Alice In Wonderland Research Paper

1953 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of women throughout English literature

Fantasy World
By looking at Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, one can see that Lewis Carroll included the themes of understanding one’s true identity, and distinguishing between real versus fantasy life because he was a unique man who was able to understand and connect with what was going on in children’s minds. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story by the English author, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, written under the pen name Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice, who falls down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy world. Lewis Carroll experienced an unique lifestyle, successfully novels, and unusual relationships.
Lewis Carroll was born on January twenty seven, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, England. He took his name Charles Lutwidge, then translated it into the Latin “Carolus Ludouicus,” …show more content…

Some people had their suspicions, but many did not act on it. In 1930’s biographers and scholars have questioned the relationship with the ten-year-old girl to whom he first told the story about (Smithsonian.com). In 1863, Carroll proposed to Alice, eleven-year-old too young, even by victorian mores. Alice told Carroll she was ten, but she was really fourteen, or old enough to entertain formal suitors (Smithsonian.com). In 1887 Carroll wrote his gentle dream-child, the real Alice had receded into the distance of memory. He played with “real”-world forms sometimes by making things more orderly and sometimes by making then less.
In 1990’s, Donald Thomas, Michael Backwell, and Morton Cohen, suggested that he held pedophilic urges but never acted on them. Alice’s mom started to notice some weird things going on between the two of them and though the relationship they had needed to come to an end. Alice’s parents and Alice didn 't see Carroll for months because of the relationship he had with Alice (Smithsonian.com)

Show More
Related

  • Alice’s Adventures in Culture

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people know the name Lewis Carroll, and even more know about the taleof a little girl who fell down a rabbit hole straight into the adventure of a lifetime. But not many people know the name Charles Dodgson, the man behind the pseudonym and the one who constructed this wonderland from a summer time boat ride in 1862. Originally written for three friends, the Liddell sisters, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has inspired philosophers, artists, writers, theologians, and not to mention the general public. The culture in which this piece of art was written has shaped Alice’s dream-like journey from the first false step into an almost never ending fall to the last storm of cards. Dodgson’s enchanting work illustrates mankind’s childlike spirit that 1880s English society tried so hard to ignore.

    Read More

  • Lewis Carroll's Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    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!

    Read More

  • Search for Identity in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Oliver Twist

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland . 3rd. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. Print.

    Read More

  • Nonsense and Justice in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 ”.

    Read More

  • Commentary on Childhood and Adulthood in Alice in Wonderland

    1397 Words  | 3 Pages

    The title character, Alice, is a young girl around pre-teen age. In the real world, the adult characters always look down on her because of her complete nonsense. She is considered the average everyday immature child, but when she is placed in the world of "Wonderland," the roles seem to switch. The adult characters within Wonderland are full of the nonsense and Alice is now the mature person. Thus creating the theme of ‘growing up'. "...Alice, along with every other little girl is on an inevitable progress toward adulthood herself"(Heydt 62).

    Read More

  • Alice 's Adventures, Wonderland, By Lewis Carroll

    1607 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Coming of Age Theme in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

    2628 Words  | 6 Pages

    Although the novel is notorious for its satire and parodies, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland main theme is the transition between childhood and adulthood. Moreover, Alice’s adventures illustrate the perplexing struggle between child and adult mentalities as she explores the curious world of development know as Wonderland. From the beginning in the hallway of doors, Alice stands at an awkward disposition. The hallway contains dozens of doors that are all locked. Alice’s pre-adolescent stage parallels with her position in the hallway. Alice’s position in the hallway represents that she is at a stage stuck between being a child and a young woman. She posses a small golden key to ...

    Read More

  • A Child's Struggle in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    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)."

    Read More

  • Theme Of Religion In Alice In Wonderland

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are some critics that argue that Lewis Carroll wasn’t highly religious if religious at all. A popular topic relating to Lewis Carroll’s religious practices is whether or not he expressed any of his beliefs in his widely known story Alice in Wonderland. Hidden deep in the contexts of Alice in Wonderland, it’s clear that Alice in Wonderland is an allegory to the Christian Bible and contains multiple references to some biblical themes, characters, or events. Whether intentional or not, Lewis Carroll wrote characters, paragraph, and even chapters that mirror some of the most well-known scenes in the Bible.

    Read More

  • Tactics Used to Capture Attention in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lewis Carroll subtly indicates his attitudes toward children and his understanding if children in several ways. Many of the motifs he uses are the main reason why this story has such an abundance of versions and maintains its popularity. There are many tactics that Carroll uses in his writing that capture and maintain a readers attention, many of which involve his unrealistic situations that his main character finds herself in as well as subtle connections to historical figures. Carroll's use of illustrations, preposterous wordplay, and overall disregard for order has given the world a storyline that has been used many times in different types of media.

    Read More

  • Alice In Wonderland Satire Analysis

    2465 Words  | 5 Pages

    When she falls in the hole she is confronted with no exit except a tiny door to escape from. She, therefore, shrinks into pocket size only to find that the door was closed, constructing her to grow into an enormous size, larger than what Alice began. The idea was to drink to shrink, allowing her to proceed past the miniature door, however she had to eat a small cake to sprout again to gain access to a key placed on a table as it unlocks the door leading to the garden. At any rate, providing that she stop crying, she would realize what a substantial puddle of tears she’s created while being a colossal giant resulting in being stuck in the same place she’s been, therefore, can not escape into the magnificent garden. Alice, no matter how diligent she tried or wanted, was not capable of admission into the garden correlating that it was very slim. The representation of the garden can be looked upon as childhood during the time period, with this intention, lacking the ability to gain entry to the state of being a child. Thus, the reality of the Victorian era was the removal of entrance into childhood as they comforted an age of the Industrial Revolution. The passageway was infancy to young adulthood with no in between the stages, however that was the typical norm during those

    Read More

  • Alice in Wonderland

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Alice In Wonderland And Through The Looking Glass Analysis

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    We know of them to be older physically but not mature enough to have authority. However, for the characters whose age we cannot assume, we recognize their sense of authority as being adults. This means that their age is not necessarily defined and so we assume them to be adults through the way they carry themselves. Nevertheless, these characters are all considered adults, so Carroll depicts them as closed minded and unintellectual, the reasoning behind their condescending tone to Alice.

    Read More

  • Alice In Wonderland Research Paper

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel begins with Alice falling down the rabbit hole to follow the White Rabbit. Once she reached the bottom of the hole, Alice noticed a small door that the White Rabbit went through. However, Alice was too big to fit.

    Read More

  • Alice in Wonderland Critical Analysis

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Alice In Wonderland Research Paper

Open Document