Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a book that many children have grown up reading. The story is about a young girl who goes on an adventure in a wondrous place known as Wonderland full of creatures and animals that talk, as well as humans that look and act different than what Alice expects. Alice, who is the protagonist, enters Wonderland by falling down a rabbit hole, she follows White Rabbit who takes her on an adventure though Wonderland. There are many different characters that Alice meets; for example, The Caterpillar is extremely wise and provides Alice with knowledge – while he is not extremely kind, he helped Alice by giving her the one tool needed to get through Wonderland; information. Furthermore, Alice meets …show more content…
However, the vast majority of children's literature is – small lessons on how to act and what is acceptable.
Furthermore, Mulderig discusses more about the subversive elements in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by stating, "Her dealings with virtually all the creatures she encounters reflect her self-centered independence and aggressiveness. Bursting at will into private groups as she makes her way through Wonderland." (Mulderig 4) This further enforces to readers how stereotypically, young girls should never be self-centered, independent, or aggressive. For girls need to act like little ladies so that in the future, they can accept that they are to be at home and dependent on her husband. Furthermore, Mulderig elaborates upon the punishment and reward aspect stating, "The world of Victorian children's fiction, then is one of immediate and inescapable justice- a world in which the good are consistently rewarded and the evil are inevitable exposed to physical suffering or psychological torment." (Mulderig 5) In didactic children's literature there are countless examples of the physical and psychological punishment – religion is almost
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.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll follows the young girl Alice down the rabbit hole to Wonderland where she meets the different creatures of Wonderland. One of
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.
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.
Alice can be very childish, but throughout the story, she encounters many animals with human qualities that make her change her perspective of the world she lives in. The main obstacle in Alice's life is growing up. As she grows up, she looks at situations in a very distinctive way, such as the moment when alice meets the March Hare, The Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse. By the time the story is over, Alice is already a grown up because of all the experiences she confronted such as, the mad tea party, the encounter with the caterpillar smoking a hookah pipe, also Alice's encounter with the Red Queen during the croquet game and the trial.
In the novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the main character, Alice, undergoes quite a change. During the time the novel was published, parts of the world were in the victorian era. The Queen at the time was Queen Victoria, in which the era was named after. During this era, knowledge, class and reason were greatly valued, and stressed. This time period ended in the year of Queen Victoria’s death. Throughout the novel, there are many ways that show how Alice begins to understand the world in adult terms, matures, and grows.
I am Alice when I read; Alice goes seeking adventure in wonderland, just as I do when reading, to escape reality. Alice was finding out herself that people could be little pieces of something, something that could be exchanged by a senseless force. Lost in Wonderland, the little girl was confused and scared and nevertheless shows true bravery in the face of her insecurities. She exchanges sense for non-sense, in an all-encompassing attempt to be able to take hold of even the most intimate core of her, so that she is forced to discover who she really is and find her identity. Like a child who is sleeping, ideology in fictional stories, quietly seeps through the narrative cracks of novels. It is embodied as an unconscious knowledge, a knowledge that doesn't know itself, and that needs to be understood and pondered by the readers. ‘Alice in Wonderland’, seen to most as simply a children’s story, has so much more depth and deals with classis themes such as coming of
Many themes are explored when reading Lewis Carrol’s, Alice in Wonderland. Themes of childhood innocence, child abuse, dream, and others. Reading the story, it was quite clear to see one particular theme portrayed through out the book: child to adult progression. Alice in Wonderland is full of experiences that lead Alice to becoming more of herself and that help her grow up. It’s a story of trial, confusion, understanding, and success. And more confusion. Though others might argue that the story was distinctly made for children just to get joy out of funny words, and odd circumstances, the tale has obvious dynamics that confirm the fact of it being a coming of age story.
Throughout the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, many aspects of Victorian society are criticized through Alice’s experiences in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll indirectly incorporates his views of society into his book. The three main aspects that are criticized are Victorian Education, Victorian Government, and Victorian Classes.
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
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 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’s Adventures in Wonderland, was a children’s book written by Lewis Carroll. The focus of
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.