It seems that behind the stories we grew up with and which we thought were the most beautiful children’s fairy tales, there is actually a darker truth.
Photo: Wikipedia
Some of these are certainly the fairy tales of the writer Louis Carroll “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Alice in Wonderland”, which have been adapted many times and each time presented as irresistible and recommended to the youngest, although some now consider them to be books. for adults.
According to “Blic Žena”, the writer actually created the character of Alice inspired by a real girl, Alice Liddell, whom he met when she was three, while Louis Carroll himself, whose real name is Charles Dodgson, was 24 at the time and studied mathematics. , while he also had a great love for photography, and most of all, as it turns out, he liked to photograph children. As some of his photographs often featured girls without clothes, he was rumored to be controversial, as well as a covert pedophile, although such claims have not been proven to date.
After he met the heroine of his story when Alice took photos with her sisters and family in the garden, after her father invited him to do so, soon after, a strange story about Alice in Wonderland began to form in his head. Namely, during a boat ride in July 1862, he told Alice and her sisters, Idit and Lorin, a story full of unusual characters, while he chose ten-year-old Alice as the main character.
Although this was certainly not the first time a young student had told stories to little girls, they seemed to particularly like this one, so Alice herself asked Luis to write it down, which he did, and then, two years later, gave it to her for Christmas. a novel, decorated with illustrations, because Alice then became his favorite, and their relationship became the subject of many intrigues.
Photo: Wikipedia
He expressed a desire to marry an 11-year-old girl at the time
However, this unusual friendship came to an end in 1863, when there was a rift, according to some biographers, after Dodgson expressed a desire to marry the then 11-year-old girl, while others speculated that Alice’s older sister fell in love with him. Lorina, so his parents drove him away to avoid a scandal. Although the family was reconciled with the writer the following year, he was never allowed to hang out with the children again.
However, some new evidence seems to have come “recently” when Dodgson’s letter, entitled “Dear Miss Lidel”, appeared just a few years ago, written just three years before Alice’s marriage, in which he responded to comments made to him between “Miss Lidel “and her friends, transmitted to him by a third person, in which she explains and points out how his words, how he loves children, are misunderstood.
When it comes to another variant of intrigue related to this fairy tale, and according to which it is not for children at all, because its theme actually suits adults, it is that originally innocent elements are now often used as references to consciousness-changing substances: a caterpillar smoking a pipe. , mushrooms, white rabbit tracking.
Photo: Wikipedia
A caterpillar on grass, a March rabbit on amphetamines, a fluff on barbiturates
Thus, in 1971, the educational film of the American government, Curious Alice, described the characters from Wonderland as different types of drug addicts: the caterpillar was addicted to grass, the March rabbit to amphetamines, down to barbiturates. The intention was to distract children from this activity, but it still brought with it speculations about the real face of the famous fairy tale, and whether it is really intended for children, or something else is hiding behind it.
However, not all Alice from that period were happy either – Peter Blake’s illustrations from 1970 may be full of colorful flowers and patterns, but their overall mood is gloomy. Alice stares sadly at the observer, the Crazy Hatter seems self-pitying in prison. Despite their colors, they look as if they came out of the world of an unusual BBC adaptation directed by Jonathan Miller from 1966.
– Wonderland is always a powerful metaphor or idea with which something can be done. The book has so many phenomenally many ideas and concepts in it, and yet it leaves room for new creativity – one curator explained how she sees this work by Louis Carroll, which continues to be in the center of attention even today.
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