The Alice behind Wonderland (review)

Winchester, Simon The Alice behind Wonderland. Oxford University Press, 2011 110p
ISBN 978-0-19-539619-5 $16.99

Despite its title, the subject of Winchester's latest examination is not really the comparatively enigmatic Alice but rather the circumstances regarding a famous photograph taken of her by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), who would later use her as the inspiration for the fictional Alice and her journey through the looking glass. The photo in question was taken in 1858 and features Alice Liddell, the young daughter of a college dean, dressed dramatically in rags to recreate a scene from a Tennyson poem. Though it's only one of many photos taken of Alice, her siblings, and various other children, the somewhat unusual nature of both Alice's exposed flesh and her "coquettish" stance has fueled speculation regarding the potentially unseemly nature of her relationship with Dodgson. Winchester takes exception to this theory, insisting Dodgson was merely an eccentric innocent misunderstood by others. Unfortunately, in his attempt to clear Dodgson's name, he offers little evidence to support either portrayal of the author and instead alludes to the sexual proclivities of Alice herself, making her out to be a seductive nymphet. A overview of the history of the photographic process and its cultural impact is interesting, but it's tangential in light of the more controversial subjects brought up in other chapters. Morton Cohen's critically acclaimed biography is still the best source for Carroll history and lore, but this much slimmer volume points towards some of the complicated issues surrounding the man and his muse.