Figurative Language In Alice In Wonderland

For example one character within the story that critics are unsure of his symbolism and origin is the Cheshire Cat. In the story the Cheshire Cat is a mysterious character. He appeared when he choose to and disappeared a moment later. He had an odd sense of a personality, but spoke to Alice using wise words and thoughts. “It is not 100% clear why Carroll named this character ‘Cheshire Cat’. “To grin like a Cheshire Cat” was a common phrase in Carroll’s day. Its origin is unknown, but it may have originated from a sign painter in Cheshire, who painted grinning lions on the sign-boards of inns in the area” (Analysis). Even though the Cheshire Cat seemed crazy or “mad” he did give Alice a dose of reality in Wonderland. He said things to her such as “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there” or “Every adventure requires a first step”. He had helped Alice realize that in order to find out who she is or where she must go she has to be brave and take the first step. The Chesire Cat relates to the idea of the child-adult conflict that Alice may be going through because he helps her understand that she has to move forward in order to find out where to go and if she is not sure what path to take in her life than she has endless possibilities. The Cheshire Cat was an important character that helped Alice come to her senses. Aside from the real life symbolism many of the characters possessed, Dodgson’s “Alice in Wonderland” series had a large impact on the music

In particular, Alice’s fluctuating size and “opening out like” (Carroll 11) a telescope parallel with a child’s seemingly spontaneous growth spurts, which occur frequently and most noticeably during pre-adolescent and adolescent years. In fact, Alice Liddell, the inspiration for the original tale, was ten when Lewis Carroll (the pen name of Charles Dodgson) first told the tale (Vallone 245). In addition, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland began as tale about the adventures of seven year-old Alice Liddell (Vallone 245). In reality, most children like Alice Liddell grow, but in Wonderland, Alice changed drastically and symbolically. Physically Alice’s growth correlates in many instances with her behavior. For instance, prior to drinking the mysterious liquid, Alice ponders on the substance’s toxicity, however, she fails to consider possible outcomes while forgetting the golden key. Consequently, Alice grew smaller as her behavior was incongruous to a practical and experienced adult. In contrast prior to consuming the cookie, Alice muses “‘if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door so either way I’ll get into the garden’” (Carroll 9). Hence, Alice exemplifies problem

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.

From the moment she sees the White Rabbit taking his watch from his waistcoat pocket, Alice tries to understand the logic of Wonderland. None of the rules that she has been taught seem to apply in Wonderland. The characters in Wonderland have no sense of manners and respond to her questions with answers that make no sense. For example, the Mad Hatter asks the questions, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” (Alice 51). Alice assumes he is asking a riddle and she begins to try to answer it, thinking the Hatter would not ask a riddle without knowing the answer. When Alice is unable to figure out the riddle, the Hatter explains that there is no answer. He does not explain why he asked the riddle, he simply says, “I haven’t the slightest idea” (Alice 53). In which Alice replies, “I think you might do something better with the time, than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers” (Alice 53). The Hatter then responds with a lecture on Time, which he depicts as a person. Time being depicted as a person makes no logical sense to Alice. In the end, Alice rebels during the trial scene when the King said “Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court” (Alice 88). Alice objects to the absurd nature of the trial saying, “Who cares for you? You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” (Alice 91). This final scene is the end of her dream, and she wakes up with her head in her sister’s lap.

Based on the children’s literary work written by Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland is a fictional film that was directed by Tim Burton.  The film is set in Wonderland inside of Alice’s dream, so viewers are able to recognize the lack of order and the fantasies of children.  One of the major themes seen in the movie is childhood, specifically the development into adulthood, which is depicted in other characters besides Alice.  Alice, however, is used as the primary symbol for what children in the Victorian Age should not ideally act like, since they were expected to dress properly and attain a certain level of education.  Furthermore, Sigmund Freud’s dream theory and tripartite give further insight into the characters and what they represented during the Victorian Age. The id, ego, and the superego are applied to the unconscious and conscious mind states, and how the unconscious state is still somewhat available during a conscious state.  In Alice in Wonderland, psychoanalysis is used to portray the Red Queen as the id, the Absolem

In Wonderland the creatures and characters show Alice how the real world is but in hidden ways that she will not understand until she gets a little older. When Alice first encounters the Duchess, the Duchess is caring for a baby. Franticly the Duchess basically throws the baby into Alice’s arms, and Alice unsure of what to do, goes on a walk with the baby through the woods. Slowly Alice begins to realize that the baby she was carrying, was slowly beginning to transform into a pig (47-48). This symbolism that Carroll illustrates shows Alice how babies are going to change. By turning the baby into a loud messy animal, it demonstrates how babies will drastically change, and are handful. Since Alice is only a child, she has never had to deal with a baby from an adult perspective, until doing it unknowingly in Wonderland.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland creates a warped reality, causing each character’s identity to become confused. An exception to this confusion of identity is the Cheshire Cat, who shows an uncanny awareness of his own madness, giving him considerable control over his presence and allowing him to occasionally leave only a grin behind. Alice, contrarily, is strewn all over as she loses herself in Wonderland. In Wonderland, all are “mad,” but to Alice this is preposterous, even as she fails to explain who she is – both to herself and to others. Carroll’s juxtaposition of the Cheshire Cat and Alice in their first meeting scene exaggerates Alice’s insecure identity and its development throughout her adventures in Wonderland.

Alice scrutinizes the rules of the wonderland and discovers it as an adult world full of confusions and limited laws and nonsense. She acts as a commentator who refers to evident inadequacies of the native in wonderland. These characters don’t follow those conventions that she knows about the real world’s standards, yet the characters that dwell in the wonderland display the norms for a while and thereafter ridicule the same.

Alice following the rabbit down the hole shows the curiosity she, like most other children, has. She follows the rabbit throughout Wonderland, almost as if it’s a guide. The rabbit can also be seen as an older figure in Alice’s life that sparks the curiosity into adulthood for her. Alice sees something intriguing in that person and their being older that gets her curious as to what it might be, just as a talking rabbit might spring her interest. She looks up to them and wants to have the qualities they do. Alice follows the rabbit as she would this person to quench her curiosity and see exactly what is going on in this part of life that Alice is so far naive to.

Lewis Carroll's use of puns and riddles in Alice in Wonderland help set the theme and tone. He uses word play in the book to show a world of warped reality and massive confusion. He uses such play on words to reveal the underlying theme of ‘growing up', but with such an unusual setting and ridiculous characters, there is need for some deep analyzing to show this theme. The book contains many examples of assonance and alliteration to add humor. Carroll also adds strange diction and extraordinary syntax to support the theme.

The Victorian Era was a time where not many ethical ideals and moral standards were sustained. Yet, it is also an Era in which modern society uses to make advancements in both humanity, and philosophy. Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, was a novelist who wrote pass his time. He wrote further in the future of the "common" Victorian Era. The ideology he presents in Alice in Wonderland is conducive to an individual attempting to bring attention to the deteriorating mental health and humane conditions in Victorian-Era England. Alice is representative of a normal child in everyday-Victorian England. This child, Alice, has not been exposed to the likes of diversity, but instead solidarity. The type of solidarity that is all too prevalent throughout the Victorian Era, primarily in the upbringing of children during this time. Children in Victorian Era England were taught to be followers of the norms already established by adults, and to ask no questions. These types of parameters placed restraints on children growing-up during this time; not only physical restraints, but also mental restraints, such as their imaginations'. Carroll was no stranger to this ideal or the likes of this concept; In fact, he constructed Alice in The Wonderland with this in mind, to defy the imaginative 'norm' of Victorian-Era England. He created a character that dreamt of falling down a rabbit hole into another universe. This dream or imagination becomes so vivid in his novel that the

'Alice in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll seems a first a simple fairy tale, but in fact its meaning is a lot more profound. This novel criticizes the way children were brought up during the Victorian era. Carroll presents the readers with the complications these offspring must endure in order to develop their own personalities/egos, as they become adults. For Alice, Wonderland appears to be the perfect place to start this learning adventure. A way to understand her story is by compering it to the world as if being upside-down. Nothing in Wonderland seems to be they way it’s supposed to. The first lesson, Alice must learn in this peculiar journey through Wonderland is to achieve separation from the world around her and to stop identifying herself through others, in order to discover who she

Alice in Wonderland by Charles L Dodgeson (Lewis Carrol) is a classic masterpiece and example of great literature. Many people know of this book as merely a child’s tale or a Disney movie. As both were adopted from the book, many of the ideas were not. I have my own feelings and opinions of this book. Remarkable use of words and an originally creative theme and plot structure are both used in this book. The author of this novel used many hidden meanings, symbolism, and ambiguous terms to greatly describe the actual nature of the story. Many people have different views as to the type of book it is and the novel’s actual meaning. Although this book inspires many people to laugh, it also inspires them think.

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.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are both widely thought to be books filled of nonsense by adults because adults search for meaning in the wrong places. People are taught from a young age to analyze books in a “traditional” way, which is identifying the five stages of plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution) and to look at the story one part at a time, slowly analyzing the whole book. This method becomes ingrained in their minds and they do it subconsciously. This frame of thought causes most adults to be unable to see the true meaning of Lewis Carroll’s two books, but at the same time helps adults obtain more than originally intended: “Although we can never hope to explain fully what these books mean or how they have secured their high place in the world’s literature, our efforts in this regard can yield many important insights about them and about their meanings for us,” (Rackin, 18). Adults are also taught there is always main plot that slowly builds towards the end, revealing a central theme. But in these books there is no main plot and Carroll uses the central theme to go back and give meaning to the rest of the events in the books. The themes of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are conveyed through the structure of the book, rather than the theme. The theme must also be read with the perspective with that of a child rather than an adult to fully understand these books.