Exploring Wonderland
The purpose of this talk is to highlight the influence of the two ‘Alice’ stories. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ with examples from modern times and modern people who seem to find inspiration and ideas from these two books. We will put Carroll into context as a Victorian and a Modern person with ideas and approaches that resonate today. We will look at the stories and see what makes them so engaging and fascinating that they are renewed and refreshed as books, theatre, painting and films. We will go a step further and see how the themes in the books and the characters still resonate after more than 150 years in the 21st century. To do this we will touch on technology, psychology as well as some other 'ologies' to explore Carroll’s Wonderland.
The two books of Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’ may seem like typical Victorian artefacts at first glance. However looking at the timeline we see that these two books have been adapted and evolved from being Victorian children’s stories into modern adult entertainment. Consider if you know any other book that demonstrates the same longevity and diversity in how it is reimagined. On that timeline, films have been made with Gary Cooper, WC Fields and Ringo Starr. Peter Sellers and Peter Cook have played roles from ‘Alice’ on television and there have been numerous songs that have referred to the characters in Wonderland such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Lewis Carroll was born in 1832 and died in 1898 He was a writer, he was a religious man, he was a teacher, a photographer, an inventor and a mathematician. He was the eldest son of 11 siblings. He liked wordplay and puzzles and mathematics. When he was young he created family newsletters with jokes and puzzles and parodies for his brothers and sisters. He liked to do magic tricks and kept on doing them to amuse friends as he got older. The legend is that ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was written on a boat trip in Oxford but I think it started in Daresbury, at home, when he was younger and he developed it when he was in Oxford and added a few chapters as well that he never talked about on the trip.
Lewis Carroll was born in 1832 and died in 1898 He was a writer, he was a religious man, he was a teacher, a photographer, an inventor and a mathematician. He was the eldest son of 11 siblings. He liked wordplay and puzzles and mathematics. When he was young he created family newsletters with jokes and puzzles and parodies for his brothers and sisters. He liked to do magic tricks and kept on doing them to amuse friends as he got older. The legend is that ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was written on a boat trip in Oxford but I think it started in Daresbury, at home, when he was younger and he developed it when he was in Oxford and added a few chapters as well that he never talked about on the trip.
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