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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Analysis of the character
Analysing alice in wonderland
Analysing alice in wonderland
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The definition of nonsense has been debated throughout literature. Yet nonsense itself cannot be defined, but rather it is defined by its inability to be defined. It’s the destruction or defiance of the norm that often leads to creation of nonsense. The language of nonsense itself is closely intertwined with various techniques of style, structuralization and various motifs. Authors such as Lewis Caroll in Alice and Wonderland and Edward Lear’s The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear use such techniques to invoke the language of nonsense as well as to create nonsense within their writing. Both Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear use the language of nonsense is also defined by paradoxes, the play on stereotypes, and the usage of polysemy. 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...
In ‘Alice and the Wonderland’ Alice’s characterization is parallel to that of Miranda as they both depict a change in character and ultimately undergo an inner discovery that exemplifies their capabilities. This is portrayed in the line “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then” which is juxtaposed with Alice’s earlier uncertainty in the line “I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid…because I’m not myself, you see” The power of inner discovery is exemplified in Alice’s shift in perspective. Her change in tone validates that she is content with herself and that there is a move from her initial self-doubt. This supports that once an individual overcomes self-doubt, the impact of self-discovery is far-reaching and transformative. Alice broadens her mind to future possibilities and further states “It’s rather curious, you know, this sort of life! …There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I’ll write one.” The continued repetition of the word “curious” throughout the novel represents that Alice’s inquisitive nature is coming through as a result of her inner discovery. Moreover, Alice’s “ought to write a book about herself” is equivalent to Miranda’s quest to drawing her own path. This may be subverting stereotypes of the 19th century that
“Alice in Wonderland” written by famous author, Lewis Carroll, is a fantasy novel printed with many respects and portrays a vivid reflection of society through satire. For instance, Carroll criticizes that Wonderland is a monarchy and not a democracy; it is separated between different social classes, and clearly speaks volumes of the scheme during Queen Victoria’s rein. During the Victorian Era, British imperial power took a large-scale expansion through many colonial parts of Africa, India, Asia, and other parts of the middle-east. Thus, increasing use of the English language outside of Europe and increasing trade with distant regions. This produced a strong spirit of animosity during Queen Victoria’s rein. However, later in the Age, writer’s like Lewis Carroll rebelled against blasphemy and stereotypical codes of conduct. “Alice in Wonderland” is one work of fiction that Lewis Carroll gives a prime example of his satirical entourage.
Throughout Alice in Wonderland, Alice interacts with things that are commonly seen in her Victorian world. Throught out the majority of both novel the inhabitants of Wonderland , who all have distinct personalities and the ability to communicate, dictate Alice's behavior. However, in the final scene of Wonderland Alice turns the table on the citizens of Wonderland. Rather than continuing to accept and comply with their behavior, she recognizes that they do not behave as they should in Victorian society. When she shouts to the army of cards that they are in fact nothing more than a mere pack of cards Alice immediately wakes up to find that she has returned from Wonderland. Once she treats the cards as she should in her own society, simply as objects, then Alice is allowed to return to her own world . She has learned the lesson that a girl in Victorian England must control the objects around her, rather than be controlled by them.
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ,states, “It would be so nice if something actually made sense for a change.” Ironically, Carroll’s novel, to the average mind is literally incomprehensible. This piece of literary work can be seen as one of adventure and excitement through indescribable unrealistic occurrences and circumstances. This characteristic in itself makes it difficult for the mind to grasp however, Carroll manages to create a fun and entertaining novel for all ages to enjoy. From the outside cover, this book may just seem to be an ordinary entertaining novel however, when you dig deep you will to great surprise uncover symbolic references. Two symbolic references can be found in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
“Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise” (Carroll 105). This and advice of this kind are often dispensed by the Duchess in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Alice, and like the transition from child to adult, the advice is generally rarely fully understood if not confusingly difficult to wrap logic around. Many illustrators have undertaken the task of conveying a clear picture of the struggle that Alice goes through in order to triumph over childhood and nonsense into the realm of adults and logic. Angel Dominguez shows Alice’s struggle to grow up and out of childhood, a major theme of the text, in such a way that the audience can almost feel her anxiety. The use of the body language of Alice, the Duchess and the supporting animals, in addition to compositional elements such as proximity and framing, is a principal mechanism of Dominguez in evoking Alice’s anxiety and emphasizing the uncomfortable passage into maturity on one’s own while dealing with the pressures and advances of an adult world.
Most critics agree that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is not a frivolous child’s tale born of pure whimsy. Rather, it portrays the problems inherent to the process of growing up and becoming an adult. More specifically, in “Educating Alice: The Lessons of Wonderland”, Jan Susina posits that the novel pertains to the act of conforming and finding one’s place in an existing adult society. He suggests that Alice is generally pleasing and agreeable and even cites Alice’s physical changes in size and shape as metaphors for her desire to fit into the new environment in which she finds herself. One of Susina’s key ideas is that Carroll created Alice as an idealized Victorian girl, and he even suggests that Alice’s various encounters with characters,
Lewis Carroll’s fascinating novel Alice in Wonderland, published in 1865, was foremost intended to entertain and pleasure children with a new outlook on the ability to imagine and explore one’s creative mind. Alice is not only just a character in a book, but a dear friend to Mr. Carroll. She inspired and encouraged Carroll to first tell the original story and further publish the tale into the enduring classic, Alice in Wonderland. In the novel Alice experiences the adventure of a lifetime after falling down a large rabbit-hole in her family’s pasture, bored and curious one summer’s day. Once Alice enters Wonderland a number of strange and confusing events take place, such as: crying a pool of tears, advice from a caterpillar, meeting the Queen of Hearts, playing on her Croquet-Ground, almost getting beheaded by the Queen’s demand, meeting numerous talking animals, including the Cheshire cat (who continues to appear throughout the novel), and finally serving as a witness in the Queen’s Courtroom. In the middle of the chaos Alice meets the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse at their mad tea party. Alice approaches the great table where all three are crowded together; to her surprise they all cry out “No room! No room!” (Carroll 52). Alice announces there is plenty of room for her and sat down at the end of the table in a large arm-chair. From this moment forward the four characters have a conversation over three challenging topics. Throughout the novel and real life, Carroll introduces riddles and complex ideas to Alice, stimulating her intuition and the ability to think for herself. The Mad Hatter and March Hare are created to assist Alice discover and recognize what madness and meaningless puzzles look like, all throu...
With Alice’s journey through Looking-Glass Land and across the chess board, a reader with knowledge of Lewis Carroll’s personal life and inspirations can clearly see the connection between the two. The real-life Alice Liddell, the girl who Carroll had taken a liking to and based his character Alice on, was now over 16 years old, compared to the young girl that she had been when he had first met her and later written the first book (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). Regardless of how one reads into their relationship, it is easy to then see that the contents of Carroll’s story are directly symbolic and reflective of Alice Liddell’s maturing, hence fictional Alice’s crossing of the chessboard to become a queen. The story reflects what is hard for Lewis Carroll to watch, a girl he has known and cared for since she was a child, turning into a
Phillips, Robert, ed. Aspects of Alice: Lewis Carroll’s Dreamchild as seen through the Critics’ Looking-Glasses. New York: Vanguard Press, 1971.
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.
Her longing to get through a little door that leads to a stunning garden takes her on an exploration to the house of a Duchess, a mad tea-party where she meets the Mad Hatter and March hare. Her encounter with the caterpillar is very helpful as it is through the caterpillar that she is able to know the way in which one could adjust their height reliant on the situation. Her experience in the house of White Rabbit is another fascinating occurrence. (Carroll) Overall, “her adventures before entry into the attractive garden are of a kind that leads her to question herself and the knowledge that she has about herself and of the world.” (Senna) The bottom line of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures of Wonderland there is growing up to be done and a puzzle to be solved. (enotes)
Second,Throughout the novel, Carroll 's use of the characters of Wonderland both serves as the conflict of the story and represents adults. The characters of Wonderland confuse Alice, and act rudely to her. In the novel, they scold her over the way she looks, thinks, and acts. Literary critics Charles Frey and John Griffith described the characters of Wonderland in their article,‘’Lewis Carroll: Alice 's Adventures in Wonderland’’ in it, they said,‘’Alice enters a world of intensely insecure, but aggressively defensive adults whose narrowness of outlook expresses itself continually in attacks upon the reality or propriety of Alice in her appearance and behavior. Alice 's consequent bewilderment is the subject of much mirth, but always ambivalence
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 has confidence in her social position, education, and the Victorian virtue of good manners (SparkNotes) therefore she approaches Wonderland and encounters a way of living and reasoning different quite different from her own (Rooy). In a world filled with nonsense, she is like a fish out of water. As Rooy states, this may be a representation of a child struggling to survive in the confusing world of adults. Wonderland is a ridiculous dream world that parodies the real world (LitCharts). Both the real world and Wonderland have misunderstandings, meaningless things, and characters that aren’t always agreeable. Wonderland may take things to an extreme whimsical point, but nonetheless, it shows the same basic characteristics. It is difficult for a child to understand an adult’s world because of abstract ideas such as morals, which may as well be nonsense, as shown by the creatures in Wonderland. For Alice, she finally understands her situation in Wonderland and wakes up because of a new sense of understanding and growth within
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.