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Alice in Wonderland critical analysis
Alice in Wonderland critical analysis
Alice in Wonderland critical analysis
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“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. Notably, Lewis Carroll was a Briton that took part in the hierarchical society, so in order to poke fun at flaws; Wonderland would obviously have to ...
In reading through texts about “Bad Girls and Bad Boys,” one will uncover that the theme of rule-breaking holds extreme significance. These works of literature are categorized as such not only because the characters themselves break rules, but the authors do as well, through style and word choices. The best example of this comes from the writing of Lewis Carroll within his creation of Wonderland. His poem “The Jabberwocky” is recited by Alice in the second half of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, titled Through the Looking Glass. The poem creates an entirely new set of rules regarding literary concepts, just as the character of Alice does regarding the idea of growing up. Carroll proves that rebellion is not solely useful for storylines, but can also apply to the use of literary devices and word choices and their meanings. It takes an out of the box mindset to appreciate the imagery at work in “The Jabberwocky,” which reveals that perspective is the key to understanding. In the case of this poem specifically, grasping the nonsense in the words opens up rest of
The Victorian Era held many common beliefs that contrast to everything modern society holds as true.These beliefs ecompassed such areas as social theory, class differences, racial prejudices, the effect of capitalism in society, and the role and extent of education Lewis Carroll challenges and satirizes these social constructs in his novels Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by the use of fantasy characters and settings. He confronts the reader indirectly through Alice; as the fantasy world of Wonderland disobeys Alice's established views, so does it disobey the reader's views.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland . 3rd. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.
Why are animal characters so popular in children’s literature? Why do they tend to be either fierce or friendly? How do animal characters impact children’s literature? In Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, the animal characters are very weird. They were supposed to guide Alice through the traditional fairytale world she has created, but instead they were negative influences on this child. I believe the audience expected that animal characters are supposed to because they are the ones who should be a role model for kids to look up or when they read it. Do the animal characters in Lew Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland disobey the animal characters in traditional fairytales? The animals in Alice argue with her, confuse her, and tell her upsetting stories instead of guiding her through the fairytale world she has created. “Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience.” by Thomas C. Haliburton. It is related to my thesis because the animal characters in Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland felt that they had authority to disobey the animal characters in other traditional fairytales. This is similar to Del Toro’s Pan Labyrinth because there are main animal characters like fairytales, faun, and paleman. They have the weird physical features. It was really gross to see them. This applied to Lewis Carroll’s book because he used the animals in a weird way. For example, The Cheshire-Cat’s body disappeared but the face was still there. Other example is a mouse walking by Alice. In real life, mouse rarely does that.
Lewis Carroll's use of puns and riddles in Alice in Wonderland help set the theme and tone. He uses word play in the book to show a world of warped reality and massive confusion. He uses such play on words to reveal the underlying theme of growing up', but with such an unusual setting and ridiculous characters, there is need for some deep analyzing to show this theme. The book contains many examples of assonance and alliteration to add humor. Carroll also adds strange diction and extraordinary syntax to support the theme.
The characters of Wonderland have backstory and real names; as well as the nicknames such as Mad Hatter. The shift can illuminate the emphasis on Good and Evil in our society today. The Queen in both is a representation of masculine evil and the story clearly defines the struggle to ‘win the good fight’. The union of the characters serves to clarify the two sides of ‘good’ and ‘evil’. This can be translated into huge divide in power dynamics in the United states. The 1% controls most of America while the gaps in the middle class continue to grow.
PREPARATION OUTLINE Purpose Statement: What is The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome? Thesis Statement: Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is rare condition that distorts the person’s perception of reality. I will define and describe the symptoms of a patience with this syndrome as it occurs naturally and induced by drug use. Attention Getter: (Playing Alice short clip in back ground)
Within Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Carroll utilizes an unique nonsense writing techniques including, poems, motifs, and homonyms puns, doing this Carroll creates humorous situations between Alice and the creatures she encounters. Nonsense literature presents situations and dialect which are not typical for example within, the text Carroll’s characters ask many riddles that are left unanswered, leaving the readers to question even once completed, the most famous, “why is a raven like a writing-desk” (Carroll 60)? Carroll defies the rules of language, logic, and representation with his brilliant expedition in an unusual reality, where common sense references are challenged and figurative meanings are repeatedly taken literally.
Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is a queer little universe where a not so ordinary girl is faced with the contradicting nature of the fantastic creatures who live there. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a child's struggle to survive in the condescending world of adults. The conflict between child and adult gives direction to Alice's adventures and controls all the outstanding features of the work- Alice's character, her relationship with other characters, and the dialogue. " Alice in Wonderland is on one hand so nonsensical that children sometimes feel ashamed to have been interested in anything so silly (Masslich 107)."
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
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.
Lewis Carroll’s original story of Alice in Wonderland was released in 1865 and focuses on a young girl’s adventures in a dream world in which she experiences size changes and encounters different creatures. Alice’s adventures express the importance of imagination and adventure throughout childhood, and the story acts as a progression of how children grow into adults both physically and emotionally. Carroll builds this image of Victorian England through the language he uses throughout the novel, and it is particularly evident in the conversation between Alice and the Caterpillar. In Steven Pinker’s Sense of Style, he examines the different aspects to a writer’s style, and the implications that style can have on both the writer and audience when
The characters in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are more than whimsical ideas brought to life by Lewis Carroll. These characters, ranging from silly to rude, portray the adults in Alice Liddell’s life. The parental figures in Alice’s reality portrayed in Alice in Wonderland are viewed as unintellectual figures through their behaviors and their interactions with one another.
An analysis of language features present in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which make it effective for children "You see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately that Alice had begun to think that very few things were really impossible", and that is the appeal of "Wonderland"; the confines of reality, which children are unaware of and adults resent, do not exist. The story is therefore, for both ages, a form of escapism, however, whereas the adults' "Wonderland" is limited to the page for a child it is enchantingly plausible and they are able to enjoy the magical anticipation of the landscapes and characters that exist beyond the bounds of the text. For the aforementioned reason fantasy has been a successful genre of children's fiction from the beginning of the nineteenth century up to the present day however, in my opinion, Carroll is truly a master because within the archetype of the modern fairy tale he speculates upon the problem of fantasy writing and implies his own somewhat cynical and macabre views on politics, childhood and the imagination. This renders "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" ambiguous and it can therefore be enjoyed on more than one level and I believe that "enjoyed" is the correct word because the book does not require the reader to pick up on the dark undertones for them to appreciate it.
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.