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Alice in wonderland critical analysis
Alice in wonderland analysis essay
Alice in wonderland analysis essay
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Alice in Wonderland belongs to the nonsense genre, and even if most of what happens to Alice is quite illogical, the main character is not. “The Alice books are, above all, about growing up” (Kincaid, page 93); indeed, Alice starts her journey as a scared little girl, however, at the end of what we discover to be just a dream, she has entered the adolescence phase with a new way to approach the mentally exhausting and queer Wonderland. It is important to consider the whole story when analyzing the growth of the character, because the meaning of an event or a sentence is more likely to mean what it truly looks like rather than an explanation regarding subconscious and Freudian interpretations. Morton states “that the books should possess any unity of purpose seems on the surface unlikely” (Morton, page 509), but it’s better to consider the disconnected narrative and the main character separately, since the girl doesn’t belong to Wonderland, which is, as Morton says, with no intrinsic unity. Whereas, there are a few key turning points where it is possible to see how Alice is changing, something that is visible throughout her journey. Carroll wants to tell the story of a girl who has to become braver in order to contend with challenges like the pool made by her own tears, or assertive characters, like the Queen. At the beginning of the story Alice is a little girl who is very curious, but also quite scared of being alone. First of all, she has an inquiring mind that brings her down the rabbit hole and, even if her way of thinking could remind the adult kind of thoughts, she still acts like a child. A clear example of this kind of behavior is when she finds a bottle with the words “DRINK ME” labeled on. Before drinking f... ... middle of paper ... ...inal realization that she is growing up and that is normal, therefore, she accepts it. In brief, Alice in Wonderland is a book about growing up, and Alice definitely has grown up since the beginning of her journey and she has entered the adolescence phase when she rebels against everyone. Although she is not able to control herself when she gets angry, in other words she is behaving like a normal adolescent, she has gained a new “power” from this confusing experience: being a person with a voice to say something that matters. Works Cited Lewis Carroll, (1865). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. United Kingdom: MacMillan Richard Morton, (December, 1960). "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass". Elementary English. 37 (8), pp.509-513 James R. Kincaid, (January, 1973). “Alice's Invasion of Wonderland”. PMLA. 88 (1), pp.92-99
Of course there is no sure way to prove that Carroll did not intend any deeper meaning into the story, after all, he was a mathematician and a man of great knowledge of children (19th Century Literature Criticism 105), but lets take a look at the most obvious fact – the time, place and audience of the original story of Alice in Wonderland. Here are the words of Lewis Carroll as he recalls that day: Full many a year has slipped away, since that “golden afternoon” that gave thee birth, but I can call it up almost as clearly as if it were yesterday – the cloudless blue above, the watery mirror below, the boat drifting idly on its way, the tinkle of the drops that fell from the oars, as they waved so sleepily to and fro, and (the one bright gleam of life in all the slumberous scene) the three eager faces, hungry for news of fairyland, and who would not he say ‘nay’ to: from whose lips ‘Tell us a story, please,’ had all the stern immutability of Fate!
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story that has been loved and read by different age groups. Lewis Carroll wrote the book in such a way that the reader, young or old, could be trapped into Alice’s world of adventure. The illustrations by John Tenniel help portray the story beautifully. Tenniel put pictures to Carroll’s thoughts exactly. When a student reads Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the first time, it is always great if he or she could be introduced to his illustrations. However, it is a good idea for teachers to bring in different portals of Alice to help show how other people may view this little girl’s world. In addition, it will show that even though Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been written many years ago, people are still relating to Alice’s character. Overall, it is amazing to see how many different illustrators have portrayed Alice in a totally new and modern way, such Greg Hildebrandt. I decided to use Greg Hildebrandt’s illustrations to assist me in teaching about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland because he portrays Alice as a much older looking girl. I believe this will help students understand how Alice’s character seemed older than seven years of age. He also depicts some of the characters as more humanlike than cartoon. I believe this will help students picture themselves into Alice’s world. In addition, Hildebrandt helps portray the bizarre story line that many people have come to love.
The gender roles change from the original to the remake. The original Alice role is defined as a young girl who is able to explore her curiosity, but she is constrained by her feminine characteristics. Alice being a young girl is portrayed as helpless in many situations throughout her journey. The characters of Wonderland offer her assistance, but she remains most times crying by herself. Alice’s character clearly shows the innocence and virtue American society attached to girls roles in the
Her eventual attentiveness could be borne from her polite nature and want of companionship, as well as from the persona of the Red Queen. The Queen represents a governess or teacher-type and thus Alice learns to listen, even when she does not fully want to. Whenever Alice is afraid she has offended someone, she tries her best to remedy the situation. “Alice curtseyed again, as she was afraid from the Queen’s tone that she was a little offended: and they walked on in silence till they got to the top of the hill” (Caroll). Alice gives of a persona of being well-trained, yet still childish and demanding. However, as she moves further through Wonderland she begins to gain more control of her childish impulses, such as being angry with the world for ‘making things difficult’ for her when she could not find her way through a maze. In this way, Alice is a dynamic character. She matures throughout the story as she finds out more about
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Lewis Carroll demonstrates paradoxes within Alice and Wonderland as Alice is tossed within an entirely different world. Yet one of the greatest paradoxes is the transformation of Alice over the course of the novel as well as the transformation of the duchess. Alice begins as an ignorant child; she has difficulties in morphing to the logic and needs of Wonder...
The novel Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland written by Lewis Carroll was originally published for the first time in 1898, and illustrated by John Tenniel, however there are multiple versions of this fantastically bizarre story that leads a young girl through a series of adventures and encounters with some unique fantasy creatures and beings; with many artists completing their interpretation of this literary masterpiece available. Two of those versions will be looked at in this paper; Salvador Dali illuminated in 1969, and Bessie Pease in 1931. The images that will be compared and contrasted are an accompaniment for chapter five: Advice from a Caterpillar. The images are created in two very different time periods, yet they both have the same
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland follows the story of young Alice trapped in the world of Wonderland after falling down through a rabbit-hole. The rabbit-hole which is filled with bookshelves, maps, and other objects foreshadows the set of rules, the ones Alice is normally accustomed to, will be defied in Wonderland. This conflict between her world and Wonderland becomes evident shortly after her arrival as evinced by chaos in “Pool of Tears” and Alice brings up the main theme of the book “was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I am not the same, the next question is who am I?” (Carroll 18). After Alice fails to resolve her identity crisis using her friends, Alice says “Who am I, then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I’ll come up: if not, I’ll stay down here til I’m somebody else” (Carroll 19). Hence in the beginning, Alice is showing her dependency on others to define her identity. Nevertheless when her name is called as a witness in chapter 12, Alice replies “HERE!” without any signs of hesitation (Carroll 103). Close examination of the plot in Alice in Wonderland reveals that experiential learning involving sizes leads Alice to think logically and rationally. Alice then attempts to explore Wonderland analytically and becomes more independent as the outcome. With these qualities, Alice resolves her identity crisis by recognizing Wonderland is nothing but a dream created by her mind.
Some of the most influential art in history can be credited not only to their creator, but to the influence that the work of previous artists had on the piece. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass books are no exception. His work has inspired the motion adaptation of Alice’s journey in various occasions. Despite the different eras in which each of the films were made, it is evident that the adventure and nonsense that make Carroll’s story so remarkable also make it timeless; his story has been retold with embellished details that captured the audience in their time yet do not diverge from the story’s essence.
In such a cherished children’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, written in 1865, has caused great commotion in political and social satire. It slowly but surely grew into one of the most adored publications in the Victorian era, expanding into today’s modern age. Lewis Carroll was the pen name utilized by Charles L. Dodgson and has forth created a sequel named Through the Looking Glass, And What Alice Found There composed first in 1871. In short, the text of the story presented with a feminist approach, a corrupt judicial system of Victorian England, the caucus race, and the absence of a childhood, the evolution of species, and Marxism.
Although the novel is notorious for its satire and parodies, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland main theme is the transition between childhood and adulthood. Moreover, Alice’s adventures illustrate the perplexing struggle between child and adult mentalities as she explores the curious world of development know as Wonderland. From the beginning in the hallway of doors, Alice stands at an awkward disposition. The hallway contains dozens of doors that are all locked. Alice’s pre-adolescent stage parallels with her position in the hallway. Alice’s position in the hallway represents that she is at a stage stuck between being a child and a young woman. She posses a small golden key to ...
There are some flaws within the plot of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, mainly stemming from the changing of the story and characters. No character within the tale remains constant, the only one through the whole tale with us is Alice. The main theme within the story is Alice trying to get home, only to end up on trial in the Red Queen’s kingdom. This is the turning point for Alice. Her character develops greatly, making her turn from the partially taciturn child, to the able-minded young adult. “ 'Who cares for you? ' said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) 'You 're nothing but a pack of cards! '” (Carroll, 117). Alice has the gall to stand up to these playing card guards that are trying to cut off her head, by order of the queen. She realizes that these cards could not harm her, at her normal height. They were after all, just a pack of
One of the main purposes for writing Alice in Wonderland was not only to show the difficulties of communication between children and adults. In this story, almost every adult Alice talked to did not understand her. At times she messed up what they were saying completely as well, which many times stick true to real life circumstances. This book shows that kids and adults are on completely separate pages on an everlasting story. Carroll points out that sometimes children, like Alice, have a hard time dealing with the transition from childhood to adulthood, 'growing up.' Alice in Wonderland is just a complicated way of showing this fact. Lewis Carroll's ways with words is confusing, entertaining, serious, and highly unique all at the same time. And it's safe to say that it would be difficult to replicate such and imaginative technique ever again (Long 72).
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by author Lewis Carroll depicts the story of a young girl named Alice and her adventurous encounter with a marvelous place called Wonderland. In the start of this novel Alice is sitting by the riverbank and is drowsily reading next to her sister when she notices a White Rabbit running by her and he pulls out a watch complaining about being late then he goes down a rabbit . A curious Alice proceeds to then follow the white rabbit down the hole where she ends up seeing a hallway with a plethora of doors. In order to go through a small door she finds and uses the key on a nearby table to open it. Alice then sees a garden through the door but when she can't fit through it she begins to cry but quickly sees a bottle labeled “drink me” and she proceeds to drink it but since she left the key on the tabletop she can't reach it. A cake labeled “eat me” made Alice grow in size which helped her reach the key but now she can't fit through the door again, Alice begins to cry and her tears which were giant created a pool at her feet which then became a river
Carroll brings these characters to life and makes them seem believable to Alice and the readers. With the help of the characters, there are many different lessons and metaphors that children can relate to. For example, Carrol shows how a child views the adult world, including the rules and social etiquette as well as the terrible habits developed over the course of life. This book represents the child’s struggle to flourish in the crazy world of adults. A young reader will notice that Alice has a hard time finding solutions to different situations in Wonderland. For example, she has a hard time solving the Mad Hatter’s riddle and understand the caucus race as well as the Queen’s croquet game. Alice eventually learns that there are times when she cannot find meaning or logic in situations and this shows the reader that sometimes life gets frustrating and situations are not always solvable. In order for Alice to thrive she must figure out who she is as a person and where she fits into