Sexism In Wonderland Gender

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Recommended: Sexism and how it is viewed in society

In today's society, sexism is evident in various parts of our everyday lives. Despite this, women are constantly breaking barriers and stereotypes that stem from what society deems to be feminine qualities. In the past, women have constantly proven their capabilities and that they are just as good as men. Yet, men continue to try to dominate and have control over women. Lewis Carroll proves this fact through a young and innocent heroine’s journey with the reoccurring themes of anti-feminism, unequal treatment of women, and the gender roles dictated by society. In the fantasy novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, there are numerous occasions where power inequality between men and women is evident through the female …show more content…

She proclaims that Alice lacks knowledge and makes a rude comment by saying, “[Alice does not] know much… and that's a fact." (69). She becomes irritated by the conversation between Alice and herself and commands the cook to "chop off her head" (70). The Duchess believes “if everybody minded their own business… the world would go round a deal faster than it does" (70). However, her cook does not do what she says and even throws things at her. This suggests that the Duchess is useless and is not able to do any serious task by her own strength and abilities. After all, she does not have any authority or power over anyone and this leaves questions for readers: Would a man be able to have control over the Duchess and change her to a better person? What made the Duchess have such ugly inner self? Therefore, the Duchess' story proposes that the idea of a woman being independent and breaking the stereotypes would lead to failure. They cannot be considered “successful’ in life and could eventually end up being someone who is ugly, arrogant and hateful due to all the stress and issues they have to deal …show more content…

According to Greig E. Henderson and Christopher Brown’s Feminist criticism, people stereotype males as active, dominating, and rational, whereas the female is passive, submissive, and emotional. In this novel, The King and Queen of Hearts both establish the opposite gender’s quality. The Queen is the one mostly in charge, as the king is just someone who exists. Like the duchess, the queen also shows violence component whenever she feels annoyed, especially if someone is in her way. She commands for an execution by shouting "Off with his head!" or "Off with her head!" (Carroll 104). She is also a leader who everyone is fearful of. The card gardener says, “You'd better not talk…I heard the Queen say only yesterday you deserved to be beheaded!" (Carroll 96). Even though the Queen of Heart may be considered the highest in Wonderland, not everything happens in the way she desires. Whereas, the King is the final judge and is the one who is truly in charge. “’You may go,’ said the King; and the Hatter hurriedly left the court, without even waiting to put his shoes on. ‘—and just take his head off outside,’ the Queen added to one of the officers; but the Hatter was out of sight before the officer could get to the door. ‘Call the next witness!’ said the King” (Carroll

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