If you’ve ever read Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, you might have just assumed that such a fantastical tale had to come straight from his amazing imagination. As it turns out, though, there was much more reality in this surreal tale than you would have thought.
Absolute History divulges that one day many, many years ago, a reverend named Charles Dodgson took 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters on an afternoon boat trip down the River Thames in London, England.
During that fateful boat trip, the girls found themselves completely enchanted with the stories Dodgson regaled them with.
As it turned out, though, Charles Dodgson was also Lewis Carroll, but only a handful of people knew that at the time.
And there was a real-life inspiration for the character of Alice as well, and it was none other than Alice Liddell, the dean’s daughter at Christ Church where Carroll taught mathematics.
In fact, Absolute History notes that the relationship between Carroll and Liddell has been the subject of much speculation for years as historians and scholars wonder if he was actually in love with the young girl because, due to his work, he remained a bachelor throughout his adult life.
It’s noted that Dodgson never became a full priest because he actually suffered from a speech impediment that made it difficult to talk at times. Some might speculate that he really found his voice through his writing, which he kept a secret during his time at Christ Church, even as he wrote both of the Alice books there.
It’s been nearly 150 years since Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland within the walls of Christ Church in Oxford. To learn more about the history and real-life people behind one of the most popular children’s stories in the world, watch the video.
