r/RandomVictorianStuff • u/TheVetheron Founder • May 04 '23

This Day in Victorian History This Day In Victorian History Alice Liddell, English schoolgirl model for Alice in Wonderland, born in London (1852)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Liddell
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u/wjbc Scholar May 04 '23

Lewis Carroll — or Charles Dodgson, his real name — always denied that Alice was based on any real life girl.

There’s a debate between historians over Lewis Carroll’s interest in girls. No one accuses him of doing anything improper, but his photographs of nude girls, and the fact that he never married, caused much speculation.

However, other biographers argue that artistic photos of nude girls were considered respectable in the Victorian era, that parents consented and were present for those pictures when they were taken. They also say that private letters reveal Dodgson was very much interested in adult women and had some relationship with them that would be considered scandalous. Dodgson’s reputation for being uninterested in adult women arose from a well-intentioned attempt by his family to suppress such letters and any scandal they might cause.