Lewis carroll biography cohen and steers husband

Lewis Carroll: A Biography

book by Morton N. Cohen

Lewis Carroll: A Biography is a biography of author Lewis Carroll by Morton N. Cohen, first published by Knopf, later by Macmillan.

Lewis carroll biography cohen and steers wife But who was he? In this elegant, affectionate biography, Morton N. Cohen brings a singular expertise - drawn from some thirty years' scholarship on Carroll as well as from special access to the Dodgson family documents - to the riddle of the quiet, stammering man who liberated children's books from the moralists and whose imagination brought forth some of the funniest nonsense, wildest characters and most extraordinary cultural icons of modern times. His life has puzzled psychologists and literary historians for generations. Now, with full mastery of Caroll's letters and voluminous diaries, Cohen explores as never before the paradox of the man: the unworldly innocent whose passionate worship of young girls has incited endless speculation; the Victorian gentleman whose sombre religious meditations shared a place in his mind with the Snark and the Boojum; the cloistered, lonely bachelor don whose magical books are known in every culture in the world today.

It is generally considered to be the definitive scholarly work on Carroll's (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) life.[1][2][3] Cohen's approach is mainly chronological, with some chapters grouped by theme, such as those on Carroll's religion, his love of little girls, and his guilty feelings.[1][4] Cohen, a Carroll scholar for 30 years,[2] opts to use Dodgson's first name, Charles, throughout the work, because it "seems most appropriate in a book dealing with the intimacy of his life".[5]

The book generally assumes that Carroll's love of little girls was not just emotional but sexual—that he was a paedophile, albeit a suppressed one.

In the book Cohen writes:

"We cannot know to what extent sexual urges lay behind Charles's preference for drawing and photographing children in the nude. He contended that the preference was entirely aesthetic. But given his emotional attachment to children as well as his aesthetic appreciation of their forms, his assertion that his interest was strictly artistic is naïve.

He probably felt more than he dared acknowledge, even to himself."[6]

While attributing the source of Carroll's chaotic emotional life to his sexual urges, Cohen opined that they were also responsible for his creative works.[7]

Karoline Leach in In the Shadow of the Dreamchild () writes that Cohen and previous biographers misunderstood the norms and customs of the Victorian era, and that Carroll's adulation of children was not sexual but a reflection of the romanticisation of the child prevalent in that era.[8] Contrariwise, a website set up by opponents (including Leach) of the traditional Carroll image, reports that while Cohen acknowledges the paedophilic nature of Carroll's image, he "Inexplicably he lists the numbers of intimate woman-friends that Dodgson had through his life, yet still concludes that his existence revolved exclusively around friendships with small girls!"[9]

Jo Elwyn Jones and J.

Francis Gladstone in The Alice Companion: A Guide to Lewis Carroll's Alice Books () criticises the book for what they say is a poor treatment of Carroll's involvement in controversies at the University of Oxford.[10] Megan Harlan in Entertainment Weekly writes that "This beautifully written bio never shies away from the house-of-mirrors complexity of its subject."[11] An issue of Victorian Studies reported that there were issues with inconsistent references.[12] Miles Edward Friend compares Cohen's handling of the material to Carroll's boat trips with the children, saying, "With Cohen at the tiller, we are deftly guided through the flow of Carroll's life."[13] Ronald Warwick in Times Higher Education criticises Cohen's interpretation of Carroll's relationship with his archdeacon father; his "insecure grasp of 19th-century ecclesiastical history"; his prose, which Warwick called clichéd; and his choice to use Dodgson's first name, which Warwick said was not used even by Dodgson's most intimate male friends.[14]

References

  1. ^ abBartlett, Rebecca Ann ().

    Choice's Outstanding Academic Books – Reviews of Scholarly Titles That Every Library Should Own.

  2. Lewis carroll biography cohen and steers family
  3. Cohen and steers jobs
  4. Lewis carroll biography cohen and steers husband

    5. Association of College and Research Libraries (American Library Association). p.&#; ISBN&#;

  5. ^ abBurt, Daniel S. (). The Biography Book: A Reader's Guide To Nonfiction, Fictional, and Film Biographies of More Than of the Most Fascinating Individuals of all Time.

    Greenwood Publishing Group.

    Lewis carroll biography cohen and steers images

    Cohen , first published by Knopf , later by Macmillan. It is generally considered to be the definitive scholarly work on Carroll's real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson life. The book generally assumes that Carroll's love of little girls was not just emotional but sexual—that he was a paedophile , albeit a suppressed one. In the book Cohen writes:. He contended that the preference was entirely aesthetic.

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  6. ^Edinger, Monica (). Using Beloved Classics to Deepen Reading Comprehension: Rich Lessons and Literature Response Activities That Improve Kids' Reading Comprehension, Build Writing Skills, and Really Engage Each and Every Reader. Scholastic Inc. p.&#; ISBN&#;
  7. ^Cohen, p.&#;xv
  8. ^Cohen, p.&#;xv.
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  10. ^Cohen, pp.&#;–
  11. ^Leach, p.&#;.
  12. ^Lewis Carroll, a Biography – (Contrariwise).

    Retrieved 9 September Archived by WebCite on 9 November

  13. ^Ronald Warwick writing in Times Higher Education. "Through the microscope". Times Higher Education.

    Cohen and steers realty shares Search the history of over billion web pages on the Internet. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Better World Books. Uploaded by lotu. Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon.

    11 September Retrieved 9 September Archived by WebCite on 9 November

  14. ^Harlan, Megan. Lewis Carroll: A Biography. Entertainment Weekly. 22 December Retrieved 9 September Archived by WebCite on 9 November
  15. ^(Winter ). Review.

    Lewis carroll biography cohen and steers Cohen's belief that the Carroll revealed by the letters, diaries and works was not the same as the Carroll created by his biographers, and it was time to set the record straight. He traces the dual careers of Charles Dodgson, Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, who made important contributions to mathematics and logic and to the life of the University, as well as being one of the pioneers of photography in Victorian England, and forging strong friendships with children, and of Lewis Carroll, creator of Alice in Wonderland and The Hunting of the Snark, acknowledged masterpieces we still read today and precursors of surrealist writing. No biographer has addressed so judiciously the inner divisions which proved such a creative spur to Carroll's imagination and his genius. The text is enhanced by over of Carroll's photographs and drawings. He graduated from what is now Tufts University before receiving a doctorate in English at Columbia University.

    Victorian Studies40 (2): – Retrieved 9 November Hosted by JSTOR.

  16. ^Friend, Miles Edward (Spring ). Review. Journal of Aesthetic Education32 (1): – Retrieved 9 November Hosted by JSTOR.
  17. ^Donald Warwick writing in Times Higher Education. "Reverend Dodgson and the dean's daughter".

    Times Higher Education. 7 February Retrieved 18 September Archived by WebCite on 9 November

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Further reading