Relationship with Lewis Carroll
The relationship between Alice Liddell and (Lewis Carrol, A.K.A) Charles Dodgson has been the source of much controversy. Many biographers have supposed that Dodgson was romantically or sexually attached to the child, though there has never been any direct proof for this and more benign accounts assume merely a platonic fondness.[3] Karoline Leach has claimed this supposition is part of what she terms the "Carroll Myth" and thus wildly distorted.[4] It is certainly true that the evidence pool on which any claims can be based is very small and that many authors writing on the topic have tended to indulge in a great deal of undocumented speculation.
Dodgson met the Liddell family in 1855. He first befriended Harry, the older brother, and later took both Harry and Ina on several boating trips and picnics to the scenic areas around Oxford. Later, when Harry went to school, Alice and her younger sister Edith joined the party. Dodgson entertained the children by telling them fantastic stories to while away the time. He also used them as subjects for his hobby, photography. It has often been stated that Alice was clearly his favorite subject in these years, but there is very little evidence to suggest that this is so. Dodgson's diaries from 18 April 1858 to 8 May 1862 are missing and were, presumably, destroyed by his heirs.
"Cut pages in diary"
The relationship between the Liddells and Dodgson suffered a sudden break in June 1863. There was no record of why the rift occurred, since the Liddells never openly spoke of it, and the single page in Dodgson's diary recording 27-29 June 1863 (which seems to cover the period of the break) was missing. Until recently, the only source for what happened on that day had been speculation, and all centered on the idea that Alice Liddell was, somehow, the cause of the break. It was long suspected that Alice's mother, Lorina Liddell, disapproved of Dodgson's interest in her daughter as she saw him as an unfit companion for her very young child, then only 11.
Then, in 1996, Karoline Leach found what became known as the "Cut pages in diary" document[5] — a note allegedly written by Charles Dodgson's niece, Violet Dodgson, summarizing the missing page from 27–29 June 1863, apparently written before she (or her sister Menella) removed the page. The note reads:
"L.C. learns from Mrs. Liddell that he is supposed to be using the children as a means of paying court to the governess — he is also supposed soon to be courting Ina" (Leach, 1999).
It is uncertain who wrote the note. Leach has said that the handwriting on the front of the document most closely resembles that of either Menella or Violet Dodgson, Carroll's nieces. However, Morton N. Cohen says, in an article recently published in the Times Literary Supplement,[6] that, in the 1960s, Philip Dodgson Jacques told him that he had written the note himself based on conversations he remembered with his nieces. Cohen's article offered no evidence to support this, however, and known samples of Jacques' handwriting do not seem to resemble the writing of the note.[7] Precisely what this note means has yet to be determined. However, it seems to imply that the "break" between Dodgson and the Liddell family was caused by concern over alleged "gossip" linking Dodgson to the family governess and to "Ina" (presumably Alice's older sister). Whether there was any foundation to any of this gossip, or if it was simply idle chatter has not been determined, but the 'cut pages' document is notable simply because it demonstrates the likelihood that, in contradiction of all expectation, the break in Dodgson's friendship with the Liddells was a response to this gossip and had nothing at all to do with Alice.
After this incident, Dodgson avoided the Liddell home for some six months but eventually returned for a visit in December 1863. However, the former closeness does not seem to have been re-established, and the friendship gradually faded away, possibly because Dodgson was in opposition to Alice's father, Dean Liddell, over college politics.[8] Other explanations involving romantic entanglements and broken hearts have also been put forward, but while there is some evidence to suggest these as possibilities, nothing definite is known. After the rift between Dodgson and the Liddells, Alice and her sisters pursued a similar relationship with John Ruskin, as detailed in Ruskin's autobiography Praeterita; however, that biography may not be entirely factual.
