What is the physical appearance of Father William in the poem by Lewis Carroll?

Answer 1

Lewis Carroll wrote You Are Old Father William as a parody of Robert Southey's The Old Man's Comforts And How He Gained Them.

The Old Man's Comforts is precisely the sort of improving verse which Alice (in Wonderland) would have been expected to learn and recite in her lessons.

Much of the point of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is to poke fun at the very earnest attitude of both Victorian education and literature, and to subvert their intentions to turn children into better people. Instead, Carroll hoped to encourage children to have fun and enjoy words and literature for their own sake.

You Are Old Father William is a very clear example of this. Compare the first two verses of each poem:

Southey

You are old, Father William, the young man cried,

The few locks which are left you are grey;

You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man,

Now tell me the reason I pray.

In the days of my youth, Father William replied,

I remember'd that youth would fly fast,

And abused not my health and my vigour at first

That I never might need them at last.

Carroll

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,

"And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head---

Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,

"I feared it might injure the brain;

But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,

Why, I do it again and again."

In Southey's poem the young man admires his elder, and seeks an explanation as to how William has been so successful, presumably with a view to following the same path himself. Whereas the youth in Carroll's rhyme appears to be admonishing William for his foolishness. Southey's poem continues, in a very earnest tone with the ways in which William has had the good sense to preserve his health (with an implicit suggestion that we, as readers would do well to do the same) but Carroll's verse does no such thing. It is full of silliness and joie de vivre.'We don't want moral lessons,' Carroll's poem seems to say, 'we want head stands!'

In this way Carroll is rebelling against the stifling attitude that Victorians had towards children, and supplying them instead with fun and laughter.

Answer 2

In the poem "Father William" by Lewis Carroll, Father William is described as an older man with a long white beard. Despite his age, he is portrayed as spry and energetic, performing physical feats like standing on his head. He is depicted as wise and full of vigor.

Answer 3

coz he wanted to be a writer

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Actually, Lewis Carroll was a mathematician and logician at Christ Church [College], Oxford University. He befriended Henry Liddle, a Dean at Christ Church and became a close friend of the Liddle family. It is believed that Carroll made up the Alice story for one of the Liddle daughters, Alice Liddle, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It is said that Queen Victoria was amused (!) by the Looking Glass and insisted that Carroll send her his next work. What she got was a rather heavy-going mathematical treatise. She was not amused!

Answer 4

Well im not sure what poem you are talking about, but in my own opinion i believe Lewis Carroll chose to write books such as "Alice's Adventured in Wonderland" to make up his own little world to get away from reality for a little while and simply because its fun. Hope it helped a little!

Answer 5

In the poem You Are Old Father William, William is described as being old (obviously) with 'very white' hair, but also with 'grey locks'. He is also 'uncommonly fat'.