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Commentary on alice in wonderland
Commentary on alice in wonderland
Thesis statement on symbolism in ALice in Wonderland
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Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
Chapter I - Down the Rabbit-Hole Image: Lewis Carroll Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?' Image: Bessie Pease Gutmann, 1907 So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' ..(when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural). But when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT- POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before see a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. Image:Illustrator ? In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. Image: Sir John Tenniel - 1865 1890 Nursery Version The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well. Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. (c) Image: Disney, Appears Courtesy of American Royal Arts . First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs.
Down the rabbit hole is often a metaphor for an adventure into the unknown. It is also used as a metaphor for a 'psychedelic experience'. It's attributed to the children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where the child , Alice follows a rabbit into a hole. There seems to be a central theme surrounding "good and evil" as a series of choices. As this child is confronted with a variety of extreme-adult situations - murder, bodies being dismembered, etc. Similar to the original Alice story, he explores the "empty rooms" of his father's palace and meets interesting characters who come to
in Wonderland is the theme of a journey into a magic "Other World" or land that outside of the boundaries of mortal time and space. This theme is presented to the reader at the very beginning of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland when an unusual white rabbit leads Alice, the heroine, to Wonderland (the Other World). She enters this strange world through a hole in the ground; this concept of a sacred mound or hole as an e...
Alice falling down the rabbit hole and ending up in a strange new world that no one
Alice then follows the white rabbit until it disappears into a rabbit hole. Being a curious girl, Alice peers down the hole trying to find the rabbit. She then slips and plummets down for quite some time— representing the next step in the hero’s journey, Crossing the Threshold. Which is where the hero enters a new or special world. When Alice lands at the bottom she believes she is in a dream; as the world she has landed in is much different from the world she was born in. This is where most heroes would meet the Threshold Guardian- aids the hero in transferring between the two worlds. Except in Alice’s story, she uses her own mind to discover how to get into the new world—beginning the Road of Trials. The road of trials is where the
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.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about a little girl who comes into contact with unpredictable, illogical, basically mad world of Wonderland by following the White Rabbit into a huge rabbit – hole. Everything she experiences there challenges her perception and questions common sense. This extraordinary world is inhabited with peculiar, mystical and anthropomorphic creatures that constantly assault Alice which makes her to question her fundamental beliefs and suffer an identity crisis. Nevertheless, as she woke up from “such a curious dream” she could not help but think “as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been ”.
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.
Alice in wonderland has compelled many artists and writings to adapt, Lewis Carroll 's book into movies. The original animated movie of Alice in Wonderland came out in 1951; which was produced by Disney. There have been many remakes, but for the purpose of this essay the 2010, live action remake by Tim Burton can reveal the most change. Keeping these two versions in mind, it is possible to get a snapshot of some ways American culture has shifted over the 59 year period. There are five main changes of importance from the original and the remake of Alice in Wonderland. Those changes are: the age of Alice, the dynamic of characters in Wonderland, the Gender roles, the violence, and the agency of Alice throughout the movie. These key changes can be linked to many subliminal messages being conveyed about American
Vallone, Lynne. Notes. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. By Lewis Carroll. New York: The Modern Library Classics, 2002.245-252. Print.
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.
Known for its utilitarianist ideals, the education system of the Victorian Era limited the thoughts, speech, and actions of the individual; People were the product of the Victorian society in which they were raised. Many Victorian novelists highlight this mechanization of human beings, as it contributed to the identity crisis epidemic of the Victorian Era in which children were especially affected. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll uses the emphasis of facts in the Victorian education system, the likeliness of Victorian Society to discourage the use of the imagination, and the importance of ideal male and female roles of the Victorian citizen, imposed on children at a young age, to create Alice’s confused character analogous to the identity crisis of children during the Victorian era.
Here she finds a strange caterpillar on a mushroom smoking a hookah. It doesn’t even matter that the caterpillar talks and questions Alice about her identity, the way he looks should be enough for Alice and the audience to question their sanity. Upon being asked who she is by the caterpillar, Alice has no idea anymore. She is becoming as mad as she believes the inhabitants of Wonderland to be. The caterpillar seems to be able to read Alice’s thoughts now ‘Just as if she had asked it aloud’ - which leads us to believe that Alice is so confused about her identity that perhaps her thoughts aren’t even hers anymore. By the end of this chapter we again see characters leave Alice in anger as she insults the caterpillar on his height and scares the pigeon who believes her to be a serpent. The caterpillar and pigeon both found Alice to be very strange indeed, yet their surroundings were absolutely normal to them - which again shows that Alice is the only odd thing in Wonderland and is able to upset the
Alice is never safe from danger in “Wonderland” and she seems to get farther and farther away from finding her way
Aside from the very obvious madness and chaos of the scene, there is also a very stark example of the dream logic displayed in other parts of the story. There is also a sense of the feelings of loneliness. Alice is the only one that seems upset about the unfairness of the situation, especially when she grows back to her full size and everyone turns on her. This shows the separation she has from the other characters in terms of their state of mind. This is also where another aspect of the dream logic comes into play. Alice becomes the center of attention during the trial. When Alice grows back to her normal size, she draws all the attention to herself, the Knave all but forgotten in the chaos. When she was small, the King’s claim of “justice” is the absolute authority of a monarchy-based government. In a monarchy, all the power lies within the royal family. Alice’s size makes the King and his court feel threatened and orders that “All persons more than a mile high [are] to leave the court.” As Alice continues to grow, she becomes more aware of the absurdity and unfairness of the situation and more willing to speak out. When the Queen makes the ridiculously unfair declaration “Sentence first – verdict afterwards,” Alice replies with “Stuff and nonsense!” which causes the card soldiers to fly up in her face in an attack. The scene ends when Alice dismisses the King, Queen, and their court as “nothing but a pack of cards!” The cards continue to fly at her violently as she wakes up from her dream. This is yet another aspect of dream logic. When something sudden and frightening happens in a dream, it often wakes up the dreamer. It is Alice’s realizations that give her power o...
Richard Morton, (December, 1960). "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass". Elementary English. 37 (8), pp.509-513