin
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Decoded: The Full Text of Lewis Carroll's Novel with its Many Hidden Meanings Revealed by David Day
5.0
"If there's no meaning in it," said the King, "that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we needn't try to find any."
Silly king! there is lots of meaning in this nonsense. Many things have been written about Alice in Wonderland. Some do, indeed, find things in it that aren't really there. But that doesn't mean there aren't any hidden meanings to uncover.
Martin Gardner did an excellent job with [b:The Annotated Alice|176972|The Annotated Alice The Definitive Edition|Lewis Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367782378s/176972.jpg|2375385] in multiple editions starting from the 1960s. Gardner mostly pointed out the original stories, poems and songs that were being parodied, and issues of logic and mathematics. David Day, here, goes deeper into mythological sources, events of the time, and the social life of Lewis Carroll and his feud with the real family of the real Alice Liddell. Mr. Carroll shows himself to be stubborn and petty.
Some may find it hard to believe that such a simple seeming story could have so many levels of references. That the Mad Hatter's party could simultaneously be just a silly story that kids can enjoy, and have references to Eleusinian Mysteries, mathematical puzzles, differences between lunar and solar calendars, and current politics at Oxford university, and more. Yet, it is true. Carroll was well educated in Greek and Latin myths and history and expected his (adult) readers to be, too. He, like many of his friends, was involved in secret societies looking to explore lost knowledge, and loved to look for hidden meanings in works of art.
Carroll had an unbelievably generous job at Oxford University: he couldn't be fired, he had no duties (teaching courses was optional), he got public recognition, a salary, and food and lodgings. Yet he lost no opportunity to publicly criticize the Dean, Alice's father, for his liberal policies. What was so awful? Well, Dean Liddell and his friends wanted to teach at least some courses in English, and not require all students to know more than basic Greek and Latin, and to admit some students based on academic merit rather than social position, and to teach some classes that might be of practical use.
Carroll argued with the reformers constantly in meetings, and attacked their positions both directly, and through anonymous 'squibs' and letters to newspapers where the Dean and his supporters were drawn in caricature as animals. (Because of this that we can be very certain who some of the animals in Wonderland represent.)
Soon after the original manuscript of "Alice's Adventures Underground," Carroll had a falling-out with Mrs. Liddell as well. She forbade him to have any further contact with her children. (Probably because the oldest daughter was getting too old to be out with a man without a chaperone.) He was furious. The end of the original story was expanded and became darker so that Carroll could complain about how unfairly he thought he was being treated by King and Queen Liddell, falsely accused of trying to steal their sweet little 'tarts'. (The word 'tart' at the time simply meant 'young girl', and did not yet mean 'prostitute'.)
I love everything related to Alice in Wonderland. But the real treat in this book, for me, was learning about Oxford in the Victorian era. It is also physically beautiful inside and out, a great coffee table book with interesting information on every page which can be read in almost any order, though you get the most understanding if you read it straight through.
Silly king! there is lots of meaning in this nonsense. Many things have been written about Alice in Wonderland. Some do, indeed, find things in it that aren't really there. But that doesn't mean there aren't any hidden meanings to uncover.
Martin Gardner did an excellent job with [b:The Annotated Alice|176972|The Annotated Alice The Definitive Edition|Lewis Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367782378s/176972.jpg|2375385] in multiple editions starting from the 1960s. Gardner mostly pointed out the original stories, poems and songs that were being parodied, and issues of logic and mathematics. David Day, here, goes deeper into mythological sources, events of the time, and the social life of Lewis Carroll and his feud with the real family of the real Alice Liddell. Mr. Carroll shows himself to be stubborn and petty.
Some may find it hard to believe that such a simple seeming story could have so many levels of references. That the Mad Hatter's party could simultaneously be just a silly story that kids can enjoy, and have references to Eleusinian Mysteries, mathematical puzzles, differences between lunar and solar calendars, and current politics at Oxford university, and more. Yet, it is true. Carroll was well educated in Greek and Latin myths and history and expected his (adult) readers to be, too. He, like many of his friends, was involved in secret societies looking to explore lost knowledge, and loved to look for hidden meanings in works of art.
Carroll had an unbelievably generous job at Oxford University: he couldn't be fired, he had no duties (teaching courses was optional), he got public recognition, a salary, and food and lodgings. Yet he lost no opportunity to publicly criticize the Dean, Alice's father, for his liberal policies. What was so awful? Well, Dean Liddell and his friends wanted to teach at least some courses in English, and not require all students to know more than basic Greek and Latin, and to admit some students based on academic merit rather than social position, and to teach some classes that might be of practical use.
Carroll argued with the reformers constantly in meetings, and attacked their positions both directly, and through anonymous 'squibs' and letters to newspapers where the Dean and his supporters were drawn in caricature as animals. (Because of this that we can be very certain who some of the animals in Wonderland represent.)
Soon after the original manuscript of "Alice's Adventures Underground," Carroll had a falling-out with Mrs. Liddell as well. She forbade him to have any further contact with her children. (Probably because the oldest daughter was getting too old to be out with a man without a chaperone.) He was furious. The end of the original story was expanded and became darker so that Carroll could complain about how unfairly he thought he was being treated by King and Queen Liddell, falsely accused of trying to steal their sweet little 'tarts'. (The word 'tart' at the time simply meant 'young girl', and did not yet mean 'prostitute'.)
I love everything related to Alice in Wonderland. But the real treat in this book, for me, was learning about Oxford in the Victorian era. It is also physically beautiful inside and out, a great coffee table book with interesting information on every page which can be read in almost any order, though you get the most understanding if you read it straight through.