Alice in Wonderland: Effects on our Lives

Childhood: a time of imagination and fun for all children; this is what individuals have been told of in stories and throughout various cultures. During some periods of time, varying societies can see the exact opposite characterization of childhood. In many stories, novels, and other works of literature and art during the Victorian age, one can see the changes that books have on the appearance and interpretation of the childhood stage of life. One of the more well-known books that deals with childhood is Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll, throughout his life, wrote many children's books that ended up having some effect on Victorian life; of all the books published during the Victorian era, one can see that Alice in Wonderland affected perceptions of men, women, and children.

Victorians thought of women as a gender that was only taught how to do housework and raise children at the time this book was written. Even the author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, has been recorded in writing stating that he never really cared for women. To him, women were annoying compared to children. So when one reads this book, one can see that Alice is a little girl who portrays the women that she will be when she grows up. With that in mind, one can see the scene where Alice takes the baby from the Duchess as illustrating this point. (add quote here from the book). With the feelings that come with getting the baby, one can see that Alice’s motherly, adult instincts come out. These instincts show that she, even in her young age, has been taught about what her future is going to be.

With that knowledge, throughout the book, Alice continues to say that she is only a child and is too young to grow up. The reader can see some ...

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...rroll most likely created most of the characters to represent someone from society. Though when one looks at the rabbit, it also represents the men who are always one the run and wanting to please everyone.

Next male character, would be the mad hatter. The Mad hatter represents the working men of the fashion industry during the victorian era. Hat makers would use the mineral, mercury, in the making of hats and that would not only effect the way they would look but also their mentality. There are many cases that the worker because “mad as a hatter”. The saying was actually used before Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland.

Cheschar cat is the next male figure that appears though out the tale, leading Alice the right way so that she can learn.

Works Cited

Day, David. "Oxford in Wonderland." Queen's Quarterly Fall 2010: 403-24. ProQuest. Web. 6 May 2014 .