Alice's Parody: Alice In Wonderland

Late rabbits, talking cats, and dancing cards are just some of the un-natural occurrences that take place in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In today’s society with competing books, such as Harry Potter, these elements in the book may seem like no big deal, but for the time period the book was published, these were anything but normal. This children’s book was first published in 1865 in the United Kingdom; during the Victorian time period, named after Queen Victoria. The book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland represents a satire on the Victorian Era and how people were expected to act, through which Carroll displays an overall theme of growing up.

And also when Alice follows the White Rabbit down a well and pursues him through Wonderland.

At the mention of the name Alice, one tends to usually think of the children’s stories by Lewis Carroll. Namely, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are two classic works of children’s literature that for over a century have been read by children and adults alike. These two stories tell the tale of a young girl named Alice who finds herself in peculiar surroundings, where she encounters many different and unusual characters. Although Alice is at the centre of both stories, each tale is uniquely different in its purpose, characters and style.

Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is fundamentally about the growth of the character of Alice. In the Victorian period 1837- 1901, there was a changes in children education and reflexively development of children literature. Therefore when writing Lewis Carroll attempts to put forth a form of education within the text. The story follows Alice who is a seven year old well-mannered victorian girl that stumbles through a rabbit hole into the magical world of Wonderland. Alice takes on the role of the audience viewing Wonderland and its strange inhabitants. It is through language in both conversations with herself and with the characters of wonderland that we see Alice’s journey through wonderland is representative of a child’s education into adulthood.

Is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as absurd and nonsensical as it seems to be—without any traces of morals hiding underneath the bizarre shaped tea cups and crooked smiles? Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written by an English author in 1865 under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, contains obscurities that leave people uncertain due to the nonsense. The novel holds many obscurities, such as a disappearing Cheshire Cat, a personified rabbit, and a caterpillar who smokes from a hookah. These characters hold a common feature of madness, yet the nonsense of this novel relates to the nonsense of Lowell High School, a public school that piles bricks of pressure on their students leading them to madness. Although, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland contains a series of puzzles that seem unsolvable, it symbolizes a strong foundation that helps Lowell High School ninth graders gain knowledge about surviving the competitive school.

Issues concerning her size, identity, and her social exchanges with both Wonderland and its creatures spur and characterize Alice’s development towards becoming a young woman.

In 1862, floating upon the river Isis, Charles Dodgson narrated for Alice Liddell and a few others in company his original tale of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Gliding along underneath the blue sky, Dodgson wove his words into one of the most classic children stories of all time. Thesis: Although Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland may have only begun as a children’s story, many adults have sought to discover the “true meaning” of the novel. Curiosity has led to years of searching and interpretation of the origins of Carroll’s novels, and the symbols inside, developing into theories ranging from practical to nearly impossible, eventually evolving into their own stories in the film industry.

They saw a creature in the window. They went closer. Paige got scared but falisha took her in the house. The door slamed shut. The breeze scared daphnee. The creature was saying wierd things and slammed a chair in jashise. She cried from the stinging pain from the chair. The girls wanted and tried to get out, but they couldn’t. The door was locked shut.

She hurried away from the window, fearful that the thing would look up and see her watching. She scurried into the closet and closed her eyes, praying that it wouldn’t get inside. The girl heard feet hit the floor near the window and knew it had entered her tower. She peeked out through the slats in the closet door and gasped at what she saw.

After school the girls play underneath the tree, and in discovering the door, they believe it is magical. The older girl pushes down on the large lump for a button, expectantly waiting for the door to open. Instead, a voice startles the girls, instinctively, they whip their heads around recognising it as their grandmother's. On her approach they glance back, however, the door remains unchanged, disappointed, the girls obediently follow her. At the gate to their house, before the tree is obscure, the older girl intently surveys the door, however, concedes the distance is too great.

"I should have seen this coming. I don't understand why my visions are blocked." Alice said.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Frank Baum’s Dorothy are two of the most well-known and well-loved heroines of all time. At first glance, both Alice and Dorothy appear to be rather accurate renditions of actual little girls who embark on their own adventures in strange and fantastical lands. However, closer scrutiny reveals that only one of these characters is a true portrayal of what a little girl is really like, while the other is but a fulfillment of what most girls would only dream of being like.

Wonderland is all a dream made up in the great mind of Alice. Though, that is not the great extent of her imagination. Wonderland is a magnificent place. It is full of talking plants, animals, and doors, shrinking and growing cakes and drinks, the start of it all. It seems only Alice could dream of such a place.

   Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is a queer little universe where a not so ordinary girl is faced with the contradicting nature of the fantastic creatures who live there. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a child's struggle to survive in the condescending world of adults. The conflict between child and adult gives direction to Alice's adventures and controls all the outstanding features of the work- Alice's character, her relationship with other characters, and the dialogue. " Alice in Wonderland is on one hand so nonsensical that children sometimes feel ashamed to have been interested in anything so silly (Masslich 107)."

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll endures as one of the most iconic children 's books of all time. It remains one of the most ambiguous texts to decipher as Alice 's adventures in Wonderland have created endless critical debate as to whether we can deduce any true literary meaning, or moral implication from her journey down the rabbit hole. Alice 's station as a seven year old Victorian child creates an interesting construct within the novel as she attempts to navigate this magical parallel plain, yet retain her Victorian sensibilities and learn from experience as she encounters new creatures and life lessons. Therefore, this essay will focus on the debate as to whether Alice is the imaginatively playful child envisaged by the Romantics, or a Victorian child whose imagination has been stunted by her education and upbringing.