Examples Of Romanticism In Alice In Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland

Historical Reading

Lewis Carroll’s clear incorporation of ideas surrounding romanticism and rationalism create strong links to issues within Victorian society, and also relate to modern audiences through how many of the themes are still highly valued today. Romanticism was an idea recognised by Jean – Jaques Rosseau in the 18th century, a century later than rationalism and was considered an opposing response to Rene Descartes theory. While Descartes enforced opinions of science, reasoning and logic as the superior morals to follow, romanticism strongly contrasted, instead choosing to place trust in instinctual responses, emotions and creativity, believing youthful childhood to hold a higher level of significance than a sophisticated

This can be related to the current state of America for example, once a country filled with romanticism, willing to open its arms to many refugees, (running from Mussolini, Hitler, and other historical dangers) with romanticism still lying at the heart of the ideal American Dream. Now however, they have entered a state of disenchantment where they resort to purely logical standings based off what benefits only their own – a far more rational and disadvantageous (for refugees) decision. Dozens of articles have been written to emphasise the downhill nature of this dream, such as Voa News which describes how this ideal is failing, confirmed by actions such as “President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily halting settlement of refugees from seven mostly Muslim countries” as the website states. This state of mind tends to be a resort for people when society is taking a downhill path and doesn’t seem to be going well – for example Victorian society and Wonderland’s odd rules that keep order even if they are not beneficial for a vast number of individuals. This conservative era showed similar downhill trend through the clear indications of overpopulation and high crime rates alongside atrocious working conditions (causing many occupational

As these assorted items fly by, it represents the idea of childhood also flying past as a child is forced to devote themselves to proper manners and focus on always being perfect, supported by Alice’s attempt at curtseying during this section. This obviously does not help her situation, instead resulting her in experiencing a malaise feeling, however, it is how she was ‘trained’ to act back in the real society and this action (alongside other pointless actions) have been enforced in her brain to the point where they are almost instinctual. This results in Victorian society members at the time being encouraged to ruminate over the nature of their own strange etiquettes. Carroll appears to be mocking this system of logic through the clear uselessness of this system (in regard to how only one-person benefits – the Hatter) yet how absolute each character is in their belief that it is the correct method to follow. While the vast majority of characters in this story follow along with these seemingly redundant rules, Alice opposes them and, as her journey progresses, fights harder against them, becoming increasingly more obnoxious to counter the rudeness of characters who call her out for not fully understanding their customs. This relates to how children cannot be contained and