The well-known work of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" gave readers a lot of funny interesting characters, one of which is the Cheshire Cat. The facts that prompted the writer to create such an extravagant hero deserve special attention.
The Cheshire Cat, such as Carroll created it, is a charming smiling hero, able to teleport, dissolve in the air, leaving behind only a smile. He loves to philosophize and is sometimes too boring, which greatly irritates the main character of the story - the girl Alice.
Interestingly, the definition of "Cheshire" comes from the name of the county "Cheshire" or "Cherstishir", whose native was Lewis himself. The first version of the book "Alice in Wonderland" did not contain the character Cheshire Cat. Lewis Carroll wrote this charming hero in his story in 1865. Why did the writer come up with the image of the Cheshire Cat, and not a lion, a parrot or, say, a pig?
The fact is that the saying "Smiles like a Cheshire Cat" was popular in Cheshire long before the appearance of the Lewis novel. According to one version, it appeared thanks to one local painter, or rather, his colorful creations on wooden tablets above the doors of taverns. According to primary sources, he painted not cats, but grinning lions or leopards, but the local population, who had not seen hitherto predatory animals, associated these drawings with pets.
The second version of the appearance of the Cheshire Cat is considered to be the one that tells about the famous Cheshire cheeses, reminiscent of their appearance with a smiling cat. These cheeses have been known for over 9 centuries.
There are other, less popular explanations for the appearance of an unusual character. One of them says that there was a joke among the people, as if even cats had sarcastically laughed at the high rank of the small county of Cheshire. Another belief tells of a strict county forester who smiled viciously, catching another poacher and, apparently, somewhat reminded the locals of a cat.
Lewis Carroll endowed his Cheshire Cat with the ability to disappear by analogy with the legend of his brother - the ghost of the Congleton cat. The latter lived in the abbey, but one day he suddenly disappeared, after which he also suddenly appeared on the threshold of the caretaker and after a minute melted in the air. Local ministers claimed that later they had repeatedly seen the ghost of the Congleton cat.
Whatever the story of the origin of the Cheshire Cat character in Carroll’s novel, he has gained immense popularity among different peoples of the world and has been delighting readers with his sarcastic smile for several centuries.
