Alice in Wonderland (written by Lewis Carroll) is a very interesting book- not only for the odd adventures and characters used throughout the plot but for reasons most likely overlooked by many readers. In the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” the main character (a young girl named Alice) living in the Victorian era plunges into a world of adventure as she catches a glimpse of an irregular rabbit and follows it down a large hole in the earth without a second thought thus beginning her adventures in wonderland. She is an impulsive character in an unpredictable world and along the way meets many interesting and influential characters never seen in the real world. This book at first glance may not seem as if it were in any way related to history, let alone more than a couple aspects of real life, however it is. Through a little girl’s journey in an imaginary land, the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” challenges the Victorian era, and its values in multiple ways.
"Alice in Wonderland" challenges and satires the Victorian era by creating a character based of a caricature of queen Victoria (whom the era was named after). Queen Victoria was represented in caricature as the character the Queen of Hearts who is part of a pack of personified playing cards including the queen, the king and the rest of the playing cards who are generally soldiers. Overall, many people believe Queen Victoria was a harsh and rude person, even in her attitude towards children and cared very little for people-at times even for her husband (Prince Albert). This trait is shown in exaggeration just before a game of croquet which Alice was not invited to, but had heard about and came across on page 84: “‘How should I know?’ said Alice, surprised at her own courage. ‘It’s no business of mine.’ The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast screamed ‘Off with her head! Off -’’Nonsense!’ said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.The king laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said, ‘Consider, my dear: she is only a child!’ The Queen turned angrily away from him…” This quote informs the reader of many things, and allows you to easily see a comparison between queen Victoria and the Queen of Hearts, provided you know the traits Queen Victoria had, and that were being exaggerated. Queen Victoria, despite having many children despised them. According to weebly.com, Queen Victoria explained, “‘An ugly baby is a very nasty object- and the prettiest is frightful.’” This is an awful thing to say in any circumstances, but especially as a mother of nine children. This quote shows us that she cared so little about not only children but her own kids she wouldn’t necessarily be proud of them according to their appearance as a young child. While this does seem fairly extreme, this is not the exaggeration, but is exaggerated on as shown in the first quote. In the book, rather than not caring too much for children she is shown as wanting to behead them, for no reason at all. This shows the author suggested queen Victoria’s rudeness and unappreciative personality through an exaggeration. The author also satires Queen Victoria by exaggerating the fact that she not only wanted power, but wasn’t always able to obtain and keep all the power she could have. The article entitled “Queen Victoria: The Real Story of Her `Domestic Bliss`.” on BBC news pointed out, “Albert took over more and more of Victoria's work as queen as her pregnancies forced her to step aside. Victoria was conflicted: she admired her "angel" for his talents and ability but she deeply resented being robbed of her powers as queen.” Not only does this continue to support the fact that she was at times even rude to her husband by demonstrating the fact that she disliked him for helping her, but it also shows us that she was not always - on the contrary, fairly often - not in full control over her government and did not always have the same amount of power she could’ve had due to her pregnancies (which may also be a factor in her disliking children). Knowing this, the satire of this was easily identifiable on page 99 after the Queen had sentenced every croquet player, apart from herself, Alice and the King to a beheading. “As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a low voice, to the company generally, ‘You are all pardoned.’ ‘Come, that’s a good thing!’ she said to herself, for she had felt quite unhappy at the number of executions the Queen had ordered.” This quote shows us that while The Queen of Hearts was still the real ruler prince Albert, represented by the King still took away some of her plans, and substituted them with his own which he thought better of, which is practically how it happened in real life. This is less of an exaggeration and more of a way to make fun of this, as the Queen seems to be oblivious to her being undermined by her husband and the King seems to say it in a tone as if he thought the whole idea of the Queen beheading anyone at all seemed ridiculous. Overall, one main idea the author used to challenge the victorian era was to satire and exaggerate the flaws of Queen Victoria, who was the head of the movement itself.
Another manner in which the author challenged the Victorian era was by bringing into question the era’s main concept. One of the main ideas held in the Victorian era, and one of the reasons people stereotypically associate english people and being “proper” is because there was a desire for middle class people to be among the nobles and upper class citizens. This desire for a more respectable social class sometimes involved money or education or many other things, but above all the main step in doing so was to act “properly”. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) had an article on their website entitled “The Victorian Period” This article spoke about many of the values and ideas held in such a time. It stated, “The drive for social advancement frequently appears in literature. This drive may take many forms. It may be primarily financial, as in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. It may involve marrying above one’s station, as in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It may also be intellectual or education-based. Typically, any such attempt to improve one’s social standing must be accompanied by “proper” behavior (thus helping to provide the period with its stereotype).” This article presents the idea that because everyone wanted to develop socially they tried many things, typically including acting properly, which is why this period is thought of strict people (such as the Queen) with strict rules. In the story, the author once again uses a character - this time Alice - to question and challenge this belief. On page 98-99, the author writes, “‘Thinking again?’ the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin. ‘I’ve a right to think,’ said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried. ‘Just about as much right,’ said the Duchess, ‘as pigs have to fly;...” This quote advocates the idea that in such a time, the rules were strict - so strict in fact, that a young girl wouldn’t have the right to think. The very idea of this happening often is about as absurd to the adults of the time as pigs flying. Secondly, the author brings into question the very same idea of victorianism. On page 65 Alice is engaged in a conversation with a talking cat and wishes to know more about this magical world she has arrived in, “‘What sort of people live about her?’ ‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’ ‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked. ‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’” This quote suggests that the idea of Alice being in such a bizarre place even though she happens to be a little girl with an imagination, makes them mad. Which makes the reader question the idea of Victorianism, and realize how it affected the people living in that era, for good reason. This era came along with certain required traits of people greatly limiting others from expressing themselves.
In conclusion, the author of the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” used the story’s plot and characters to challenge and make the reader question not only the Victorian era itself, but its values and the traits associated with it. This combination of fiction and historical reality not only gets a significant point across but made the book more interesting overall, additionally creating an interesting and encouraging manner in which the author makes the reader want to learn more. This unique aspect along with the books other fantastic attributes makes “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” an amazing book.
Bibliography:
"The Victorian Period." The Victorian Period. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. <https://faculty.unlv.edu/kirschen/handouts/victorian.html>.
"Alice in Wonderland" challenges and satires the Victorian era by creating a character based of a caricature of queen Victoria (whom the era was named after). Queen Victoria was represented in caricature as the character the Queen of Hearts who is part of a pack of personified playing cards including the queen, the king and the rest of the playing cards who are generally soldiers. Overall, many people believe Queen Victoria was a harsh and rude person, even in her attitude towards children and cared very little for people-at times even for her husband (Prince Albert). This trait is shown in exaggeration just before a game of croquet which Alice was not invited to, but had heard about and came across on page 84: “‘How should I know?’ said Alice, surprised at her own courage. ‘It’s no business of mine.’ The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast screamed ‘Off with her head! Off -’’Nonsense!’ said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.The king laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said, ‘Consider, my dear: she is only a child!’ The Queen turned angrily away from him…” This quote informs the reader of many things, and allows you to easily see a comparison between queen Victoria and the Queen of Hearts, provided you know the traits Queen Victoria had, and that were being exaggerated. Queen Victoria, despite having many children despised them. According to weebly.com, Queen Victoria explained, “‘An ugly baby is a very nasty object- and the prettiest is frightful.’” This is an awful thing to say in any circumstances, but especially as a mother of nine children. This quote shows us that she cared so little about not only children but her own kids she wouldn’t necessarily be proud of them according to their appearance as a young child. While this does seem fairly extreme, this is not the exaggeration, but is exaggerated on as shown in the first quote. In the book, rather than not caring too much for children she is shown as wanting to behead them, for no reason at all. This shows the author suggested queen Victoria’s rudeness and unappreciative personality through an exaggeration. The author also satires Queen Victoria by exaggerating the fact that she not only wanted power, but wasn’t always able to obtain and keep all the power she could have. The article entitled “Queen Victoria: The Real Story of Her `Domestic Bliss`.” on BBC news pointed out, “Albert took over more and more of Victoria's work as queen as her pregnancies forced her to step aside. Victoria was conflicted: she admired her "angel" for his talents and ability but she deeply resented being robbed of her powers as queen.” Not only does this continue to support the fact that she was at times even rude to her husband by demonstrating the fact that she disliked him for helping her, but it also shows us that she was not always - on the contrary, fairly often - not in full control over her government and did not always have the same amount of power she could’ve had due to her pregnancies (which may also be a factor in her disliking children). Knowing this, the satire of this was easily identifiable on page 99 after the Queen had sentenced every croquet player, apart from herself, Alice and the King to a beheading. “As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a low voice, to the company generally, ‘You are all pardoned.’ ‘Come, that’s a good thing!’ she said to herself, for she had felt quite unhappy at the number of executions the Queen had ordered.” This quote shows us that while The Queen of Hearts was still the real ruler prince Albert, represented by the King still took away some of her plans, and substituted them with his own which he thought better of, which is practically how it happened in real life. This is less of an exaggeration and more of a way to make fun of this, as the Queen seems to be oblivious to her being undermined by her husband and the King seems to say it in a tone as if he thought the whole idea of the Queen beheading anyone at all seemed ridiculous. Overall, one main idea the author used to challenge the victorian era was to satire and exaggerate the flaws of Queen Victoria, who was the head of the movement itself.
Another manner in which the author challenged the Victorian era was by bringing into question the era’s main concept. One of the main ideas held in the Victorian era, and one of the reasons people stereotypically associate english people and being “proper” is because there was a desire for middle class people to be among the nobles and upper class citizens. This desire for a more respectable social class sometimes involved money or education or many other things, but above all the main step in doing so was to act “properly”. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) had an article on their website entitled “The Victorian Period” This article spoke about many of the values and ideas held in such a time. It stated, “The drive for social advancement frequently appears in literature. This drive may take many forms. It may be primarily financial, as in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. It may involve marrying above one’s station, as in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It may also be intellectual or education-based. Typically, any such attempt to improve one’s social standing must be accompanied by “proper” behavior (thus helping to provide the period with its stereotype).” This article presents the idea that because everyone wanted to develop socially they tried many things, typically including acting properly, which is why this period is thought of strict people (such as the Queen) with strict rules. In the story, the author once again uses a character - this time Alice - to question and challenge this belief. On page 98-99, the author writes, “‘Thinking again?’ the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin. ‘I’ve a right to think,’ said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried. ‘Just about as much right,’ said the Duchess, ‘as pigs have to fly;...” This quote advocates the idea that in such a time, the rules were strict - so strict in fact, that a young girl wouldn’t have the right to think. The very idea of this happening often is about as absurd to the adults of the time as pigs flying. Secondly, the author brings into question the very same idea of victorianism. On page 65 Alice is engaged in a conversation with a talking cat and wishes to know more about this magical world she has arrived in, “‘What sort of people live about her?’ ‘In that direction,’ the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.’ ‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked. ‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’” This quote suggests that the idea of Alice being in such a bizarre place even though she happens to be a little girl with an imagination, makes them mad. Which makes the reader question the idea of Victorianism, and realize how it affected the people living in that era, for good reason. This era came along with certain required traits of people greatly limiting others from expressing themselves.
In conclusion, the author of the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” used the story’s plot and characters to challenge and make the reader question not only the Victorian era itself, but its values and the traits associated with it. This combination of fiction and historical reality not only gets a significant point across but made the book more interesting overall, additionally creating an interesting and encouraging manner in which the author makes the reader want to learn more. This unique aspect along with the books other fantastic attributes makes “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” an amazing book.
Bibliography:
"The Victorian Period." The Victorian Period. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. <https://faculty.unlv.edu/kirschen/handouts/victorian.html>.
"The Real Story of Queen Victoria's 'domestic Bliss'" BBC News. N.p., 31 Dec. 2012. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20782442>.
"Queen Victoria." Historical Context- Alice in Wonderland. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015. <http://alicehistory227.weebly.com/queen-victoria.html>.
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