LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
School of Continuing Studies
Ozamiz City
A Biographical Approach Criticism
of
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson a.k.a Lewis Carroll
by
RANIE LIVERO O. VILLAMIN
M. Ed., English
is submitted to
ELSIE L. DAJAO
M. A. English
Literary Criticism
March 7, 2010
2nd Semester, S.Y. 2009-2010
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
By Charles Lutwidge Dodgson a.k.a Lewis Carroll
I. Background of the Study
Literary criticism plays many roles in the aspect of human dilemma. Why dilemma? It is because human life is full of mystery and enchantment. There are still many things out there which are not yet found by many experts. This study is purposively done in order to find the truth about the wonders of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Obviously, the story has splendid with a lot of imaginative figures, including characters, setting and plot(s). But with regard to the mystery of humanity, this undertaking is done in order to answer such mysteries.
On July 4, 1862, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson known by his penname Lewis Carroll wrote in his diary that he had taken a river expedition to Godstow with three Liddell girls, children of the Dean of Christ Church, and friend Duckworth. During that journey, Alice, one of the children, asked, “Tell us a story, please.” Therefore, he did. Then she asked him to write it. He did. Alice in Wonderland was born, first as Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, and then Alice’s Hour in Elfland. As he wrote it, Carroll said he added “many fresh ideas, which seemed to grow of themselves upon the original stock; and many more added themselves when years afterwards, I wrote it all over again for publication.” In 1864, he called it Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and he asked John Tenniel to illustrate it.
The significance of this study is to give contribution to the fund of knowledge. Most likely, this will be a source of improvement to other related works. Furthermore, this will give extension to the in-depth study of certain mysteries of human life.
II. Summary
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland tells the story of Alice, a young girl who follows the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. At the bottom, she finds herself in a room with a tiny door and a bottle labeled "drink me." She grows and shrinks depending on what she eats and drinks, and as a small version of herself, finds herself swimming in a pool of tears. Swimming to shore, Alice and some other creatures decide that "'the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race'".
Alice continues to chase the White Rabbit and the White Rabbit sends her into his house for his fan and gloves. Once in the house, Alice gets into more trouble with an unlabeled bottle, quickly growing too big to move. The White Rabbit and Bill the Lizard try to get her out, and Alice only escapes by eating some small cakes. She runs into the woods and meets a hookah-smoking Caterpillar, who gives her some advice on ways to grow bigger and smaller. Next, she stops at the house of the Duchess with a pig for a baby; the pig escapes, and Alice asks the Cheshire Cat for help. Directed on to the March Hare's house, Alice takes part in the Mad Tea Party, perhaps the most famous scene in the book. Alice moves on to the Queen's croquet ground, where she encounters the Queen of Hearts and tries to play croquet with a flamingo and a hedgehog. Next, Alice encounters a Mock Turtle and a Gryphon, who tell her the story of the lobster quadrille.
The book closes with a trial on the case of the stolen tarts, as the Queen accuses the Knave of Hearts. Alice is accused also, and she scatters the attacking cards, only to find herself awake on the river bank where the book began.
III. Analysis/Evaluation/Interpretation
The novel opens with a bored and sleepy Alice sitting with her sister on the riverbank on a hot day. Suddenly she notices a white rabbit with pink eyes run close by her. She hears him say “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” as he pulls a watch out of his waistcoat pocket. He scurries down a rabbit hole under a hedge. Alice follows him and falls into Wonderland.
Carroll immediately situates readers in Wonderland’s setting. As Alice tumbles down, down, down, she sees cupboards and bookshelves, maps, and pictures hung on pegs. She thinks the fall may never end. Then she plops, without a scratch, onto a pile of sticks and dry leaves. She follows the White Rabbit as he hurries down a long passage, and the tale’s magic unfolds.
Although Wonderland is a place where anything can happen, the events are nonetheless grounded in a realistic setting. Familiar things make the story believable: a three-legged glass table, a tiny golden key, locked doors, and “the loveliest garden you ever saw.” To further ground the story in reality, Carroll develops his tale using events typical of 19th-century England. For example, a tea party with the Mad Hatter, a game of croquet at the Queen’s court, and a court of justice trial where Alice sees a justice’s “great wig,” effectively define and highlight the era.
Yet, Carroll’s unique presentation delights and entertains. For example, longing to enter the garden of flowers and cool fountains, Alice discovers a magical potion that says “DRINK ME.” After confirming the bottle does not say, “poison,” she drinks it and shrinks to ten inches. Now she can get through the door into the garden.
Carroll’s characters display many of the author’s own characteristics. For example, the White Rabbit’s obsession with losing his gloves parallels Carroll’s own fear of misplacing his gloves. The King of Hearts and his Queen constantly proclaim “off-with-his-head,” and “off-with-her-head,” proclamations that highlight Carroll’s awareness of hierarchy in a humorous way. This lightheartedness may have originated from Carroll’s father, who expressed an exaggerated sense of fun in his letters to Carroll.
In addition, Carroll reflects his personal lifestyle. For example, the story opens on a riverbank, paralleling Carroll’s love of boating. He refers to “these three little sisters—they were learning to draw” presumably referring to the Liddell sisters. Overall, Alice in Wonderland captures the pure and magic imagination of childhood. Carroll creates an atmosphere that makes living through a child’s eyes possible.
Carroll develops Alice, an adventurous girl and the protagonist, as the prominent character. He employs third-person limited point of view as he leads readers through Alice’s experiences. Alice constantly chatters, often to herself, disclosing her thoughts and desires. Carroll uses this technique effectively. Along with meshing fantasy and reality to create a believable Wonderland, he uses such craft and description that none of it seems absurd.
Carroll occasionally allows the voice to become second person so that he can “talk to” readers. For example, he notes that, as Alice fell into Wonderland, she “tried to curtsey as she spoke—fancy curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?” When referring to how the judge wore his crown over a wig, Carroll invites readers to “look at the frontispiece if you want to see how he did it.”
The White Rabbit becomes instrumental in transitioning readers from an ordinary scene on a riverbank to Wonderland. The White Rabbit gets Alice’s attention as he runs by frantically and hops down a rabbit hole. He appears throughout the story, always nervous and anxious about the consequences of not following protocol. From this introduction to the White Rabbit, readers see how Alice’s curiosity can get her into mild trouble, and how she uses her problem solving skills to get out of each fix. Whether it is drinking a potion to make her bigger or to shrink her size, it starts with her curiosity about White Rabbit.
Readers encounter many other creatures—Alice’s cat, Dinah, “the best cat in the world” that Alice refers to often; the March Hare, Hatter, the Gryphon, Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar, and Duchess as well as the King and Queen of Hearts. Each character seems believable, adds entertainment, and develops the conflicts of the story. Each character contains well-defined traits. For example, Caterpillar typifies a reserved, not-very-helpful character. It says, “Who are YOU?” Alice tries to explain, but finds herself a “little irritated at the Caterpillar’s making such VERY short remarks” as they chat. Yet Caterpillar aids her in the journey. He tells her, “One side [of the mushroom] will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.” True to form, Caterpillar disappears before it tells her which side, leaving Alice to acquire the information she needs to continue.
Alice finds compassion in the Duchess. The kindhearted Duchess declares “tis love, that makes the world go round.” She believes in Alice and her wisdom. By contrast, Cheshire Cat challenges Alice to be precise. For example, when Alice asks which way to go, Cheshire Cat replies, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” Moreover, the Cat oddly disappears and appears periodically to find out what Alice is doing and where she is going. As Alice describes it: “Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin . . . but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!” This character gives Alice, as she says, “somebody to talk to.”
The author uses parentheses to define and develop Alice’s personality. For example, when Carroll offsets the text: “(Alice had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say),” he divulges her thoughts, thus enabling readers to understand her further. Alice, somewhat fearful of authority, matures throughout her novel to confront the King and Queen of Hearts about their absurd actions. For example, as the trial unfolds with Alice’s testimony, she says loudly:
“Stuff and nonsense! The idea of having the sentence first!”
“Hold your tongue!” says the Queen, turning purple.
“I won’t!” says Alice.
“Off with her head!” the Queen shouts at the top of her voice. Nobody moves.
“Who cares for you?” declares Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”
Readers experience Alice’s transition from not saying what she believes to asserting her truth to the Queen and high court.
IV. Conclusion
The book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, is very helpful especially to the youth nowadays. Aside from it gives entertainment and joy, it conveys twists of life on any uncertainties. We know that life is uncertain, like the scenes depicted in the book yet very vivid in nature. Any person naturally displays curiosity in many things. It is in mystery that any human being could hardly imagine how beautiful life can be. Like Alice, we live through challenges that will test our best abilities in life. Carroll had done a great job on his timeless tales and stories including this book of Alice.
