The world of Alice in Wonderland if chocked full of puns that are inserted in a somewhat confusing way, and in other areas is placed in a subversive way that foreshadow events to come. Author Lewis Carroll’s use of these puns provides a cushioning of relevance to the story as a whole. Lewis uses puns and wordplay throughout the story because it foreshadows events to come in the story, shows a mockery of ignorance of Victorian England, and overall wanted to bring a strong sense of his creativity through his diverse use of wording.
The use of puns in Alice in Wonderland uses foreshadowing in an simple but effective way to grab the reader’s attention. For example, when Alice enters the Duchess house in the middle of the book, Alice beings a conversation
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In an article relating to Carroll’s love for wordplay, the author notes, “Carroll also liked to invent words. Jabberwocky, for example, is a nonsense poem that first appeared in Through the Looking Glass. That it's a nonsense poem means that it contains a lot of made up words such as mimsy and galumphing.” (Fogarty 2). Carroll’s use of gibberish in places such as the Jabberwocky poem, bring a true sense of absurdity to the reader, and at the same time entices the reader to continue on with the book. Another example of these creative words occur during the Humpty Dumpty section of the book. The author of the article explains, “In the book, Humpty Dumpty explains what some of the words mean, for example, he says, "Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner” (Fogarty 2). Uses of language similar to this is Carroll’s way of bringing the reader’s attention to certain words, where a bridge is formed between the language that the reader is familiar with and the language that Carroll is trying to connect the reader with.
Lewis Carroll’s use of creative words, puns, and wordplay is an extremely transparent theme that is vividly present throughout Alice In Wonderland. Carrol’s use of this type of language is significant to the book, as it gives the reader breadcrumbs about what scene is to come through use of foreshadowing, hands out a comical feeling of what Victorian England sounded like, and grab the reader’s attention by providing somewhat ridiculous but creative language as a way to bridge gaps between the reader’s language and the language that Carroll is trying to convey onto his
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.
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 ...
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a novel that is overloaded with clever instances of word- play and puns. The Mock Turtle’s Story in Chapter 9, is one of the most significant display of puns within the story. The Mock Turtle is consistently utilizing of throughout his story about his former education. The Mock Turtle tells Alice about the courses he took in school which are parodies of the real subjects taught in school. This reminds Alice of her own education, which happens to be a significant theme in the book. Alice’s Victorian upbringing contributed to her beliefs that she was properly educated, and extremely intelligent. Her conversation with the Mock Turtle causes her to become confused and forget what she has learned in school. Furthermore she sees that what she was taught in school, doesn’t have use or apply to Wonderland. Perhaps Carroll’s use of word-play deployed in this chapter was to mock some of the subjects taught in school in his time, and how they have no use in the real world.
Gattegno, Jean. Lewis Carroll: Fragments of a Looking-Glass “Alice” and “A Carroll Chronology” 4-27. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1973 New York, NY.
Reactions to the inside jokes and nonsense humor of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland would have been very different for the Victorian reader in contrast to the 20th or 21st century reader. For instance the poems that are parodied in the story were very familiar to Carroll’s contemporaries, but much less so in the later 20th and 21st centuries. As an example, the first nonsense poem in Alice’s Adventures, “How doth the little Crocodile,” is a parody of Isaac Watt’s moralistic poem “Against Idleness and Mischief.” Using the bee as an example of productive labor, Watt’s poem includes this
One of the key characteristics of Carroll's story is his use of language. Consequently, much of the nonsense in Alice has to do with transpositions, either of mathematical scale or in the scrambled verse parodies. As an illustration of mathematical scale transposit...
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
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.
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 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)."
...dgson Collingwood that lines from Alice in Wonderland were oftentimes recited in newspapers. Lewis Carroll’s ability to accomplish such a feat was by result of his family and the time period from which he resided, which are components that comprised Lewis Carroll’s disposition.
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.
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. Alice’s interactions with the characters of Wonderland reflect her struggles with adults in real life. Naturally curious as she is, Alice asks questions to learn from the adults.
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.