Interpretative analysis of the novel Alice in Wonderland
Interpretative analysis of the novel
Alice in Wonderland
Ben Rogers
Summary
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll's novel is a modern English
extremely complex offers the most varied in their interpretations by addressing
context of different thematic issues. Through this article through a search
literature, we intend to make an analysis of interpretative character of the novel Alice in
Wonderland.
Keywords: Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll. Modern English Novel.
1 Initial considerations
Alice in Wonderland is one of the most edited books of modern literature and
influenced many great writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Cortazar, Maria Clara Machado
and Guimaraes Rosa. A novel extremely complex offers the most varied
interpretations by addressing issues in context of different themes.
The two novels by Lewis Carroll (pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodson), Alice
in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, published in 1865 and 1872, are extremely
intriguing and able to move much to the imagination of its readers, but
This article dwells only in the first analysis.
The typical elements of fairy tales, talking animals, kings and queens, changes
sized in a magic, enigmatic characters that appear and disappear
one hour to another, beyond the fact that history is passing within a dream
makes it very complex and interesting.
Based on the assumptions referred to, developed an interpretive analysis
work of Alice in Wonderland, trying to understand a little better your plot.
2 The author and his work
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) was born on 27
January 1832, in Daresbury, England and died in Guidford, England on January 14, 1898. Son of an Anglican pastor, Lewis Carroll had 10 siblings and grew up in an environment where he learned to tell stories, entertain and care for children. Fond of mathematics and photography, was appointed professor of mathematics at Oxford in 1861. As an amateur photographer, invariably photographed girls between 8 and 12 years old.
He became famous for his two books, Alice in Wonderland and Alice in
mirror, which had the inspiring Alice Liddell, just ten years, for whom he
had a platonic passion. Carroll never took his passion for girls, which was recorded through several photos of nude children done by him.
One should not say for sure that the books Alice in Wonderland and Alice
through the mirror, are necessarily children's books. "For there is nothing behind the
plots and characters of these two books that are not rigorously referenced, is
data through the very existence of Carroll, is through numerous literary allusions,
scientific, logical-mathematical, etc.. "(Carroll, 1980, p. 7).
3. Source Book
On July 4, 1862, a skiff carrying the Reverend Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson an excursion in the river Thames. Next to him, and his friend Robinson Duckworth,
were the three Liddell sisters: Lorina Charlotte, aged 13, Alice Pleasance, 10, and Edith in eight years. Each one received a nickname along the journey, respecting the
birth order. Thus, Lorina was called "Press" Alice "Secunda" and Edith
"Tertia". The event was not unusual in the life of those people, the Reverend had been accustomed to take the Liddell sisters on walks by the river, alternating conversations and invented fairy tales on each occasion, usually forgotten in the moment. However, Prima, Secunda and Tertia were immortalized in a poem, which refers explicitly to that Friday, that summer afternoon. And the story that captured the imagination of the three girls was noted, written and rewritten, then published by the Reverend in 1865, becoming one of the greatest classics of literature of all time. The poem and the story was devoted to Alice Pleasance Liddell. So, Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass then took up the pen name Lewis Carroll to the position in literary history, marked by pioneering the treatment of situations and also to some extent by the use of the unusual feature of nonsense (the English term that indicates a lack of sense) for children. The Carroll's nonsense contained an extra element in the formation of the text: mathematics. Carroll's work has been constituted through language games based on logic, in which the chapters end only when the propositions are depleted. Carroll used his mathematical and logical propositions to build in Alice in Wonderland, and many times the particular meaning of the phrase overcome by the way, suggesting common jokes in his time.
4. Composition of the novel
The episodes that make up a narrative, located in time and space desired by the writer, depend on a resource connection to ensure internal consistency. This feature can be established through the rhythm, the narrator, a time limit or even a character, among other possibilities.
The analysis of the summary of the work, noting the titles of the chapters, you can view a
collage of stories, short cases that could exist independently, if not for the
author's intention to write a true fairy tale, making the trip across the country
a dream of Alice wonders, and by matching the initial episode in which she reads
a boring book before falling asleep. The Lake of Tears, A Mad Tea Field and The Queen of the Sketch are chapters that lead the reader to scenes that are very visual, is the description of any unusual events or unusual dialogues.
The agreement between the beginning and the end appears as a proof of consistency in
construction of the narrative, because readers do not require a full logic of events
within the novel, since it is the plot of a dream world where things
more unusual are accepted as natural.
5. The various allusions in the work
Several characters and situations of Alice in Wonderland were inspired in the daily life of Lewis Carroll and the community where he lived. The character Alice was
inspired by Alice Liddell, daughter of Liddell, Carroll's friend. Although the girl and the character having the same name, both were very different: Alice Liddell was dark, plain and dull, unlike Alice Lewis, who was blond, smart and lively. The sisters
Liddell was very fond of the two tabbies family, and Dinah Villikens.
The Victorian medicine bottle was corked with a paper label tied at
bottleneck as well as the bottle with the liquid that Alice takes to shrink in its first
resizing. A golden key that unlocks the mysterious doors was a common object in Victorian literature. The small door to a secret garden was a metaphor for Carroll of events that could have happened if you had opened certain "ports". The twelve size changes by Alice suffered throughout history could be linked to his desire that Alice Liddell was an adult so he could marry her. The poem of the letter used as evidence at trial by the White Rabbit's song inspired by Alice Gray, who tells the story of unrequited love of a man for a girl named Alice. Carroll may have intended that the "race committee" to symbolize the fact that members of political committees run very often in circles without getting anywhere
all, for all desire the same political prize. The thimble and then taken from Alice
returned to her as a prize for the race, may symbolize the way the rulers
borrow money from the pockets of citizens and then return in the form of political projects.
Mary Ann, at the time of Carroll, was created for a British understatement. The rabbit
Alice White calls like that in a moment in which she gives the orders. He is always looking for your gloves, plays so important to Lewis and to the rabbit, as in all the seasons the writer always wore a pair of cotton gloves gray or black. In the chapter "Advice from a Caterpillar," reads the caterpillar thought of Alice. "Carroll did not believe in spiritualism, but he believed in the reality of extrasensory perception manor
and the power of the mind to move or deform inanimate objects. "(GARDINER, in:
CARROLL, 2002, p. 50). The Caterpillar was inspired by teachers who offered advice on
University of Oxford, where Lewis studied.
Throughout the history of Alice are found 24 poems, among which 10 are parodies
English songs and poems of the time of Lewis Carroll. "The poems and verses
Alice recites, and which seem to have any sense, the poems are satires that boring
English children at that time had to know by heart. "(www.educ.fc.ul.pt/docentes/
opombo / seminar / alice / comosurgiu.htm). The position of Alice, joined hands in making
recitations indicates what was required at the time the children learn the lessons of color.
The author loved children's novel, but he hated boys. "It certainly was not
Carroll made without malice to a baby boy into a pig, because there was
little boys in high regard. "(GARDINER, in: Carroll, 2002, p. 61).
The walnut tree where the Cheshire Cat appears still exists today in the garden
Deanery of the College. The Cheshire Cat refers to the county of Cheshire cheese
(Where Carroll was born) that was shaped like a smiling cat. Upon leaving the cheese in the form
cat, the tendency would be to get the syrup until it finally just left in the dish
head smiling, which brings us back to the episode in which the cat disappears starting with
tail and ends with a smile.
The crazy days of the tea is not any date is the anniversary of Alice Liddell,
May 4. No one would tell a Victorian girl that her hair was long
others. The remark "Your hair wants a cut," said the Mad Hatter,
in fact, was a phrase often heard by Carroll, because it wore her hair longer
than was usual. The squirrel story that tells of three sisters living in a well
honey (Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie), refers to the three Liddell sisters, Lorina, Alice and Edit. The party to the
which the March Hare and Mad Hatter try to put the squirrel in the pot of tea can
be related to the fact that Victorian children used to have rats as pets
pets and kept us in pots filled with grass or hay.
The March Hare refers to the month of heat of hares, the Hatter's mad because
a hallucinogenic substance used in making hats, sleeping a lot for the Dormouse
be an animal that hibernates in winter and Mock Turtle soup refers to the false-Turtle
ga, which is actually made with veal. In the cathedral, where his father was the Rev. Lewis, there is a carved wooden image of the emphasis that inspired the Gryphon, Mock Turtle's friend. "The griffin is a fabulous monster with the head and wings of an eagle and the lower
body of a lion. "(GARDINER, in: Carroll, 2002, p. 91).
"The" Lobster Quadrille "may have been intended as a joke with
"Lancers Quadrille" dance for 6 to 8 pairs that was immensely popular in the halls of
English dance at the time Carroll wrote his Alice books. "(ibid., 2002, p. 97).
Carroll spent so much time to the invention in unusual ways to play popular games,
and perhaps for this reason, the Queen's croquet game elements possessed alive. Chamomile
was an extremely bitter medicine is widely used in Victorian England, and was
extracted from the plant of the same name, so Alice said that chamomile makes people
bitter.
During a conversation with the Duchess, Alice is torn between sort mustard
as animal, mineral or vegetable. It is a reference to the popular Victorian parlor game
"Animal, vegetable, mineral," in which players tried to guess what someone
had in mind. The first questions were traditionally made: It is an animal? It is a
vegetable? It is a mineral? The answers had to be yes or no, and the goal was to guess
correctly in 20 questions or less.
Due to similarities in the length of the names and positions of the vowels, consonants
and double letters in last name, it is believed that Charles was inspired by the formation
the name of Alice Liddell to create his pseudonym Lewis Carroll.
6. Alice and the size
6.1 The size and the path to maturity
Alice in Wonderland is the story of a little girl's dream. As is common
all the dreams, the rules of reality are broken, and this is analyzed by itself
character as in a game. The little girl needs to understand and solve the game before
your sister to wake up and bring it back to the real world and normal.
Alice is a work that allows various interpretations. One is that the changes
conflicts of adolescence and learning can be represented in the work. Alice
enters the adventure without thinking, suddenly, as if into adolescence. The question
size reminds us that adolescence is present in all episodes of the story:
"Alice is always growing and shrinking depending on the situation and that some times
it is convenient or not for her. "(http://www. pt.wikipedia.org / wiki / NO_ Alice_ País_
das_Maravilhas).
In the first chapter, Alice shrinks and seems to become insignificant. That
transformation makes her afraid to shrink until it disappears. In some episodic-
dios, Alice grows rampant. The teenager feels dissatisfied with the realization that
growth brings with it many responsibilities.
In many circumstances the size represents new possibilities. Little Alice
can enter the garden, but big, can get the key. Great, you feel more confident
the trial later in the book.
In the passage in which Alice's neck grows, his powers of observation are
becomes wider. After experiences in adolescence we have a new
worldview. Alice Wonderland considers more fun, but misses
the real world. The boy loves the possibilities of this new phase, but misses
facilities of life as a child.
In Wonderland, Alice feels she can use magic as a resource to become
is invincible. By stating that as an adult will write a fairy tale, reveals the
desire to control everything that happens in the world around them.
When Alice talks about the question of who really is in dialogue with the grasshopper, the
figure shows a typical teenager confused state on the speed with
that changes happen.
At the end of the book, Alice recovers its normal size, but coming of age
lessons learned in the course of history invests a great courage to face trial. When Alice wakes up, her sister thinks she is growing up will keep the simple and loving heart of childhood. Remember someone who has passed through adolescence and remember
miss it. At this point, the sister of Alice realizes that she awoke from the dream
much more mature.
6.2 Alice and the problem of size
Changes in size of prey on the psychological character, leading her to
explore their capabilities, while imposing new conditions to each chapter, making
novel progress.
Take for example one of the early episodes in which Alice is a large lounge and
identifies a small door on the wall before hidden by a curtain. The girl
then finds a tiny key on the glass table, and the little door opens, revealing
a beautiful garden. His intention is to get to that new place. And the need to Carroll
is to advance the novel, creating new adventures for the protagonist. The transformation
size appears therefore as a solution to the desire to Alice (and Carroll).
(Http://paginas.terra.com.br/arte/dubitoergosum/orientando20.htm # *).
The size issue deals with the growth and obstacles in their path
to maturity. The character seeks to overcome every obstacle before developing
the posture of a heroine, and even his constant crisis of identity
prevents you from continuing questioning and willing to change its size to exceed doors
and into new venues. The last change happens spontaneously, perhaps because
Alice was about to return to reality.
7. Scientific theories present in the work
At the time of Carroll, was a common curiosity to wonder what would happen if
one falls into a hole passing through the center of the earth. Studying on the crossing
to the center of the earth made the rabbit hole, we find the reference to Galileo's theory about the relationship between speed and acceleration. In some passages in which there is free fall, he had somehow anticipated the "thought experiment" in which Einstein used an imaginary elevator falling to explain certain aspects of the theory of relativity. The size changes experienced by Alice also allude to the principle of the telescope, which greatly fascinated Carroll. Scholars of the work of Lewis, using the
theory of relativity, comparing tea crazy, they are always 6 hours, with the portion
the model of de Sitter cosmos where time stands still forever.
8. References historical-linguistic and sociocultural
Carroll's stories are historical and linguistic references, and is often
necessary for decoding a perfect understanding of the meaning of what is said.
Carroll used elementoscomo talking animals and the presence of kings and queens, and the indefinite timeline.
However, the Alice stories can not be considered fairy tales, because they approach
issues in their historical narratives, such as critiques of English society
Victorian period.
The book reproduces several aspects common to the English culture of the Victorian era. To
even in England it is likely that the reader of Alice is not able to understand all
the meanings proposed by Carroll, considering the customs of the nineteenth century, the particulars
regional folklore, jokes that were only understood in Oxford and the allusions to society
that period.
The reversal of the direction in this work can be characterized as critical, considering
to England from the mid-nineteenth century as a country where most claimed rationality, or at least a logical principle to justify all of society, even difficult issues to be justified, as the privileges and misery.
9. Concluding Remarks
For a satisfactory interpretation of the novel Alice in Wonderland
took a survey of the various items directly and indirectly within the book because the author Lewis Carroll used the various factors of their daily lives as well as mathematical and scientific knowledge to create the episodes that comprise the book.
The composition of the story created during a tour of Carroll and the Liddell sisters
Thames was influenced by the various author's childhood memories in County
Cheshire and also the knowledge on subjects that really interested him, such as
mathematics and the various scientific theories, which determined the whole development of
Alice's story, especially with regard to the connection of the many chapters
size changes experienced by the main character.
The criticisms and allusions to customs of English society of the Victorian period also
have immense importance in the construction of the novel, which somehow makes the
understandable to readers outside the context of this somewhat complicated, because the book brings
information on which the understanding would be limited even certain regions of
England.
So I did a reading of the novel as deep as we could with the
order to understand the plot a little better of it, revealing the universe
this plot that mixes "dream" and "reality", seducing readers through the fantastic.
Ben Rogers | Interpretative analysis of the novel Alice in Wonderland