Jabberwocky
Karissa mentioned once that a lot of people thought Lewis Carroll had experimented with drugs while writing Alice in Wonderland. After reading the book, I kind of saw how people could come to that conclusion. I looked around on the internet to see if anything had been written pertaining to that aspect of Carroll’s writing, and I actually found a pretty big argument still going strong on both sides about whether or not Carroll’s imagery was drug-induced.
http://www.lewiscarroll.org/pop.html#drug
The above website is one of the most vehement supporters of Carroll’s natural imagination over recreational drug use. It’s also stated that “…He used his imagination. If you have one, it’s better than drugs. If you don’t, the drugs won’t help you…”
That statement alone made me actually think, not just about Carroll’s creative faculties, but about the whole concept of creativity, and how it’s viewed as an acquired trait among select individuals. I don’t think that’s really true. Unless a neurobiologist (I might have made that term up) can show me a diagram of a brain with the “creative” gene vs. a brain without one, I’m going to go ahead and think that everyone is born with the same potential for “Carrollian” creativity. This isn’t to say that everyone will exercise that potential, or even make themselves aware of it. Self-confidence is usually the first wrecking ball to take down that building. This doesn’t reflect my overall opinion on recreational use of psychotropic drugs, especially for reasons like enhancement of creativity. I don’t think it enhances creativity at all. I think it may make you aware of he creativity you already possess, but that’s a risky way of finding it. The only thing enhanced is your perception of your own imagination.
Take the example of native American religion. More specifically, peyote, which was fairly widely used across the continent. Most commonly used within the borders of religious ritual, many tribes believed this plant was their gateway to an intimate relationship with the spirit world. It didn’t give them a spirituality where there was none, but rather showed them how to find spirituality that was already there, but hidden.
I’ll throw in a couple of fun facts before jumping back to Carroll.
1. The term peyote is believed to have been derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word peyutl, meaning “silk cocoon”.
2. There are over 55 alkaloids present in peyote. One alkaloid, Mescaline (a phenylethylamine compound), is psychoactive and produces various effects from euphoria to vomiting. The first place I ever learned about mescaline, interestingly enough, was reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
So there you go. All of that can be found in the following link:
http://ethnobotany.yage.net/article2.html
I myself would have to argue against Carroll’s use of drugs. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility, though. He was knownto have used laudanum—but then, who in 19th century England didn’t? It was like Tylenol PM, only stronger. And London was known infamously for its Opium dens.
But in reading Alice in Wonderland and Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass, there’s too much contextual evidence that corroborates a memory of simple dream states. It is even made known in the end that Alice is just dreaming these other worlds. Simple aspects of the dream state are familiar to me as I read—looking at an object, looking away, then looking back to find something different in its place; trying to focus on an object only to have it disappear (this works when awake and in different levels of natural light—try focusing on a star); well-known verses become perverted and different; and absurd ideas are present and oftentimes seem to make perfect sense. In my opinion (as someone who is pretty far from being an English major), Carroll more than likely was just writing a story with his own creative ingenuity and used typical dream behaviors as the engine to drive a 7 ½ year-old’s fantasy life through it.
If anyone wants to research a little on the common use of the hookah (oriental water pipe), be my guest. The caterpillar in Wonderland was smoking one—it could be a drug reference, or just a tobacco reference.
By the way, if anyone hasn't seen the illustrations by Sir John Tenniel, you should check them out. They're kind of far out and strange.
http://www.lewiscarroll.org/pop.html#drug
The above website is one of the most vehement supporters of Carroll’s natural imagination over recreational drug use. It’s also stated that “…He used his imagination. If you have one, it’s better than drugs. If you don’t, the drugs won’t help you…”
That statement alone made me actually think, not just about Carroll’s creative faculties, but about the whole concept of creativity, and how it’s viewed as an acquired trait among select individuals. I don’t think that’s really true. Unless a neurobiologist (I might have made that term up) can show me a diagram of a brain with the “creative” gene vs. a brain without one, I’m going to go ahead and think that everyone is born with the same potential for “Carrollian” creativity. This isn’t to say that everyone will exercise that potential, or even make themselves aware of it. Self-confidence is usually the first wrecking ball to take down that building. This doesn’t reflect my overall opinion on recreational use of psychotropic drugs, especially for reasons like enhancement of creativity. I don’t think it enhances creativity at all. I think it may make you aware of he creativity you already possess, but that’s a risky way of finding it. The only thing enhanced is your perception of your own imagination.
Take the example of native American religion. More specifically, peyote, which was fairly widely used across the continent. Most commonly used within the borders of religious ritual, many tribes believed this plant was their gateway to an intimate relationship with the spirit world. It didn’t give them a spirituality where there was none, but rather showed them how to find spirituality that was already there, but hidden.
I’ll throw in a couple of fun facts before jumping back to Carroll.
1. The term peyote is believed to have been derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word peyutl, meaning “silk cocoon”.
2. There are over 55 alkaloids present in peyote. One alkaloid, Mescaline (a phenylethylamine compound), is psychoactive and produces various effects from euphoria to vomiting. The first place I ever learned about mescaline, interestingly enough, was reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
So there you go. All of that can be found in the following link:
http://ethnobotany.yage.net/article2.html
I myself would have to argue against Carroll’s use of drugs. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility, though. He was knownto have used laudanum—but then, who in 19th century England didn’t? It was like Tylenol PM, only stronger. And London was known infamously for its Opium dens.
But in reading Alice in Wonderland and Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass, there’s too much contextual evidence that corroborates a memory of simple dream states. It is even made known in the end that Alice is just dreaming these other worlds. Simple aspects of the dream state are familiar to me as I read—looking at an object, looking away, then looking back to find something different in its place; trying to focus on an object only to have it disappear (this works when awake and in different levels of natural light—try focusing on a star); well-known verses become perverted and different; and absurd ideas are present and oftentimes seem to make perfect sense. In my opinion (as someone who is pretty far from being an English major), Carroll more than likely was just writing a story with his own creative ingenuity and used typical dream behaviors as the engine to drive a 7 ½ year-old’s fantasy life through it.
If anyone wants to research a little on the common use of the hookah (oriental water pipe), be my guest. The caterpillar in Wonderland was smoking one—it could be a drug reference, or just a tobacco reference.
By the way, if anyone hasn't seen the illustrations by Sir John Tenniel, you should check them out. They're kind of far out and strange.
posted by BoneDaddy at 4:13 PM
6 Comments:
I agree.
Its funny with all of the sex offender talk lately you didn't mention his little "interest" in children. Not that I don't find the man creative because the story is great. But I have a hard time reading it without feeling sick to my stomach.
What?! He was a pedophile?! Where'd you hear that? I didn't know that. Now I need to find out...
I didn't know about that either. Where did you find that out?
I've just always heard that. I'm pretty sure we talked about it in my novel studies class in school though.
I took some time to read up on the whole pedophile thing with Carroll, and found that it's the same as with the drug allegations. Most of it is rumors, although he was known to have taken pictures of little girls nude. Unfortunately, There seem to be alot of those floating around from 19th century England, and not just from him.
What he was allegedly interested in was form. He thought little girls had embodied the innocence adults had lost.
I can't fault the guy for artistic interest, because it is, after all the human figure, which so many people find fascinating in some way or another. But that coupled with his love for Alice Liddell (which looks like it may be documented and true,) seems a tad suspicious.
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