By Lewis Carroll
Publisher: Penguin UK
176 pages
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Children's literature
INTRODUCTION:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which is also commonly shortened as Alice in Wonderland, is an english novel written by author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll. The novel is about a girl named Alice, who is sitting with her sister watching her read her book. When a white rabbit with a waistcoat on, suddenly runs past and stops to pull out a watch, now this didn't take much interest into Alice but when the white rabbit starts talking to himself and hurrying off Alice starts to follow.
This is how she ends up falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland where she experiences many strange encounters such as growing and shrinking in size, and meeting curious characters including a Mad Hatter, a hookah-smoking caterpillar, and a smiling Cheshire Cat and many more. Alice is the protagonist, meaning she’s the main character, and the story is told from her point of view. Some major characters include the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. This novel is considered the best example of the literary nonsense genre.
AUTHOR ANALYSIS:
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy, and there are societies in many parts of the world (including the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand) dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life.
Lewis Carroll was thirty when he first invented the story of Alice's adventures. He was thirty-three by the time it was completed and published. The major themes that are in the novel is growth into adulthood, size change, death, games and learning the rules. This novel is also meant for educational purposes: it describes the growth of Alice from an unruly little girl, always questioning everything, to a wise woman.
PLOT:
The setting is Wonderland, a strange and seemingly crazy world that is entered by dropping into a rabbit hole. Animals act as normal people. Physical size as well as time are relative. However, the story also partly takes place in our 'real' world, where Alice starts in by sitting next to her sister, and wakes up in. In the story, Wonderland is a dream world. But thematically, Wonderland is not really another world. It is in fact our own world, only seen through the eyes of a child
The narrator speaks in third person, though occasionally in first and second person. The narrative follows Alice around on her travels, voicing her thoughts and feelings.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is episodic, so the majority of the characters appear only briefly, and do not feature as characters for the entirety of the story.
Alice is the only person who is present throughout.
The white rabbit appears several times, and is probably the second most significant character, as his presence helps to move the narrative forward.
The Queen of Hearts only appears towards the end of the book, but her character makes a big impact and is important in carrying the story to its climax.
The other major characters who are most important to the plot, or are simply the most memorable are:
· The Caterpillar
· The Duchess
· The Cheshire Cat
· The Hatter
· The March Hare
· The King of Hearts
· The Gryphon and
· The Mock Turtle
SUMMARY:
The text doesn’t really have a thread but is more a series of strange encounters like in a dream.
Alice sits