Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at specific influences in the life of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) such as split personality disorder, sleep difficulty and Victorian era social problems and examines how they are represented in the story of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". A detailed analysis of the story shows that there are characters, events and symbols that may serve as allegorical representations of the influences in the author's life.

From the Paper:

"What is the difference between dreaming and pretending? The pretender creates the environment for the action while the dreamer is forced to negotiate an environment that was not consciously created. One of the most celebrated dreams in literature involves a girl named Alice and a place called Wonderland. On a hot July day in 1862, Charles Dodgson began telling a story to three little girls during a boating trip. It was a fantastic tale about a mysterious rabbit hole, talking animals, magic potions and a particularly violent Queen. One of the girls on the trip, Alice Liddell, begged Mr. Dodgson to write down the story for her. The story was written as Alice's Adventures Under Ground, which was later published under the more commonly known name, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Bassett 49). For the causal reader of this fairy tale, it may be hard to imagine how the author created such an outlandish story. The characters are bizarre and often absurd. Nothing in the story seems to be of this world, at least not within the realms of known sciences. However, a detailed analysis of the story shows that there are characters, events and symbols that may serve as allegorical representations of the influences in the author's life. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a story comprised of extra ordinary characters and events that correspond directly to the real life biography of Charles Dodgson."

More papers on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland":

• Analytical Essay # 67641 : "Nature of Reality in "Alice in Wonderland"
• Analytical Essay # 50424 : "Authority Figures in "Alice in Wonderland"
• Persuasive Essay # 115906 : "Alice in Wonderland: A Fairy Tale"

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