Summary of Major Works

Lewis Carroll was accomplished in many fields, such as a Mathematician, a Photographer, and of course, an author. In each field, his out put of work is substantial, but we will focus on his major literary works. His two most successful literary works are the Alice books. Many forget that the Alice story is actually two books that he wrote separately. The Alice books include the 1st volume titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and a 2nd volume titled Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Both books were written to engage children and thus are labeled as children’s stories. Both stories evolve around a girl named Alice (named after one of the daughters of the Liddell family) in which she discovers a nonsensical world after falling down a very deep rabbit whole. “In July 1862, while on a picnic with the Liddell girls, Carroll recounted the adventures of a little girl who fell into a rabbit hole. Alice asked him to write the story out for her. He did so, calling it Alice's Adventures under Ground. After some changes, this work was published in 1865 as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with illustrations by John Tenniel.” (Notable Biographies). The world of Wonderland is primarily inhabited by talking animals and ruled by a violent monarchy. Each book is filled with Carroll’s own poems and riddles and illustrations by John Tennial.


Other literary works by Carroll include; The Hunting of the Snark (1876), Sylvie and Bruno (1889), and Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893). Of these, the Hunting of the Snark is the most successful. The Hunting of the Snark is a fantastical “nonsense” poem that explores the journeys of a peculiar crew of variously incapable characters, and one beaver, which set off to find the eponymous creature. It's success prompted many literary critics to analyze it, “The Hunting of the Snark” is an effort to thwart those who might try to give it social meaning and purpose" (Bonawandt).

Works Cited

"Lewis Carrol Biography." Notable Biographies. n.d Web.

6 May. 2010. < http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ca-Ch/Carroll-Lewis.html >

Bonawandt, Christian R. "Hunting the Meaning of 'the Snark'." Suit101 24 April. 2001. Web.

6 May. 2010. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/classic_literature/67104/3