Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Philosophy – a subject that had driven people insane for as long as humans know their history. All the time people try to find a meaning, and later controvert it. For example, critics view a novel by Lewis Carroll Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, as a quest for maturity story, Carroll’s view on Victorian Society and even existential meaning on life. All of those interpretations come from philosophical “drive” of the critics. The truth is that anyone can point a finger at the book and come up with their own “deep” meaning of the story, but if one looks at facts, well known, and obvious things – it is clear that the story is simply a children tale intended for entertainment and nothing more.
Of course there is no sure way to prove that Carroll did not intend any deeper meaning into the story, after all, he was a mathematician and a man of great knowledge of children (19th Century Literature Criticism 105), but lets take a look at the most obvious fact – the time, place and audience of the original story of Alice in Wonderland. Here are the words of Lewis Carroll as he recalls that day: Full many a year has slipped away, since that “golden afternoon” that gave thee birth, but I can call it up almost as clearly as if it were yesterday – the cloudless blue above, the watery mirror below, the boat drifting idly on its way, the tinkle of the drops that fell from the oars, as they waved so sleepily to and fro, and (the one bright gleam of life in all the slumberous scene) the three eager faces, hungry for news of fairyland, and who would not he say ‘nay’ to: from whose lips ‘Tell us a story, please,’ had all the stern immutability of Fate!
The “three eager faces” Carro...
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Works Cited:
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland & Through The Looking-Glass Signet Classic New York, NY 1960.
Cohen, Morton. Lewis Carroll: A Biography Alfred A. Knopf New York, NY 1996.
England in Literature: MacBeth Edition: Teacher’s Supplement Chapter 8, “Alice in Wonderland” 144-146. Scott Foresman & Co. 1973.
Gattegno, Jean. Lewis Carroll: Fragments of a Looking-Glass “Alice” and “A Carroll Chronology” 4-27. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1973 New York, NY.
Hudson, Derek. Lewis Carroll “Alice” 124-149. Folcroft Library Editions 1976.
Kelly, Richard. Lewis Carroll “Alice” 78-97. U of Tenn. Twayne Publishers, G. K. Hall & Co. Boston, Mass 1977.
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Vol. 2 “Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)” 105-121.
Rackin, Donald. Alice’s Journey to the End of Night 132-143 MLA 1966.
Although water is not the most prominent image used by Carroll in the “Alice” stories, water adds a lot of meaning. This image aptly reflects Alice’s growth in the stories. All the other images in the stories, such as the Mad-Hatter, the White Queen, and the steps in the “Journey of the Hero” are easily recognized and likely to be over-analyzed. However, few have the significance that water has in the “Alice” stories.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a book full of mystery, confusion, and chaos. However, beneath the surface of the story lies rich commentary on Victorian England society and the maturation process of a young girl. Carroll provides criticism on various aspects of society including the nonsensical legal system, the class system, and politics. This criticism is entwined with Alice’s relatable journey of becoming a just adult who is willing to stand up for herself, others, and the truth. “The importance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a radical breakthrough in the history of children’s literature can hardly be over-estimated.”
Alice Liddell would recall this event as “that golden afternoon,” for during the trip Carroll began the outlines of the story that would become Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.5 Alice encouraged Carroll to write the story down, which he eventually did, giving Alice a handcrafted copy. Carroll also showed the story to friends and was encouraged to seek publication, which he finally accomplished with the now familiar illustrations by Sir John Tiennel (Figs. 2, 3, and 21). The book was published in 1865, three years after its initiation during an afternoon of boating .
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland . 3rd. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.
...bsp; Alice in Wonderland, the work of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, has been the enduring tale of one girl’s journey into a world of whimsy and imagination because of the multi-layered meaning that exists within. The story was written for the enjoyment of all children, but as Carroll once wrote himself, "we (adults) are but older children, dear."(499). Inspired by a dear, close child-friend of his by the name of Alice Liddell, the Alice of Alice in Wonderland has been the mediator between childhood and adulthood, and staying innocent and becoming experienced for over a hundred years. One of the most noticeable and famous facets of the story is the many changes in size that Alice undergoes, a phenomenon of evolution that was brought to the forefront of scientific and everyday Victorian life by the revolutionary thinker and naturalist Darwin.
As I mentioned earlier, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, beside being an English author was a mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer . Carrol created the character of Alice to entertain a daughter of his good friend Dean of Christ Church, little girl named Alice Liddell. The story was first published in 1865.
One of the main purposes for writing Alice in Wonderland was not only to show the difficulties of communication between children and adults. In this story, almost every adult Alice talked to did not understand her. At times she messed up what they were saying completely as well, which many times stick true to real life circumstances. This book shows that kids and adults are on completely separate pages on an everlasting story. Carroll points out that sometimes children, like Alice, have a hard time dealing with the transition from childhood to adulthood, 'growing up.' Alice in Wonderland is just a complicated way of showing this fact. Lewis Carroll's ways with words is confusing, entertaining, serious, and highly unique all at the same time. And it's safe to say that it would be difficult to replicate such and imaginative technique ever again (Long 72).
Lewis Carroll, world renowned author, known most for his tale of literary nonsense published almost a century and a half ago, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Several conditions of Carroll’s life molded and shaped his writing. Evidence from Carroll’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ,one can conclude that Carroll has engraved moments from his life, people around him ,as well as his beliefs and love of logic into his story, considering these are the things that Alice Liddell would recognize.
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. New York: The modern Library, 2002. Print
“’But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat. 'We're all mad here.'” quoted by a very creative and imaginative author, Lewis Carroll, author of the hit Alice novels. This short novel was written by an extremely upright, ultra conservative man in which his unique character and many experiences had a great influence in the creation of Through the Looking Glass. Of all of Carroll’s works, Alice’s Through the Looking Glass, has a unique way of expressing adventures and stating the events in which occur throughout the whole novel making the novel standout in the category of whimsical, nonsense literature. The novel includes 12 chapters in which every new chapter brings you into different exotic settings introducing you to many peculiar characters involving the only and only Alice, the Tweedledum twins, Red Queen, White King, Humpty Dumpty Walrus and Carpenter. Meeting these characters brought her to finally achieving what her destination had been since the start; she finally became her normal size, making it into the garden. The events and settings involved with Through the Looking Glass make it a very fictional, imaginative novel. Carroll's imagination takes readers with Alice into where she finds the Looking-Glass House. Using the game of chess as the setting of his novel, he fills the novel with situations and puzzles from the ordinary to the extraordinary; including silly characters and adventures in which may be nonsensical, using the game of chess as the setting.
Lewis, Carroll. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. New York: Oxford, 2009. Print.
Alice in Wonderland is a timeless and classic novel that has been rewritten and reinterpreted by authors many different times. Alice in Wonderland is put into the category of “Golden Age Children’s Literature” and is a novel with an enormous amount of value. With each new retelling of Alice in Wonderland new illustrations in the novel comes along. These new illustrations tell a lot about the culture of the artist and what their beliefs are. When Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland I am sure he did not expect Alice’s story to become such a key aspect of Golden Age Children’s Literature. Two editions of Alice in Wonderland that deserve to be studied are the Norton’s Critical Edition and the edition illustrated by Blanche McManus published in
Lewis Carroll’s novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass take us through a journey Alice has while she is asleep. The Alice books are considered by some to be light and humorous while others believe that these books are heavy and sober. According to Martin Gardner, those who claim these books are heavy and sober have visions of “the monstrous mindlessness of the universe”. As people go through life, there are going to be ups and downs. There is no way to tell what will happen and how it will affect a person. It is through these experiences that one learns to go forward and continue through life. What Lewis Carroll is trying to get across is how a child views the world adults live in as they grow to live in it. Alice
There are many adaptations of books to movies out there today, none more prevalent than Lewis Carroll’s works; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass, The Hunting of the Snark, Jabberwocky. While initially Carroll’s writings are considered to be literary nonsense and fanciful works he is known for his fantasy word play. Alice in Wonderland is so loved that it has been made into two movies, one is 1951 and the more recent in 2010. While much of the story has basically followed Carroll’s work, it has been adapted to fit the generations of each time period it was remade. Follow me while I examine these adaptations and fall in love with both the book and movie from Lewis Carroll’s works.
Richard Morton, (December, 1960). "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass". Elementary English. 37 (8), pp.509-513