Go Ask Alice
Go Ask AliceBy: Anonymous
Go Ask Alice Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson. Dodgson was born in Daresbury, Cheshire, and was the third eldest of eleven children. Dodgson entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1851 to study mathematics, and he stayed there as a professor of math for the next twenty-six years. He was fascinated by games and puzzles, and the plot of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland leans heavily on card games. In 1855, Henry Liddell became the dean of Christ Church, and Dodgson became a fast friend to his three daughters, Lorina, Alice and Edith, whom he would take on rowing expeditions on the Thames. Dodgson's meetings with these girls were the basis for this famous story. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865. The elements that make Alice such an enduring and fascinating story are the setting, characters and theme. The narrative of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is told within the framework of a dream. However, that does not become clear until the end of the story. Springtime, the setting for Alice's dream, is the traditional time in English literature for frivolity and strange stories. The setting for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales also takes place in the spring, at the beginning of April. This accounts for many of the fantastic elements and for the non-linear nature of the story; ideas and conversations are not to be taken seriously, but rather to be enjoyed for their lack of connection and straightforward meaning. The dream world in which Alice finds herself when she enters the rabbit hole is called Wonderland. Wonderland is populated by animals that talk and act like real people and by playing cards that act as a royal court. It does not conform to the reality or physics of the real world. Characters (including Alice herself) grow large and small and disappear at will, games and logic are twisted so that they resemble reality, but only if taken as a half-truth. These same characters contribute much to the enjoyment of the story. The main character of Alice was based on Dodgson�s six-year-old friend Alice Liddell. Alice is a curious girl with an untrustworthy memory. She is bright and friendly, although she occasionally says the wrong things and angers the touchy creatures in Wonderland. She is usually quite polite, but also has a temper, and she is often upset off by the discourteous natures of the creatures she meets. The White Rabbit is An easily frightened and perpetually late courtier in the court of the Queen of Hearts. It is he whom Alice follows into Wonderland itself, although he is not a trustworthy guide. He is the only character besides Alice who runs through the entire course of the story. The Caterpillar is encountered by Alice while he is sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah. Though he often speaks in riddles, he is quite helpful to Alice. He provides her information about the mushroom, which...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.