1. Relate aspects of enchantment to the nostalgia that Alice experiences in Wonderland. Why is Alice both fascinated and frustrated by her encounters below-ground? 2. Describe some of the ways that Carroll achieves humor at Alice’s expense. 3. Give an analysis of the use of nonsense in Alice. 4. How […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsCritical Essays Themes in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Abandonment/Loneliness Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland provides an inexhaustible mine of literary, philosophical, and scientific themes. Here are some general themes which the reader may find interesting and of some use in studying the work. Alice’s initial reaction after falling down the rabbit-hole is one of extreme loneliness. Her curiosity has […]
Read more Critical Essays Themes in Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandCritical Essays Alice as a Character
Alice is reasonable, well-trained, and polite. From the start, she is a miniature, middle-class Victorian “lady.” Considered in this way, she is the perfect foil, or counterpoint, or contrast, for all the unsocial, bad-mannered eccentrics whom she meets in Wonderland. Alice’s constant resource and strength is her courage. Time and […]
Read more Critical Essays Alice as a CharacterLewis Carroll Biography
Life and Work Of all Lewis Carroll’s major works, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has a unique standing in the category of whimsical, nonsense literature. Much has been written about how this novel contrasts with the vast amount of strict, extremely moralistic children’s literature. This is true; Alice is quite different […]
Read more Lewis Carroll BiographySummary and Analysis Chapters 9-12
Summary Alice’s major problem with Wonderland continues to be her inability to completely penetrate what she thinks exists — that is, its “logic.” The Queen has a soldier fetch the Duchess at the close of the last chapter, and Alice finds the Duchess in a surprisingly good mood. Alice attributes, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 9-12Summary and Analysis Chapter 8
Summary At last, Alice finds herself in the garden that she has so long sought to explore. Far from being a wild Eden, though, the garden is well cultivated and tended. And now Alice meets a whole set of new creatures — this time, several animated playing cards. Immediately, she […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Chapter 7
Summary Linguistic assaults are very much a part of the “polite bantering” in Wonderland. Often, traumatic and verbal violence seems just about to erupt all the time, breaking through the thin veneer of civilized behavior, but it rarely does. Alice reaches the March Hare’s house in time for an outdoor […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapter 6
Summary The Caterpillar’s nasty mood, even if he does seem nonchalant, is a subtle symbol of all the verbal chaos in Wonderland. Yet, here, in Chapter VI, that linguistic nonsense is replaced by random, violent, physical disorder in the action of the story. Alice has come upon a house, just […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 6Summary and Analysis Chapter 5
Summary Alice is well acquainted by now with the prime principle of Wonderland’s chaos: illogic. Yet she continues — almost by instinct — to oppose the illogical context in which she continually finds herself. Yet her experience so far should have prepared her for the possibility that the “pebble-cake” might […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 5Summary and Analysis Chapter 4
Summary In a dramatic, magical shift, Alice suddenly finds herself in the presence of the White Rabbit. But the glass table and the great hall have vanished. There is a clear contrast between the calmness of Alice and the nervous, agitated White Rabbit, looking frantically for his lost fan and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 4