Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

• It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures.

• The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre.

• Lewis Caroll’s physical deformities, partial deafness, and irrepressible stammer made him an unlikely candidate for producing one of the most popular and enduring children’s fantasies in the English language

• Carroll’s unusual appearance caused him to behave awkwardly around other adults, and his students at Oxford saw

him as a stuffy and boring teacher. •Carroll felt shy and reserved around adults but became animated and lively around children. His crippling stammer melted away in the company of children as he told them his elaborately nonsensical stories.

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland received mostly negative reviews when first published in 1865. Critics and readers alike found the book to be sheer nonsense, and one critic sneered that the book was “too extravagantly absurd to produce more diversion than disappointment and irritation.”

• The inspiration for the character of Alice came from the daughter of Henry George Liddell , the Dean of Christ Church in Oxford.

• Carroll’s sudden break with the Liddell family in the early 1860s has led to a great deal of speculation over the nature of his relationship with Alice Liddell

Themes

• The Tragic and Inevitable Loss of Childhood Innocence

Throughout the course of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice goes through a variety of absurd physical changes. The discomfort she feels at never being the right size acts as a symbol for the changes that occur during puberty. These constant fluctuations represent the way a child may feel as her body grows and changes during puberty.

• Death as a Constant and Underlying Menace

Alice continually finds herself in situations in which she risks death, and while these threats never materialize, they suggest that death lurks just behind the ridiculous events of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a present and possible outcome.

Alice takes risks that could possibly kill her, but she never considers death as a possible outcome. As the Queen screams “Off with its head!” she understands that Wonderland may not merely be a ridiculous realm where expectations are repeatedly frustrated.

• Nearly every object in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland functions as a symbol, but nothing clearly represents one particular thing.

• The garden may symbolize the Garden of Eden, an idyllic space of beauty and innocence that Alice is not permitted to access. On a more abstract level, the garden may simply represent the experience of desire, in that Alice focuses her energy and emotion on trying to attain it.

• Like the garden, the Caterpillar’s mushroom also has multiple symbolic meanings. The Caterpillar’s mushroom connects to this symbolic meaning. Alice must master the properties of the mushroom to gain control over her fluctuating size, which represents the bodily frustrations that accompany puberty. 

Main Characters• Alice -  The seven-

year-old protagonist of the story. Alice believes that the world is orderly and stable, and she has an insatiable curiosity about her surroundings.Wonderland challenges and frustrates her perceptions of the world.

• The White Rabbit - The frantic, harried Wonderland creature that originally leads Alice to Wonderland. The White Rabbit is figure of some importance, but he is manic, timid, and occasionally aggressive.

The Queen of Hearts -  The ruler of Wonderland. TheQueen is severe and domineering, continually screaming for her subjects to be beheaded.

• The Cheshire Cat -  A perpetually grinning cat who appears and disappears at will. The Cheshire Cat displays a detached, clearheaded logic and explains Wonderland’s madness to Alice.

The Caterpillar -  A Wonderland creature. The Caterpillar sits on a mushroom, smokes a hookah, and treats Alice with contempt. He directs Alice to the magic mushroom that allows her to shrink and grow.

• The Mad Hatter -  A small, impolite hatter who lives in perpetual tea-time. The Mad Hatter enjoys frustrating Alice.

The March Hare -  The Mad Hatter’s tea-time companion. The March Hare takes great pleasure in frustrating Alice.