''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild: A New Understanding of Lewis Carroll'' is a 1999 book by British author
Karoline Leach
Karoline Leach (born 20 July 1967) is a British playwright and author, best known for her book '' In the Shadow of the Dreamchild'' (), which re-examines the life of Lewis Carroll (pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the author of ''Alice's ...
that posited the concept of the "Carroll Myth": the idea that many of the most famous aspects of
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
's biography, including his supposed adoration of
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
, are more legend than fact.
Its main contentions are:
* Lewis Carroll was not 'exclusively focused' on female children as has been claimed by all previous biographers.
*He did not 'lose interest' in girls over the age of 14, and that many of his so-called 'child-friends' had actually been grown women.
*Alice Liddell was not 'the real Alice', and that Carroll was never in love with her, or asked to marry her.
*His relationships with adult women have been consistently under-examined and misreported.
* His life was haunted by an unnamed pain that may have involved a guilty love affair.
The book has had considerable impact on Carroll studies and reactions to it have been very polarised.
See also
*
Morton N. Cohen
*
Hugues Lebailly
Hugues Lebailly is a French academic and Senior Lecturer in English Cultural Studies at the Sorbonne. He is known for his work on nineteenth-century English literature, particularly his studies of Lewis Carroll which, in combination with the work o ...
Further reading
*Ronnen, Meir
"Lewis Carroll's girls" ''
Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
''. 20 May 1999.
*Heptonstall, Geoffrey
"In the Shadow of the Dreamchild" ''
Contemporary Review
''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013.
History
The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals anxious to promote intellige ...
''. August 1999. Accessed 11 April 2011.
*Rankin, Donald
Review ''
Victorian Studies
''Victorian Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Indiana University Press. It covers research on nineteenth-century Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) and publishes essays, forums, and reviews ...
'' 43(4): 650–653. Summer 2001.
*Shulevitz, Judith
"THE CLOSE READER; What Was on Lewis Carroll's Mind?" ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. 7 April 2002. Accessed 11 April 2011.
External links
''In the Shadow of the Dreamchild'', website for the book
Lewis Carroll
British non-fiction literature
{{lit-bio-book-stub