Knowledge Builders

what is the story behind alice in wonderland

by Maurice O'Reilly Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
image

Alice in Wonderland is a 19th-century fantasy novel inspired by a 10-year-old girl named Alice. Carroll had an unusual relationship with the girl, something that’s hugely frowned upon and condemned in today’s society. Or any society, for that matter.

Full Answer

Who is the real Alice in Wonderland?

Years before child stars were acting in TV and movies, Alice Liddell became a celebrity for being the real Alice in Wonderland. Her photographs were seen everywhere, so people knew what she looked like, and where she lived. She couldn’t go anywhere in public without people commenting on the story and asking her questions about Alice in Wonderland.

What is the moral of Alice in Wonderland?

What Is the Moral of the Story Alice in Wonderland? The moral of the story Alice in Wonderland is that you should never give up on yourself. You can always find a way to succeed no matter how hard things seem at first. Never give up and always believe in yourself. What Is the Quote for Alice in Wonderland? The quote for Alice in Wonderland is “ In a world of my own.”

Who are enemies of Alice in Alice in Wonderland?

  • Duchess — A violent cannibal, and the first major obstacle that Alice has to overcome.
  • Jabberwock — The monstrous manifestation of Alice's survivor guilt.
  • Mad Hatter — The owner of the asylum Behind the Looking Glass.
  • Queen of Hearts — Insane, murderous, and merciless dictator who rules Wonderland. ...

More items...

What is the real name of Alice in Wonderland?

The real Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddell. Alice was three when her father became dean and moved his family from smoggy London to his splendidly refurbished deanery. Later in life, Alice recalled the lions he had carved in a corridor.

image

What is the dark meaning of Alice in Wonderland?

She has been through so much and everything around her has been so confusing...it just exhausts her to the point where she blames herself for not taking her own advice. The Wonderland grows darker around her and it symbolizes the loneliness Alice currently has been feeling.

What is the purpose of Alice in Alice in Wonderland?

Alice was the work of a mathematician and logician who wrote as both a humorist and as a limerist. The story was in no sense intended to be didactic; its only purpose was to entertain.

Is Alice in Wonderland about mental illness?

zooming at some topics of this novel, we come up to understand that Little Alice suffers from Hallucinations and Personality Disorders, the White Rabbit from General Anxiety Disorder “I'm late”, the Cheshire Cat is schizophrenic, as he disappears and reappears distorting reality around him and subsequently driving ...

What is the moral lesson of Alice in Wonderland?

Taking Risks Can Lead To Wonderful Adventures Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If Alice hadn't chosen to leap down that rabbit hole, she wouldn't have encountered the wonderful friends she found in Wonderland.

Was Alice really dreaming?

1:236:57Was Alice in Wonderland REALLY Just a Dream ... - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd so far lots of evidence states. It's a dream she travels to this place in her sleep as a girlMoreAnd so far lots of evidence states. It's a dream she travels to this place in her sleep as a girl she hits her head in a hole. And the whole thing is a mental trip for her mind self-preservation.

Who do the characters in Alice in Wonderland represent in real life?

5) Alice. Alice Liddell was the real life little girl who inspired the tales that Carroll wove together. The character of Alice is a curious and interested young child, with a kitten named Dinah, just like her real life counterpart.

Who is the actress in Alice Through the Looking Glass?

150 years after Carroll brought the character of Alice into the world, Alice Through The Looking Glass — the sequel film to the Tim Burton-directed adaptation starring Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter — is bringing Carroll's wondrous world back to the big screen. So we're revisiting the question: Is there something sinister behind all the whimsy? Down the rabbit-hole of fact and fantasy we go.

What did Carroll feel at ease with?

By all accounts, Carroll felt most at ease around children. He cultivated relationships with the children of his friends and acquaintances, spending large amounts of time with them (with their parents' permission) and keeping up correspondence . "Extra thanks and kisses for the lock of hair," he once wrote to a 10-year-old girl. "I have kissed it several times — for want of having you to kiss, you know, even hair is better than nothing." It is quotes like these, coupled with his close relationship with Alice and his penchant for photographing children, that spark accusations of pedophilia.

When did Alice in Wonderland come out?

The three Liddell sisters. Image via Getty. After spending a few years refining and editing the story, he published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, before writing the sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.

Who took pictures of Alice and her sisters?

Carroll would take photos of Alice and her sisters. Image via Getty. In 1863 Carroll 's relationship with the Liddell family abruptly ended. While he eventually resumed communication with Henry and his wife - Carroll never again spent time alone with their daughters.

Why did Dodgson create the pseudonym Lewis Carroll?

Dodgson created the Lewis Carroll pseudonym while he was at Oxford, so he could write children books unconnected to his academic career. Lewis Carroll in 1870. Image via Getty. Carroll was known for forming close friendships with children and not really having any relationships with adults.

Why was Carroll cut off from the family?

There's no record of why the Carroll was cut off from the family, but some believe it was because he proposed marriage to young Alice - which wasn't that unusual around that time. In the mid 1800s the age of consent was 12 and many men would marry young brides.

What did Carroll write about?

Carroll wrote openly about his penchant for taking photos of young girls.

When did Carroll take the girls on a picnic?

In 1862 Carroll - along with one of his colleagues - took the three girls out on a picnic and rowing trip along the Thames.

Who were the three daughters of Carroll?

When Henry George Liddell became the Dean of Christ Church at Oxford, Carroll became close with his three daughters - Lorina, Edith and Alice - and the legend of Alice began. In 1862 Carroll - along with one of his colleagues - took the three girls out on a picnic and rowing trip along the Thames. To keep the young girls entertained, Carroll ...

What does Alice in Wonderland do with a bottle?

Starting with a bottle (“DRINK ME”) that makes Alice shut up like a telescope, and a cake (“EAT ME”) that turns her into a giant, Carroll’s story often returns to the subject of food and drink.

Who published Alice in Alice?

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst’s The Story of Alice is published by Harvill Secker.

What are some examples of Carroll's story?

Some parts of Carroll’s story assume a degree of local knowledge. For example, the Duck, Dodo, Lory and Eaglet are walk-on parts for Duckworth, Dodgson and Alice’s sisters Ina and Edith, while the description of them emerging “dripping wet, cross and uncomfortable” from the pool of tears is a distorted echo of an earlier boating trip during which they were caught in a thunderstorm. There are many other local references: there is a real treacle healing well near Oxford in the village of Binsey, and Alice also plays a grotesque version of the croquet games she would have enjoyed in Christ Church. In fact many critics are convinced that the whole story is so full of references to the city that it should be viewed as an elaborate Oxford in-joke.

How does Carroll's story develop?

Beginning with a rabbit that disappears and reappears, like a magic trick that has infiltrated real life, Carroll’s story develops by generating a real dream’s characteristic mixture of vagueness and vividness. Nothing remains the same for long. Even words start to blur into each other.

What does Alice's sudden physical changes reflect on?

What almost everyone agrees on is that Alice’s sudden physical changes comically reflect on an inevitable fact of life. Fictional children can stay the same age forever, but real children grow up.

Who said Alice is a father in getting down the hole, a foetus at the bottom, and?

Psychoanalytical interpreters have seized on it with particular relish. William Empson gleefully pointed out that Alice is “a father in getting down the hole, a foetus at the bottom, and can only be born by becoming a mother and producing her own amniotic fluid”.

Did Alice in Wonderland use drugs?

Actually there is no evidence that Carroll ever tried drugs beyond some alarming-sounding homeopathic remedies, which included dosing himself with “aconite and arsenic” to cure a stubborn cold. But for many people, the hookah-smoking Caterpillar and his magic mushroom remain far more closely associated with the 1960s than the 1860s.

What inspired Alice in Wonderland?

T he story of Alice in Wonderland was inspired by many things out of Charles Dodgson’s environment: the author of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ referred to people and places he knew in his books. On this page you can read about them.

Who is the duck in Alice in Wonderland?

Lorina is the Lorry and Edith the Eaglet. The Duck is Canon Robinson Duckworth. The Dodo was Charles Dodgson, who had a slight stutter, which made him sometimes give his name as ‘Do-do-Dodgson’.

What is the Dean's Garden?

The Dean’s Garden is the garden in which the Liddell sisters often played. The Cathedral Garden was a garden they were not allowed to enter – only the Dean was allowed to cross that garden, and so a young Alice would have seen her father disappearing through this door into a pretty garden, which she and her sisters could only see from the window of their nursery. This was a view also familiar to Dodgson from the period of time that he spent playing with the children in the nursery, and hence became the lovely garden Alice so desperately wanted to enter in the story.

What is the door to Wonderland called?

The door to Wonderland. This door must have been the little door behind the curtain, in the hallway. The garden on the photographs is called the Cathedral Garden, and is in fact ‘Wonderland’. Behind that door lies the Dean’s Garden in which the Liddell sisters often played.

Why did Alice repeat her poems?

When Alice repeats poetry, like “How doth the little…”, she crosses her hands in her lap. All Victorian children were taught to cross hands while sitting, and fold them while standing, when repeating lessons. It was supposed to help them concentrate and prevent them from fidgeting ( Carroll, “Elucidating Alice”).

Why did asylums have tea parties?

In Victorian times, asylums opened their doors for ‘therapeutic entertainment’: events would be organized, including tea parties, that were open to visitors. It was thought to help with the re-socialisation of the patients, and it was a form of entertainent for the visitors. So the mad tea party scene may actually refer to a tea party with asylum clients!

Why does Alice's neck stretch?

In ‘Alice in Wonderland’, eating something causes Alice’s neck to stretch. This fireplace in the Hall (the largest college dining hall in Oxford) could very well have been the inspiration for this. Why? Just take a good look at the ‘firedogs’…

What does Alice in Wonderland mean?

When she passed away, her gravestone mentions “Alice in Wonderland”, which means that she must have gone to peace with the connection. Illustration of Alice about to drink from a bottle that looks suspiciously like laudanum. Credit: John Tenniel. Advertisement.

What is the real Alice in Wonderland?

10 Controversial Facts Behind The Real Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland is one of the most famous children’s stories in the world. From the moment it was first published in 1865, new copies have never stopped being printed to this very day. While nearly everyone can recount the events of the fictional tale, ...

How old was Alice when Dodgson started Wonderland?

He began to entertain the children with a story of a magical place called Wonderland. Alice was just 4 years old at the time, but she was the most bossy, confident, and adventurous of the three girls. Dodgson became enchanted by the little girl, and she became his muse.

How old was Alice Liddell when she was a beggar?

One of the most controversial photographs of Alice Liddell is her as a very young girl of just 6 years old, posed in a costume of a beggar maid. Her dress is ripped and falling off of her shoulders, exposing her chest. She has one hand on her hip, and her gaze is piercing as she looked towards the camera.

What is the Cheshire cat's conversation with Alice?

For example, the Cheshire cat engages Alice in a semi-intellectual conversation about philosophy, which was meant to be an inside joke for his friends at Oxford.

Did Dodgson have OCD?

But somehow, he had no problem speaking clearly with children. Some people believed he also had OCD, because in her autobiography, Alice Liddell said that Dodgson was always standing up perfectly straight, his clothing was never out of place, and he was very particular about the neatness of everything.

Where did Alice and her husband live?

As a married woman, Alice and her husband moved to a house in the countryside. She had servants to help run the house, and she learned to draw and paint in her spare time. She had a comfortable life, but one wonders if she ever dreamed of what it would have been like living in a castle with prince Leopold, instead.

Who is Alice in Wonderland?

Alice Pleasance Liddell was a real-life girl who lived in London during the 1860’s. She became the basis of Carroll’s character in his story because of her and her sister’s insistence that Carroll tells them a story. History tells how Carroll along with a colleague took the Liddell sisters, Lorina, Edith, and Alice down the river Thames for a picnic and a rowing trip. His experiences with the family would become the basis of Alice in Wonderland.

Who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

English writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson using the pseudonym Lewis Carroll wrote a classical novel in 1865 entitled Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The story is filled with metaphors and literary experts consider it to belong to the nonsense genre.

Why is Alice's story questioned?

Some people attribute the nonsensical story to Carroll’s incessant use of opium and his fanatical inclination to child affinity and nudity.

How does Alice in Wonderland mature?

Alice matures emotionally by how she thinks, how she deals with her problems, and how she perceives different situations, all of which are encompassed in the progression of a child.

What is the trial in Alice in Wonderland?

The trials that transpire in the story actually have a direct association with how one grows and develops through childhood and adolescence. In the start of Alice in Wonderland, Alice imagines and is unable to pay attention while her mother reads an advanced novel to her. This displays how child-like Alice’s mindset it. She then begins to piece together the picture-perfect world of her own while her imaginings spin wild. Later, Alice notices a white rabbit created by her imagination and triggers her interest. “Alice follows the rabbit because she is “burning with curiosity.

Why does Alice get in trouble?

Further in the book, Alice gets in more trouble because of her curiosity. The white rabbit tells Alice to run into the house to swiftly fetch his gloves. While searching for the gloves, she opens a cookie jar only to find a cookie with ‘Eat Me’ printed on it. Without rational judgment, she guzzles down the cookie.

What is the story of the curious oysters about?

Along farther in the story, she is told the tale of the Curious Oysters by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum which is about how curiosity can lead to dreadful things. This bares a strong resemblance to how adults will often tell children to grow up, destroying a child’s sense of imagination and curiosity.

Why does Alice follow the rabbit?

Later, Alice notices a white rabbit created by her imagination and triggers her interest. “Alice follows the rabbit because she is “burning with curiosity.

What does the White King say to Alice?

“The White King is waiting for his messengers and asks Alice to look along the road to see if they are coming: “I see nobody on the road,” said Alice. “I only wish I had such eyes,” the King remarked in a fretful tone. “To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it’s as much as I can do to see real people, by this light”. This somewhat exemplifies the preoperational stage which includes symbolic function; which means that one thing can stand for another .

Why did the cookie girl eat the cookie?

There are two very significant things that this circumstance represents. The first is, again, how curiosity gets one into mischief. She eats the cookie after being told the tale of The Curious Oysters. This demonstration how a child will challenge a parent after being told it is wrong. By doing this, she demonstrates Kohlberg’s first theory of moral development, stage one of the preconventional level, which states that “right is whatever avoids punishment or gains reward,” Because there was no one around, she curiously acquired a cookie.

image

The Twisted Perspective

The Disturbing Origins of This Story

  • Carroll met the Liddells in the 1850s when he was about 24 years old. Alice’s father was the dean of the Christ Church College at the University of Oxford. Carroll was a maths tutor and photographer when the two first met at a church event. They hit it off instantly. So, on April 25, 1856, Carroll met 4-year-old Alice for the first time. And boy, s...
See more on aninjusticemag.com

The Uneasiness of His Actions

  • Now, this story may seem like Carroll was just fascinated with children. But with his letters, actions, and preferences, you get a different picture. Historians claim Carroll to be ‘Peter Pan,’ who never wanted to grow up. His stories were majorly for kids; his friends were primarily children. And he was likely attracted to young girls. Carroll once mentioned that the “inclinations of [his] sinful …
See more on aninjusticemag.com

The Heartbreaking Truth of Alice’s Story

  • In 1999, a New York Times reviewer cited Vladimir Nabokov, the author of Lolita, a book about pedophilia, in his piece. Nabokov translated Alice into Russian, and he realized the book represented “a pathetic affinity” between Alice and Lolita. But the unfortunate part is: People know how Carroll was interested in young girls. They know he wrote romantic letters to 10-year-olds. Y…
See more on aninjusticemag.com

1.The True Story Behind Alice In Wonderland - Yahoo!

Url:https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/true-story-behind-alice-wonderland-204500241.html

26 hours ago  · The true history of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, the life of Alice Liddell, and what remains in real life of these fantastical tales. Since the fictional Alice roams through …

2.The creepy true story behind Lewis Carroll's Alice in …

Url:https://www.mamamia.com.au/alice-in-wonderland/

25 hours ago  · The fairy tale might have stood the test of time but the true story behind Alice In Wonderland is, well, just a little bit creepy. Lewis Carroll was a pseudonym for Charles …

3.Alice in Wonderland – what does it all mean? - the Guardian

Url:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/20/alice-in-wonderland-what-does-it-all-mean

18 hours ago  · History tells how Carroll along with a colleague took the Liddell sisters, Lorina, Edith, and Alice down the river Thames for a picnic and a rowing trip. His experiences with the …

4.Story origins - Alice-in-Wonderland.net

Url:https://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/resources/analysis/story-origins/

3 hours ago The classic story, Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, has been part of numerous childhood occasions and merely seemed like a simple fairy tale, but it goes much, much deeper …

5.10 Controversial Facts Behind The Real Alice in Wonderland

Url:https://historycollection.com/10-controversial-facts-behind-the-real-alice-in-wonderland/

16 hours ago

6.The Real Story behind Lewis Carroll and Alice’s Adventure …

Url:https://www.history101.com/lewis-carroll-alice-wonderland/

13 hours ago

7.Alice in Wonderland: What Message Does It Send?

Url:https://acasestudy.com/alice-in-wonderland-what-message-does-it-send/

12 hours ago

8.Videos of What Is The Story behind Alice in Wonderland

Url:/videos/search?q=what+is+the+story+behind+alice+in+wonderland&qpvt=what+is+the+story+behind+alice+in+wonderland&FORM=VDRE

25 hours ago

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9