LEWIS CARROLL: ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
Victorian age: mid 19th century
family values
describe contemporary life&entertain the middle class
avoid mentioning sex, body parts
English novel
Industrial Revolution
realistic
crowded with characters
long
Great Britain
the first economic and politic world power
new factories
moving from the country to the city
search of opportunities
thickly plotted
mid-Victorian era
Age of Improvement
Charles Darwin: Origin of Species
children under 9 years old were not allowed to work
rich families send children to school
universities
Technology and Science - main subjects
increased social mobility
Point of view
third person omniscient
Genre
fairy tale
fantasy
children's fiction
satire
allegory
Characters
Alice
the Chesire Cat
the Queen of Hearts
rule & execution
curiosity
Wonderland ruled by nonsense
Publication date
1861
Setting
England
Wonderland
Literary devices
allusion
personification
imagery
childish language
allegory
Symbols
the Garden
Garden of Eden
idyllic space of beauty and innocence
not permitted to access
the Caterpillar's mushroom
sexual threat
Motifs
dream
unconscious state
subversion
frustrate her expectations
language
use of puns
multiple meanings
Themes
life as a meaningless puzzle
no clear solutions
life frustrates expectations
the tragic and inevitable loss of childhood innocence
bizarre physical changes during puberty
death as a constant and underlying menace
situations where she risks death
riddles & challenges
able to figure out the solutions