Comparing Frank Baum’s Dorothy Gale of the Oz series and Lewis Carroll’s Alice of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Frank Baum’s Dorothy are two of the most well-known and well-loved heroines of all time. At first glance, both Alice and Dorothy appear to be rather accurate renditions of actual little girls who embark on their own adventures in strange and fantastical lands. However, closer scrutiny reveals that only one of these characters is a true portrayal of what a little girl is really like, while the other is but a fulfillment of what most girls would only dream of being like.
Like many young girls across the world, both today and in centuries past, it seems that Alice was taught the etiquette that all proper young ladies should follow. Throughout the novel, we see Alice in conflict with certain societal rules – there are several occasions when she is frustrated with what others say and do to her. But only those privy to her innermost thoughts (i.e., the readers) are capable of seeing her true feelings on any matter, for she remains, with the exception of an episode at the end of the text, extremely courteous to all those she meets. One of the passages that clearly describes this general acquiescence is when Alice sees the Duchess after meeting the King and Queen on the croquet-ground:
“Tut, tut, child!” said the Duchess. “Every thing’s got a moral, if only you can find it.” And she squeezed herself up closer to Alice’s side as she spoke.
Alice did not much like her keeping so close to her: first, because the Duchess was very ugly; and secondly, because she was exactly the right height to rest her chin on Alice’s shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin. However, she did not like to b...
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...relate to a child’s need for escape from the educational system, even if only through a book.)
While both Alice and Dorothy are meant to be portraits of typical young girls, I believe that they represent two different facets of a young girl’s nature. Carroll’s Alice undoubtedly portrays the true image of what real young girls are like, possessing some qualities that may not be considered extremely attractive but are nevertheless present in the lives of young women. On the other hand, Baum’s Dorothy is more fantastic, a heroine who encompasses all the qualities that any young girl would like to have but cannot always attain. Together, then, the two characters make up everything that a young girl is — the influences and restrictions that society places on her, the unspoken thoughts that she has when speaking to others, the dreams that she wishes to aspire to.
The first perspective of ethical deviance in the Rodney King incident is by the Los Angeles Police Department. Police brutality has ...
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...
Most people know the name Lewis Carroll, and even more know about the taleof a little girl who fell down a rabbit hole straight into the adventure of a lifetime. But not many people know the name Charles Dodgson, the man behind the pseudonym and the one who constructed this wonderland from a summer time boat ride in 1862. Originally written for three friends, the Liddell sisters, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has inspired philosophers, artists, writers, theologians, and not to mention the general public. The culture in which this piece of art was written has shaped Alice’s dream-like journey from the first false step into an almost never ending fall to the last storm of cards. Dodgson’s enchanting work illustrates mankind’s childlike spirit that 1880s English society tried so hard to ignore.
Obsolete superstitious and supernatural thoughts just as the psychology of the earthborn mind come the main issues to compose about. Split selves, the dark side of the human spirit and scientific experiments predominate in Gothic novels. 19th century Gothic fiction can also be seen as a reaction against the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the progressing expert technology, urbanization and social vary as well as new sprouting theories, such as the evolution theory of Charles Darwin, the supposition of the sublime and lovesome by Edmund Burke or later the psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud. During the course of more than thirty different recreations, Frankenstein has become one of the world's most recognizable
Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein has been deemed a classic gothic novel. Her monster has frightened many generations throughout the ages, and lingers as a warning of science gone too far. But why did her monster survive the ages? I believe that Mary Shelley's monster managed to hold our attention and chill us to the bone, because she weaved a tale that incorporated the genres of gothic, and romantic literature into a narrative of complete terror, and psychological torment that managed to surpass any other gothic literature of her time.
As she sorted through several critical literary books and papers in hopes of better understanding Victorian literature, she found that almost all analyses of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland were similar in that they were all grounded in Freudian psychology. This means that literary interpretations of the book heavily emphasised the role of Lewis Carroll’s subconscious more than anything else, further implying that many of the bizarre characters and events that exist in Wonderland were dismissed as mere expressions of Lewis Carroll’s supposed insanity rather than conscious symbolism. However, if one chooses to take a different approach at interpreting Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, he will find that the seemingly nonsensical elements of Wonderland can reasonably reflect certain aspects of the reality of the Victorian Era.
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.
With many speculations as to what the story is about, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a tale that still entices readers. Written in 1865, Charles Dodgson created a tale under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. Within that tale Carroll inevitably created a character of ambition within the little girl, Alice. From the beginning of the tale, she is displayed as being adventurous, leaving her sister’s side to follow a white rabbit down a mysterious hole; complacent until she finds herself in a predicament. New ideas about the story revolve mainly around drugs, speaking as if it were some psychedelic LSD trip. Another theory also led to the belief that its’ author was nothing more than a pedophilic gentleman who had too close of a relationship with
Mary Shelley’s world renowned book, “Frankenstein”, is a narrative of how Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant chemist, succeeds in creating a living being. Although Frankenstein’s creation is benevolent to begin with, he soon turns murderous after being mistreated by humans. His anger turns towards Frankenstein, as he was the one who brought him into the world that shuns him. The Monster then spends the rest of the story trying to make his creator’s life as miserable as his own. This novel is an excellent example of the Gothic Romantic style of literature, as it features some core Gothic Romantic elements such as remote and desolate settings, a metonymy of gloom and horror, and women in distress.
The mass media plays an enormous role in influencing the public. In the age of globalization many technologies like Internet, television, newspapers, magazines, radio and so on, make news available and accessible for everyone around the world. The media can easily get any information out there to the public regarding any subject such as political views, health issues, entertainment, education, human tragedies…and those information do have an impact on our everyday life decisions, opinions and raise our awareness on a subject. The media is most of the time the only way people can get information on subject that they cannot fully understand such as science. Because “science is an encoded form of knowledge that requires translation in order to be understood” (Ungar 2000), many studies have shown that the media plays a very crucial role in raising people understanding of the scientific world and the environmental issues, especially the climate change and global warming. Climate change has become an important issue today and people need to understand how serious it is in order to take actions to prevent it from getting worse; and the only way the information can get to the public is via the mass media. Today global warming is raising many concerns and the media coverage is increasing but yet many scientists complain about the limited coverage of the subject because it seems that it is not enough compared to the gravity of the situation. Because of the lack of information, many people are still very skeptical and some are just very confused about the global warming and how it affect our atmosphere.
The term ‘Gothic’ conjures a range of possible meanings, definitions and associations. It explicitly denotes certain historical and cultural phenomena. Gothicism was part of the Romantic Movement that started in the eighteenth century and lasted about three decades into the nineteenth century. For this essay, the definition of Gothic that is applicable is: An 18th century literary style characterized by gloom and the supernatural. In the Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a wide range of issues are explored. Frankenstein represents an entirely new vision of the female Gothic, along with many other traditional themes such as religion, science, colonialism and myth.
The Victorian Era is known for many things. Within the time frame of Queen Victoria’s reign, there were major events such as Ireland’s potato famine, the Crimean War, as well as the industrial revolution. In the literary world, however, the era sprouted many of the world’s famous Victorian-based novels that are still being read today. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is well-known by most people for its vivid use of the imagination. The story itself is one that promotes creativity, open-mindedness and viewing the world in different perspectives. While Lewis Carroll’s story captivates and inspires people of all ages, what brings a young girl’s adventure to life are the illustrations behind it. The story of Alice is nothing without the visual
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a gothic science fiction novel written in the romantic era that focuses on the elements of life. The romantic era was sparked by the changing social environment, including the industrial revolution. It was a form of revolt against the scientific revolutions of the era by developing a form of literature that romanticize nature and giving nature godliness. This element of romanticized nature is a recurrent element in Frankenstein and is used to reflect emotions, as a place for relaxation and as foreshadowing. Frankenstein also includes various other elements of romanticism including strong emotions and interest in the common people.
...She cannot pursue her progressive dreams of her identity. She has to adopt respectable behavior in every circumstance, in contrast to support of creative thinking of Wonderland. She calls for help during a time of conflict in contrast the original Alice’s confident and spirit. Alice in both versions has no level of toleration for difficulties. However Carroll’s Alice becomes more determined and self-reliant as she travels through her identity, which was wonderland. She states when she comes back home “what a wonderful dream it had been” (Carroll 98). Alice knew where she belonged because of Wonderland. Disney’s Alice just wanted the dream to end and be free from the madness of herself. Unfortunately Wonderland never taught Alice a lesson about her individuality. Instead the whole 95 minutes of Wonderland was just a comedic dream without meaning.
In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, Alice is put in a variety of situations that expose her to different point of views. She meets the other characters of Wonderland as she takes on the role of a chess piece and moves through the “squares” of the chess board designed realm. By the end Alice has gained a new understanding and appreciation of her world, as well as her place in it. Carroll created a series of works that have inspired and entertained multiple generations. The story of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland, however, begins not with the writings of Lewis Carroll, but with the life of Charles Dodgson.