Category: Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are based on social Darwinism, the ‘survival of the fittest’ and the novels explain the function of language and how the characters obtain power.

First, is important to mention that Alice in Wonderland describes the creation of identity whereas Through the Looking Glass is a social negotiation of identity, thus finding your identity in society. In these novels it is portrayed a dystopian society that is based on absolutism and the one in power is the one who always assigns meaning to things. For instance, the king exerts power creating rules through language. The king is able to read and interpret, so this last one gives him the authority. Additionally, he is seen as a dictator since he does not allow language to have another meaning than the one he wants and somehow, is like Alice because she can not conceive that the others have different interpretations or different rules than her, so this is why she expects the others to use the pragmatic level of language, but they do not use it and therefore, she feels frustrated since nobody follows the same rules.

However, in this world full of danger and disconnections there is a lack of a true figure of authority and this society tries to obtain power with language even though the structure is confusing. In order to master the power is important to master the meaning because they create identity through language. So, language is a powerful tool that is not used for communication but to exert power over others. For example, Humpty Dumpty and Alice have problems and misunderstanding because of the pragmatic level of the language and, Humpty Dumpty is more powerful than Alice because he behaves as a master using the language.

Moreover, as it is mentioned the novels are based on the idea of darwinism. This society is individualistic because each one has its own way of using language, and as it is explained in the novel, in this society all of them are mad and therefore, they do not follow the rules of society. So, they are individuals that fight and try to assert power, obtaining as much as possible as it is seen in the character of Alice. This society is based on darwinism because of the struggle for survival, and the will to increase power in order to have better chances to survive.

As a result, both novels state the importance of language and the exertion of power through it. Also, it is based on the theory of evolution since characters are individuals that try to gather as much power as possible. So, they try to survive obtaining power and for achieving that purpose they use a powerful tool which is language.

When it comes down to all the different types of stories, there are numerous to read. This includes stories of fiction, now there are a few different kinds of fiction stories that are out to read. You have science fiction, domestic fiction, adventure fiction, and fantasy, just like many other types of books and fiction stories can also hold many hidden teachings within the books for the readers to learn. These types of stories have a good way of pulling us in and taking us on an adventure and discovery. They can also sometimes relate to the everyday lives of people.

The first story I decided to write about is listed under fantasy and the story I have chosen is called “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” that’s written by Lewis Carroll. Through this story has a few different versions, everyone may have read this story at some point in life. It is a story that really will suck you in and takes you along on an adventure while reading that you could never imagine. This story also teaches you many things along the way as you continue to read the story. This is one of those fiction stories that on every page it will draw you to continue to read until.

Within the story of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” there’s a chapter called “Advice from a caterpillar” an in this chapter she comes across a caterpillar who is smoking a hookah and askes who she is. The caterpillar meets Alice after she has been shrunk into a tiny size, which was very odd to her but according to the caterpillar, it was a great height. Alice wasn’t quite fond of the caterpillar when they first met. The caterpillar didn’t address himself nor talk much when they first met, and when he did it was extremely short sentences and questions that were hard for Alice to answer. Alice was asked to repeat the poem you are old, father William, which comes is odd like some sort of. He then addressed Alice how to grow bigger and shrink smaller by simply eating a mushroom which he was sitting on. He was really teaching her a lesson, that she wasn’t quite understanding at the time but later in the story, she understood why he was doing all those things.

That what most readers get when reading Alice Adventure in wonderland they learned and comprehend somethings while taking in the story. We all have a culture of our own, from the traditions we observe to the way we dress, what we eat and the information that we share. Recognizing and celebrating this has been so important especially for our children because it teaches them the culture. Culture is a shared system of meaning, which includes values, beliefs, and assumptions expressed in their daily interactions of children in many ways.

References

1. Everson, Michael (2009) ‘Foreword’, in Carroll, Lewis (2009). Alice’s Adventures under Ground. Evertype. ISBN 978-1-904808-39-8.
2. Brooker, Will (2004). Alice’s Adventures: Lewis Carroll in Popular Culture. New York: Continuum. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-0-8264-1433-5.

The evolution into today’s progressive society has challenged the significance of literature. What’s its purpose and what does it actually teach us? Without literature our culture and values would not have developed to shape our society. Literature mirrors society’s continual change in values as shown through Lewis Carroll’s novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and its two manifestations, Walt Disney’s animated film Alice in Wonderland and ABC’s television series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Values are shaped, carried through and challenged throughout all three texts due to differing social influences.

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland is a fantasy novel, written by Carroll Lewis who’s real name is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, in 1865. The novel features a young English girl, Alice, who falls down a rabbit hole into the nonsensical world of Wonderland and conveys childhood values present in Victorian society. In 1951, Walt Disney recontextualised this classic in the film Alice in Wonderland. This cartoon manifests and challenges the values embedded in Carroll’s novel. Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson directed the film and it closely follows the events of Carroll’s novel. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, also appropriates Carroll’s novel and aired in 2013. This series follows Alice’s adventures after she becomes a young woman and is placed into an asylum for recounting her tales in Wonderland. I will go on to discuss how Carroll’s novel and Disney’s film reflect the relationship between text, culture and values, not the television production. I concluded that after careful consideration Disney’s adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has closer ties to the novel, allowing me to comprehensively investigate the relationship between text, culture and values.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a humorous novel that explores the values and attitudes towards childhood in the Victorian era. Carroll characterises Alice as a product of a typical Victorian upper-class family indicated through her appearance and mannerisms. The 7-year-old finds her life unfulfilling and dreams of a land that does not restrict her imagination. In Victorian society this rebellious and curious behaviour was frowned upon and deemed immature. As she enters the nonsensical land of Wonderland, Alice’s character undergoes several changes while ‘growing up’. The physical changes that many teenagers experience when undergoing puberty are symbolised through Alice’s constant fluctuation in size after consuming strange concoctions. As a result, Alice becomes increasingly unsure of her identity, emphasised through Carroll’s wordplay, pointing out the identity crisis that occurs during puberty.

Alice’s character growth becomes evident as she gains independence, strength and courage. Her maturation is also displayed through her strict manner and disengagement with common childhood antics, demonstrating the attitude towards adolescence in the 19th century. While Carroll’s colourful visual imagery challenges the importance of imagination, Alice eventually adheres to Victorian expectations regarding growing up. The is seen through the trial with the Red Queen as Alice claims Wonderland is “stuff and nonsense” which is ironic because she dreamed of this land to fulfil her “boring” life. Her frustration grows at the nonsensical nature of Wonderland and deems it and the Red Queen childish. When Alice wakes up from her dream it signifies her loss of imagination as she matures into an accepted young woman of Victorian society. Hence, while Carroll raises concerns surrounding the loss of innocence and imagination, he reflects the accelerated maturity that is valued throughout the Victorian society.

Nearly a century later, Walt Disney released Alice in Wonderland which manifests and undermines values conveyed in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This appropriation of the novel displays an updated perspective on the value of childhood which was common throughout American society in the 20th century. By the 1930s, American society regarded the concept of childhood with great worth due to a decline in infant mortality. The strict expectations and discipline of children considerably relaxed since the Victorian era. These new attitudes towards children and the rising consumer potential of children throughout the 20th century as well as Carroll’s concerns surrounding the loss of imagination and innocence influenced the making of this Disney film. Alice in Wonderland’s extremely vivid setting and joyous soundtrack glorify typical aspects of childhood. It reinforces the film’s playfulness and raises the entertaining factor. However, Disney also uses this film to educate viewers intertextually referencing classic fables and cautionary tales such as the “Walrus and the Carpenter” scene. The development of Alice still occurs over the course of the film, yet, the slapstick humour downplays the theme of identity crisis. Deborah Ross, a British journalist, claims that Carroll’s portrayal of childhood is rushed and fleeting before girls enter the ‘dull reality of womanhood’. The cartoon remake contradicts the value of accelerated childhood as Alice never matures to the same extent. Instead, she runs away from the Red Queen and escapes by simply waking from her dream which is reinforced through an eyeline match shot. Disney retains Alice’s playful and childish features demonstrating the value in childhood unlike the novel which only values its acceleration. This modernistic approach explores how innocence and a child’s imagination is far more appraised in the 20th century and consequently challenges Carroll’s perspective. While Carroll had concerns about the loss of imagination and innocence, Alice never strays far from what is deemed as socially acceptable. Thus, Disney’s manifestation, Alice in Wonderland, subtly subverts Carroll’s Victorian depiction of the value in childhood, imagination and innocence.

Both Carroll and Disney’s unique depictions of childhood explore the loss of imagination and youthfulness relevant to their respective contexts. Carroll uses Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to portray Victorian attitudes that adolescents should mature and disengage in childish behaviours. The adaptation, Alice in Wonderland, was contextually impacted by the decreased infant mortality during the 20th century, hence, the film celebrates childhood and children are encouraged to preserve their innocence and creativity. By researching these texts, the influence of past cultures and values are evident in present texts. They help form the purpose of the composer and the textual concepts reflected through their appropriate context.

Lewis Carroll, who is the author of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, is a famous British fairy tale writer, mathematician and logician. Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland is one of his representative works. The book tells the growth of a little girl, Alice, from the rabbit hole fall into a magical world, and met many creatures and experienced many beautiful adventures; At the same time, she is continuously learning about herself and growing up. According to the development of the plot, this paper chooses the clauses related to the protagonist Alice and divides the selected provisions into three stages: confusion stage, transition stage and maturity stage.

Alice, the protagonist of the story, who is full of endless curiosity about the world, believing that the world is composed of a series of logical and orderly. However, after she was entering the Wonderland, all her cognition has continuously been attacked and denied, and she has been in the crisis of ‘self-identity.’ In Alice confusion period, Lacan’s concept of Mirror Stage could explain. The theory based on Lacan’s observations of babies in front of a mirror. Children who age from six to eighteen months(pre-linguistic stage), they identify their mirror images by the reflection in the mirror, known as the ‘Mirroring Stage.’ At this stage, the baby recognizes himself in the mirror and, although he does not speak, expresses his joy at the discovery with unique facial expressions and excitement. Such a reaction marks the beginning of a baby’s self-knowledge.

After Alice entering the wonderland, she seems to fall into the ‘mirror phase,’ but she does not realize that she has fallen into a virtual world. The original self-cognition consistently denied, and she starts to confirm the new self-cognition. Lacan emphasis that the only thing need to think of the mirror phase as an identification process in the full sense. After the formation of the self, it is not invariable, but a continually changing process of development. Falling into the new world, Alice’s old self will gradually disintegrate under the influence of the new environment and form a new person. In the mirroring stage, the relationship between the child and his image is an imaginary one. Children and ‘false self’ seem to be harmonious and complete, but in fact, they establish a desired relationship with their young bodies, which reflects the narcissistic nature of children. Alice can also reveal children’s self-deception. As she fell down the rabbit hole, for example, she thought to herself, “ ‘[a]fter such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down-stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!’(which was very likely true)”(Carroll, 64). For another example, in chapter 3, when the mouse is telling Alice what happened to it, Alice does not pay attention to it, and also satirizes the story of the mouse as long as its tail(Carroll, 82). This kind of contempt for the other is another form of narcissism. This narcissistic desire runs through the whole growth process of Alice, which is an essential characteristic of children in the ‘Mirror Stage.” Then Alice starts to change from her confusion stage to transit stage.

In facing this upside down world, as a little girl, Alice did not run away from it but longed for understanding and discovery. She slowly changed her mind in constant self-reflection and self-adjustment. When she found out that the Duchess’s baby was a pig, she no longer thought it was ridiculous, even comparing human babies to pig babies, saying they were equally respectable. It is seen from this that, as time goes by, Alice gradually begins to seek the ‘integration with the environment’ in her subconscious mind. Although wonderland subverts her previous belief and understanding of the real world, she still gradually learns to accept and adapt to the reversed order and starts to agree with abandoning the traditional social order. If the ego is a balloon, then the external other is the air. Alice’s cognition of herself also completed with the intervention of others. Alice, who has just entered the wonderland, is full of self-identity anxiety. Then, all other people in Wonderland, including animals and plants, exert influences on Alice, making her gradually adapt to the environment and accept the rules of Wonderland.

In this crazy world of illusion, Alice seems to be the only person who is awake. Her constant exploration and continuously ask who she is, at the same time, she continually exploring and constantly self-understanding, grow. Finally, Alice grows up to be a ‘big’ girl; when she suddenly woke up and realized that it is all a dream of her own. For example, in chapter four, the rabbit sent little Bill to Alice, when the white rabbit makes Alice his servant by mistake, Alice obeyed the white rabbit’s orders blindly, even though she found it is strange to follow the animals’ rules (Carroll,88). Alice accepts the command of an animal, which indicates that she gradually agrees with the reversed order and absurd behavior in wonderland. In the last chapter, when the court judges the knave of hearts, the queen insists on a sentence before a trial, and Alice punches the queen mercilessly, saying, “ ‘[W]ho cares for you?’ ‘ You’re nothing but a pack of cards(Carroll, 158)!’ ” Alice grew taller and taller, not afraid to interrupt the king. Alice believes that all the unjust and absurd things will give way to the just, natural, logical and wise thoughts. In terms of self-cognition, Alice changed from confusion to certainty to answer the question of who I am. At this time, Alice was eager to transcend the intervention and bondage of others. She wanted to integrate into the wonderland world from her anxiety at the beginning, turned to understand its absurdity and irrationality fully, and finally rose up against the autocratic ruler — the queen of hearts released her long-suppressed anxiety and fear and achieved the final self-realization.

Conclusion

Alice is a character who upbringing set by carol. Because Carol lived in the most prosperous Victorian age in England. In the while that the industrial revolution brought great material wealth, the social order was actually in chaos. The subversion of the law in the wonderland world was a metaphor for the significant changes in the social environment at that time. Living in this era, Carroll does not want to escape such society and return to his childhood all the time. Therefore, he asks Alice to lead him into a dreamlike wonderland world, trying to find the answer to how to dissolve himself, dissolve adulthood and even become a little girl. All in all, in the intervention and help from others, Alice is full of self-identity anxiety to achieve a certain degree of self-realization from confusion stage, transition stage and maturity stage, which reflects the confusion, struggle and pain in the growth process of children. Carroll also realized his self-identity to some extent by depicting a 7-year-old girl’s journey to Wonderland and achieve his identity construction in the creation of Alice’s adventures in wonderland perfectly.

Work cited

1. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” About Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/about-alices-adventures-in-wonderland.
2. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” About Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/about-alices-adventures-in-wonderland.
3. CARROLL, LEWIS. ALICE IN WONDERLAND. FLAME TREE PUBLISHING, 2019.
4. Mambo, Nasrullah. “ Lacan’s Concept of Mirror Stage.” Literary Theory and Criticism, 15 Dec. 2018, literariness.org/2016/04/22/lacans-concept-of-mirror-stage/.

Reading classic literature is like traveling back in time, to live the life of someone who lived during a particular period in time, witness great battles, rise, and fall of great empires and that of men and women, to see how human mind though now evolved faces the same dilemmas of life from birth until death. Many of these classics enshrine within themselves the soul of a generation and serve as a cornerstone in the history of literature. Their narratives have broken traditions and questioned established ideas and notions. For a reader, they challenge us to transform written words into reason and to appreciate and seek meaning in life.

The portrayal of women in literature from ancient times to the present aptly articulates how women have been treated in society. Women were and are still considered inferior to men and many authors (mostly male), who were beyond doubt biased in their portrayal of women couldn’t desist themselves from describing strong dominance women characters left on their male counterparts even in a highly patriarchal narratives.

Now what comes to our mind when someone says “Strong Powerful Women”? To me, it signifies a bold fearless woman with courage and will to speak from her heart, what she believes in, and one who refuses to play by the traditions and behave in the manner she is expected. These characters have a strong identity, potentiality to face and learn from difficulties, take responsibility and accept mistakes. It doesn’t matter if the character is a goddess, a queen or a handmaid, their voices are loudest, and their actions define the plot, without them the story crumbles and stagnates. From little Matilda to wise Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, women have shaped some of the greatest characters in the literature of all genres.

Powerful women characters have influenced the narrative of even the most ancient texts ever found. Shamhat, a temple prostitute plays a crucial role in taming “Enkidu”, persuading him to accompany her to the city of Uruk and confront mighty Gilgamesh. Enkidu eventually dies midway in the epic, when he insults (yet another woman) a woman goddess “Ishtar” by hurling a chunk of meat of a bull from heaven, which he and Gilgamesh had just slain; signifying that the women can be both undeniably perfect and invigorating as well as the most pernicious enemy.

Similarly, despite historians fixating mostly on the bravery of Achilles and Hector, the role Helen, Andromache and Briseis play and their relationship with their male characters serves the basic theme of Homer’s “Iliad”. Cursed by women goddess Aphrodite, Helen is seen as the primary reason for war by people around her, but she nevertheless serves as the strongest force in the epic which is mostly a male-dominated world but whose destiny is initiated, affected, and inspired by women. The women characters of Helen and Andromache serve as shadows of their husbands Paris and Hector who are sympathetic and considerate. Perhaps even the author acknowledges that despite being emotional and trivial, it was impossible to imagine a world without women, whose existence was necessary for their own existence.

In yet another of Homer’s celebrated work “Odyssey”, women’s role is vital and every woman character is unique in personality, intentions, and relationship towards men. Role of women in the epic is unique in a way that almost all women, whether Penelope, Arete, Circe, Calypso, or Athena, all are different, but each one of them helps define the role of a woman as a goddess, seductress, and a faithful wife. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, in particular, is found to be not only blessed with strength, independence and cunningness but also loyalty, submission, and fertility, imperative of an ideal classic woman.

The Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, although written by men in an entirely patriarchal society describe women as pivotal characters. Sita followed Rama to the forest as any devoted wife would have. Later, when Rama refused to believe her innocence, Sita decided never to return to Ayodhaya as any prudent woman would have done, to stand for what was right. In Mahabharata, Draupadi, wife of the Pandava brothers is known for her character which defies societal norms of even modern times. Her unforgiving nature and zeal for revenge laid the foundation of several pivotal events. On the contrary, women have also been depicted as the Witch in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as bitter harsh Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, and utterly disappointing Daisy in The Great Gatsby.

These strong and powerful female characters despite being sometimes disdained in the narrative often stay long with readers because most readers can relate their empathy, passion, kindness, adaptability, faith, and courage in almost every woman around them, right from their daughters to wives, sisters and mothers. Even in Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy’s most depressing work, the character of Anna, despite her numerous flaws deals boldly with love, passion and jealousy; and in times of personal and marital perplexities, retains her motherly love for her son. To me, these women characters in classic literature, from utterly perfect goddesses to flawed Countess (Anna Karenina), offer remarkable insight. Their character in these work of fiction are no different from what they would have played in real life. Their courage, tolerance, devotion despite the oppression that has never ceased to exit, continue to resonate throughout history. Similarly, Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” serve as an insurrection against traditional roles defined for women by Christianity.

One more prominent character that comes really close to the definition of “Strong Powerful Women” is that of Jane Eyre in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. A young orphaned girl usually submissive, redefines how women are supposed to behave, think, and act. Jane showed courage, maintained her dignity and self-respect even in times of crushing grief. Surviving a cruel aunt and heartbreak by Mr. Rochester she never lost hope or her morality.

How these strong powerful women characters act, react, behave in patriarchal society makes femininity persuasive to young women. A thorough analysis of many of these characters reveals that most of them aren’t too emotional as one would expect women to be. They strengthen the idea of sexual freedom, empowerment, and equality in society.

“Alice in Wonderland” was written by Lewis Carroll during the Victorian era, where women were expected to be reverent, complaisant, clement, and contented. A seven-year-old Alice redefined how a little girl who also happened to be curious adventurer, mustered strength and courage to face her fears and obstacles. In Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”, Wife of Bath expresses thoughts on marriage and women freedom which were never heard of in the middle -ages. Her idea of how women should be in ultimate control of the house laid the foundation of many similar characters who carried forward the beacons of gender equality.

All in all, despite deliberately defining female characters as weak and laying emphasis on their inferiority to men, for an ideal society allowing women to contrive their identity freely and without unjustifiable smirching should be a core concept. The ideas these remarkable women characters internalize are essential for the destruction of stereotypes and removing the equality roadblocks for women and isn’t that’s why we read literature, especially those which have been around for ages?

I am a free human being with an independent will.” -Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) was first coined by the British psychiatrist John Todd and was based upon the childhood story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll in 1865. “Todd’s patients felt they were too small, too tall, or parts of their bodies were changing shape, size, or relationship to the rest of their bodies. Some recalled the feeling of their bodies expanding or contracting in closed spaces or splitting in half.” (Fine, 2013). Coincidentally, such experiences were extremely similar to the novel’s main character, Alice. Alice would often find herself becoming remarkably tall or remarkably short during her adventures in her dreams. She would also sometimes become aware of other, more subtle changes in herself and her environment, such as addressing herself as though she were two people on occasion (Todd, 1955). However, these experiences were not limited to the fantasy world, and when such symptoms were found in his patients, Todd appropriately termed the infliction the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ syndrome. Another fascinating reason behind the chosen name was to acknowledge the fact that the author of the novel, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, also suffered from migraines himself. It was then speculated that Dodgson may have possibly experienced such symptoms himself, before weaving his illusory experiences into a story.

The AIWS is a group of symptoms generally associated with migraine, epilepsy, infections and intoxications (Todd, 1955). Patients under the influence of AIWS will undergo periods of distorted space, time and body image. Illusory changes in size, distance, position of stationary objects in ones visual field, illusory feelings of levitation and illusory alterations in the sense of the passage of time are often experienced. An example can be seen in American neurologist Caro Lippman’s patient who often suffered from “bilious headaches”. During severe attacks she would frequently experience the following hallucination of her body image: “I get all tired out from pulling my head down from the ceiling. I’ve been pulling it down all night long. … On the second day of this attack, a bad one, my head fell into a deep hole under the head of the bed – it was a very deep hole.” (Lippman, 1952 ).

AIWS can often be quite difficult to diagnose. It was common for people suffering from AIWS to keep their experiences locked away within the confines of their own minds, often terrified of the thought of revealing their experiences to the public as they constantly feared that they were on the path to insanity, that they would be labelled ‘crazy’. The majority of Lippman’s patients would often confide in him: “I never mentioned this to anyone until…[you]…asked some questions recently about my experience. I have never told anyone else, as I have not wanted to be called or thought of as queer, and even a supposedly understanding doctor might lift his eyebrows at some of the happenings of a migraine victim…” (Lippman, 1952) From this we can see that most victims are extremely unwilling to confess to having suffered from experiences as queer as those of the AIWS, unless carefully prompted by a doctor they trust. In the present, diagnosis of AIWS has become much easier as we know that the syndrome can often be associated with migraines, epilepsy, infections and intoxication. In the past however, without this knowledge, such symptoms may have even be passed off for psychiatric evaluations or treated with psychotropic drugs. Furthermore, left unnoticed, AIWS being linked to a wide variety of potential causes would naturally also require rather specific treatment depending on the underlying condition. Hence, if not brought to attention, AIWS can often be easily missed and left untreated. Fortunately, once identified, treatment is generally affective (Farooq and Fine, 2017).

Unfortunately, knowledge on the specific causes of AIWS is still extremely limited. A significant project conducted by Yung-Ting Kuo along with a team of specialist doctors in paediatrics and nuclear medicine used nuclear medicine techniques to provide information on cerebral perfusion and metabolism, aiming to detect possible ideas as to abnormally functioning areas involved with AIWS. Technetium-99m was absorbed into the brain via intravenous injection and left to remain in the brain for 24 hours. It was discovered that during episodes of AIWS, decreased cerebral perfusion in various regions of the brain were detected, namely the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. As a result, it has been postulated that any decrease in the perfusion in the visual pathways or visual centers of the brain related conditions may be responsible for the syndrome (Kuo et al., 1998), however further research is required to confirm these results and determine other potential causes of AIWS.

In conclusion, although much more is known about the AIWS today, many areas are still a mystery. Intensive further research must be conducted to ascertain the exact causes of AIWS and increased awareness of the syndrome should be introduced to the public. This would be effective in order to minimise psychological distress in those who may be experiencing these unique and disorienting symptoms and provide comfort that the syndrome is completely normal – they are not ‘crazy’.

Bibliography

1. Farooq, O. and Fine, E. (2017). Alice in Wonderland Syndrome: A Historical and Medical Review. Pediatric Neurology, [online] 77, pp.5-11.
2. Fine, E. (2013). The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. Progress in Brain Research, [online] 206, pp.143-156.
3. Kuo, Y., Chiu, N., Shen, E., Ho, C. and Wu, M. (1998). Cerebral perfusion in children with Alice in Wonderland syndrome. Pediatric Neurology, [online] 19(2), pp.105-108.
4. Lippman, C. (1952). Certain Hallucinations Peculiar to Migraine. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, [online] 116(4), pp.346-351.
5. Lippman, C. (1952). Certain Hallucinations Peculiar to Migraine. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, [online] 116(4), pp.346-351.
6. Todd, J. (1955). The Syndrome of Alice in Wonderland. Canadian Medical Association Journal, [online] 73(9), pp.701-704.

Introduction: The Intersection of Literature and Cinema

Over the past few decades, the motion picture industry has interwoven with literature, so much so that film adaptations of great literary works have become a popular thread in the fabric of the seventh art, becoming a main branch in the field of interdisciplinary studies. Although the two mediums have their own unique structures, the process by which a literary work finds itself transformed into its visual counterpart can be quite thought-provoking if not even intriguing. Today a great number of the critically acclaimed creations in the cinema industry are based on stories that first appeared in literature, to the extent that some authors are actually mainstreamed after the release of their work’s movie adaptation, that is, if it receives a good reception.

In A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon maintains that due to the conventions that make each medium unique, it would be preposterous to expect complete and utter faithfulness when it comes to adaptation; while differing enough from the original, an adaptation should still preserve the fundamental basis of the source. Comparing adaptation to translation and then language, she states ‘just as there is no such thing as a literal translation, there can be no literal adaptation’ (Hutcheon 16). That said, the question that I for one have had for some time is why some adaptations differ so glaringly from their original text. To put in bleak terms, the answer lies in the grime of the modern world; the current commercial culture’s encroachment on almost every other form of culture.

Commercial Culture and the Sequel Phenomenon

Although the exact degree to which it occurs, its different facets and varying manifestations need to be explored in a more comprehensive way that is impossible here for brevity, the immense impact of commercial culture cannot be denied. Symptoms of this intrusion are evident in the realm of cinema as well. Alas, it has almost become a tradition for producers to take advantage of a great selling movie by following it up with a sequel, as evident by the sheer number of such films. These sequels hardly match up to the first iteration as they do not need the same quality and can be profitable through their successful predecessor. The motion picture Alice Through the Looking Glass is no exception. Released in 2016 and with the art of cinematography growing every year, one would expect the movie adaptation to be on par with the novel or predecessor quality-wise. Being the sequel to a highly successful movie, Alice in the Wonderland, it has, surprisingly, managed to do well in the box office regardless of being a disappointment through and through. These failures of a sequel have become a commonplace occurrence in the film industry. This particular sequel is worth further study because it is an adaptation of a much-loved storybook, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, and does this story a great harm and dishonor in its portrayal. Rather than being an adaptation, it feels like a hostage taking situation where Lewis Carroll’s book has been used for its name, one single line of dialogue and nothing else. After comparing the original source and the cinematic version, one might make better understanding of why Virginia Woolf described cinema as ‘parasite’ and literature its ‘victim’ (Woolf 309).

Comparison: Story Line, Setting, and Cast

Looking at how different these two are, it is clear that the movie has not modeled itself on the book but has borrowed a few elements here and there only to serve its purpose. To understand the reason behind this disparity, we must first look at how the production of a sequel is normally done to ensure the highest gross profit. A good sequel must bring back the main elements that made the original movie a success, but must also include new elements to keep the new production fresh. Alice Through the Looking Glass accomplishes this through a number of ways: the story line, the setting, and the cast.

In the storybooks, the plot of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass are completely separate and do not follow the same story line. What Alice sees in the Looking-Glass world is completely unaffected by her journey through the Wonderland, and the two share very few features, except that they are both imaginary. However, this would not lend itself to the production of a sequel in any way since producers hope to bring back the same audience as the original movie and even hopefully get them to re-watch it to make better sense of the new iteration. To achieve this, Alice Through the Looking Glass starts off where Alice in Wonderland ended. At the end of the first movie we saw Alice going on a voyage, and the second movie begins with her return from that voyage. What we are presented with in the rest of the movie reveals that this sequel functions more as an origin movie. We are given a glimpse of the past with the help of Chronosphere which has no place in the lore of the story books. In this way, the audience learns about Hatter and both queens’ origins as well as realizing why Hatter was stuck waiting for Alice to arrive for tea time.

Another complete disregard for the book happens in regard to the setting. One might argue that in the adaptation we actually do not see the world of Looking Glass. It is true that Alice steps into this alternative world through a looking glass, however, the world beyond the Looking Glass has rules particular to itself, namely everything is in reverse; left is right, far is close, time moves in reverse, and the entire world functions as a chess table, but none of this holds true in the movie. What’s more, it is blatantly announced that Alice is going back to the Wonderland and, of course, where she goes is reminiscent of where she had been in the original movie. The only difference seems to be the passing of time, which has aged the characters and bettered the visual effects. The movie does not stop there, but rather introduces us to another part of this world, the Underworld. The Underworld is colossal, rigid, systematic, calculated, and colored in dark and somber hues. Compare this to the ever-changing, unpredictable nature of the Looking Glass world!

A major upside to Alice in Wonderland film was its star power. Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) and Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen) portray their characters beautifully. Alan Rickman (Caterpillar) and Stephen Fry (Cheshire Cat) bring weight to the movie with the voices and Anne Hathaway (White Queen) is the perfect eye candy. One can imagine how distraught the production crew must have been when they realized none of these characters were in the Looking Glass World. The characters that the two stories do share are: Alice, Humpty-Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Alice is of course the protagonist, Humpty-Dumpty has just five seconds of screen time and Tweedledum and Tweedledee are basically in the background. Without starts such as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, Alice Through the Looking Glass may well have been box-office failure; and therefore, the original plot was altered and written to include them as primary characters, but fails in doing so, as they seem to be less characters than merely ornamental benchmarks designed to stir up nostalgia in the audience. The only other newly introduced main character is Sasha Baron Cohen (Time), a well-known actor whose character had no part in the storybooks.

Gender Themes and Commercial Appeal

Another point worth mentioning is how a major theme in the movie is the fight of a strong female character against a patriarchal society; the ship captain whom Alice fights for her right to follow her dream through a slew of bushy moustaches, long clock hands and giant syringes. While an admirable effort to empower the young female audience, it would be naïve not to point out that in today’s cinema, gender-bending characters and anti-patriarchal overtones sell. Moreover, they are done so overtly and frequently that one might have to concede that the primary goal was once again the dollar bolls rather than culture building.

Conclusion: The Integrity of Adaptation

Laurence Raw explain in Translation, Adaptation and Transformation that ‘If an adaptation can maintain fidelity to the original, it will be criticized for being unoriginal. If, conversely, it attempts to interpret the earlier work of providing a new twist, it will be criticized for violating the original’s integrity (Raw 4). He later concludes that a properly adapted piece should try to stay in line with the original to some extent, themes namely. The storybook could have been a plethora of inspiration for the production crew, from the beautifully written dialogues and poems to the mesmerizing setting of Looking Glass World with its peculiar creatures who all played a part in a tightly-knit plot to get Alice to the last row so that she would become the queen. All this and more were ignored, and instead we were presented with badly written and at times nauseating dialogue, taking place within a plot riddled with holes and set in a world far from the wonders of Lewis Carol’s book.

On balance, it is not difficult to see how almost every element in this movie is aimed at gathering as much revenue as possible. Using every bit of star power, plot manipulation and misuse of gender studies possible, director James Bobin has managed to rake in 299.5 million dollars of profit. What makes this even more appalling is that the production crew seemed to not have cared even a bit about the quality of the plot, the dialogue, and the general cinematography under the pretext that the movie will sell by the sheer weight of the first movie, an appearance from Johnny Depp and tailoring the movie toward a young audience. It is also greatly regrettable that after seeing this movie, some moviegoers might mistakenly think that the book is the same as the movie, rather than the beautiful and engrossing masterpiece that it is which can captivate even an adult reader, effecting reconciliation with our past infancy, let alone a child. New Yorker movie critic Pauline Kael once wrote ‘If some people would rather see the movie than read the book, this may be a fact of life that we must allow for, but let’s not pretend that people get the same things out of both, or that nothing is lost’ (43). Trying to cram as many star power as possible into the movie, you will be sorely disappointed if you are looking for an accurate representation of Lewis Carroll’s story since in this case it seems almost as if everything is lost.

J.R.R Tolkien film ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ released 21 September 1937 and Tim Burton ‘Alice in Wonderland’ emancipated 4 March 2010. The Hobbit is a novel about the adventures of a hobbit as he commenced on an unexpected adventure. Alice in Wonderland is a story about a little girl and her adventures in a dream place called wonderland this has been a children’s story for over one hundred years. Though viewed by many as a simple children’s tale, some have not realised that it is set into a little more depth.

Alice in Wonderland starts off by being called down into the adventure of by slaying the monster, the Jabberwocky, then going on by defeating the evil queen of Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts and freeing all of Wonderland from them all. She did not mean to fall down the rabbit hole, it was an accidental call. The actual call was the white rabbit running through the garden talking. Alice is more a polite and eager character which is excited to help save the town and Bilbo is more of an honest and brace character to get the job done. The Hobbit, The Unexpected Journey starts off by Bilbo Baggins seeing the wizard, Gandalf. Bilbo gets called to an adventure and Bilbo declines the offer. He refused to go because he believed that it would be really dangerous leaving and it would be an unwise task. Some of Campbell’s tenets for a hero are that he must be called to a quest, he will face trials and tribulations, face temptation, complete a task, and eventually return home. Bilbo must also fit an archetype and its quest, fear, dragon, task and virtue. Bilbo realises that there is not between the division, there is only good or bad people. Bilbo sacrifices his own treasure to get the Arkenstone to win the challenge.

‘The Unexpected Journey’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ have so many similarities. The people in Wonderland accept Alice as a hero because she killed the Jabberwocky and put the Red Queen out of power. In the Unexpected Journey Bilbo’s courage that he is able to conquer the greatest fear of all the unknown. Bilbo’s willingness to continue given the choice between certain catastrophe and ending his journey and turning around is what separates Bilbo Baggins from the common man and is what defines him as a true hero. Both of the main characters which are ‘Bilbo’ and ‘Alice’ are portrayed as inquisitive, shrewdness, honest, unfailing, polite, trustworthy and innocent qualities which distinguish them in key ways from other characters they encounter on their journeys. Both Bilbo and Alice do most of there journeys the same way but they each have a different and unexpected twist of each of their journeys. They are both being based on children’s films but once they get older you can see what and why Bilbo and Alice have to go do them challenging provocations. They are both similar in ways but they both have different comparisons about each and they both start off pretty similar. At the start of each movie, they each get called to an adventure and then they both decline the offer, but later on, realising that they could help save their town. They both are flipping sides on whether to go and sacrifice their lives or to just stay at home. For example, when Alice and Bilbo get uncomfortable they want to go back to their warm little house.

Tim Burton and J.R.R Tolkien show confidence in both of their main characters facing difficult challenges throughout their journey. Burton and Tolkien give each of the main characters a mentor to help them through their course. The thing that stands out in both movies is that they both are very self-assured. Once they both get into their journeys they realise its to help save their towns/villages. Juxtaposition and Analogy are being placed throughout the film with them being the main characters that they meet in their environment and journeys. They both are showing heroism when they have to come face to face with the evil ones and getting an item or object to collect on their journey. Burton and Tolkien have made the characters to keep moving forward until they have reached the end of their journey, Bilbo and Alice are both committed to get this journey done and they both become conservative heroes. Showing heroism is being brought out throughout the films of each movie ‘The Unexpected Journey’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ when they both battle various challenges and being astute. Tim Burton and J.R.R Tolkien have constructed their films into not only being a teen film/book but a children’s literature. Both of the narrators is omniscient, they seem to know what and when everything is going to happen. They both use their knowledge of the future of the story to give hints on what can become better next time but can still be understanding.

Tim Burton and J.R.R Tolkien bring out more confidence in their characters giving them enough courage to go and help with the challenges to help their town. They show their characters worst and best traits, throughout the film which makes the viewers have more of an opportunity to get know the character more in a short time.

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is a novel written by Lewis Carrol in 1865. It is a famous children’s book that tells a fictional story of a young girl who got into a new dimension, a new and totally different world. Martin Gardner, an American writer, interested in mathematics and science, said that “life viewed rationally, and without illusion, appears to be a nonsense tale”, which is also the main theme in the book, because of the use of the elements in the novel, such as the setting and the plot, that play a major part of it.

All the story is focused on the adventure of a young girl named Alice who felt in a rabbit hole and got into a fantastic world, populated by unique creatures. The target audience of this book can fluctuate from children to even adults, since the story creates twists on logic. Following the rabbit who made her get in the hole from the first time, she decides to follow him. In the Wonderland, Alice meets a diversity of characters, from the magic cat, to the Mad Hatter. After the party Alice went to with Mad Hatter, she runs away and gets to a garden where guardians are painting the white roses red, as ordered by the Queen of Hearts. Later in the story, Alice is taken by the guards and forced to recognize against a thief. When she admits she knows nothing about the crime, the Queen orders the guards to kill Alice. Afterall, Alice wakes up and realizes that it was only a dream.

Furthermore, from the beginning of this novel, the unique trait of the story is noted. In the first chapter, “Down The Rabbit Hole”, it is presented a scene where Alice fells down slow, for a very long time. This scene emphasizes the fantastic aspect of this novel. Also, when she finally gets down, she goes to a big room with lots of doors. Because all the doors where locked, she managed to get a drink that would make herself smaller. After drinking the potion, she manages to get the key of one of the doors and unlocks it. Also, shortly after this episode, she finds a piece of cake which reverses the effect of the drink by enlarging her. This way, this chapter makes a link to the real life by representing the changes of maturation.

In addition, another aspect which emphasizes the nonsense conformation of this novel are the personages, which are very unique and important. Mainly, in the Wonderland there are humans, such as Alice, and fictional characters, such as the cat, the guards and the Mad Hatter. Alice, on one hand, is a very intelligent, polite and curious girl who is fascinated by the magic world, which is full of creatures. Even though she can get very fast annoyed, she is ready to do whatever she needs to do. On the other hand, there is the Mad Hatter, one of the strangest characters in this book. He is a very unpolite character and sometimes makes Alice can’t stand him. In the seventh chapter, he is described by the Cheshire Cat as mad: when Alice asks the cat “what sort of people live about here?”, he responses: “in that direction lives a Hatter, and in that direction, lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad!”

In conclusion, the novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, by Lewis Carroll, is a novel in which is presented a 7 years old girl in a fantastic world, who had to face serious problems. Also, the main theme is well summarized by Martin Gardner, who said that “life viewed rationally, and without illusion, appears to be a nonsense tale”.

Published in 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was a remarkable book during that time and still is present day. Lewis Carroll was one of eleven kids he was born In 1832 and died in 1898, he grew up in Cheshire, England. As a child Carroll was adventurous and was lonely, he would often entertain his siblings by inventing games, plays, and stories. He attended Rugby and Oxford College where he read stories to young children this is what inspired him to write his own stories. He also wrote newspapers for his schools and sent thousands of handwritten letters to people. The head of the Oxford College had three children, Lorina, Alice, and Edith, he was good friends with Alice and told her his idea of a book, she encouraged him to publish it; this book is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The book is about a young girl named Alex who followed a rabbit into a rabbit hole out of curiosity, this starts her adventures of finding her way out. Throughout her journey, she encountered some problem and meets new animals but she’s happy in the end as it was all a dream. as a young boy, Carroll enjoyed photography and taking pictures “… especially little girls, with whom he was clearly obsessed”(Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2019). Lewis did not like men neither did he like for photographing them, he would strictly photograph girls. This might have been what inspired him to include the female characters in the book. Another inspiration could have been the era the books were written in and the world around him, “one controvertible fact is that Lewis Carroll was a model victorian”(Cohen 3-19). The book was published and written in the Victorian era and he based characters and events from the time into the book, like the child with the queen. He also got inspiration from other books and poems that were published during that time. The main character, Alice was based on Alice Liddel who was the daughter of the head of Oxford College, they fell in love. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was Carroll’s first children’s book and many say that it is his best one, the language and structure of the novel keep the reader engaged and makes it more interesting.

The style of writing that Lewis Carroll uses is entertaining and amusing, the book can be hard to put down because it’s suspenseful, odd or it is left off at a cliffhanger. The book is told in Alice’s perspective, she talks to herself a lot, she says her thoughts out loud. For instance” I advise you to leave off this minute” (Carroll 8). she often refers to herself in the third person as a form of giving herself advice, so she acts like two people, this is not normally seen in stories so it is interesting to read. Another literary device that is used in the story is imagery, Lewis liked pictures inbox he even mentioned in the book in the words of Alice, “ what is the use of a book without pictures or conversations” (Carroll 1). there are many illustrations in the book to give the reader a better picture of what is happening in the story, he also creates imagery in the way he writes; with detail. on page 24 in the book, it shows a story in the shape of a tail to give the reader an idea of how Alice was visualizing the tail/tale. foreshadowing can be seen early on in the text when Alice starts wandering around in the rabbit hole because of curiosity so the reader can pick up that her curiosity can lead to something else later. The Victorian era also plays a role in Carroll’s style of writing, for example, “That will be a queer thing to do, be sure! However, everything is queer today.” (Carroll 15) the word queer is not something that is used frequently in boats today nor is it used while speaking, it was commonly used back then which is why it was used multiple times in the story. The theme of the story can be maturing or growing up and this can be seen throughout the book when Alice first went into the rabbit hole to the end of the story when she wakes up. she went through a long and cried many times as many young kids do. Later on, she learned how to properly act and handle the situation. It is clear to see how Alice matures throughout the story and how growing up plays an important role in the story. Many people have mixed reviews on the book and have various opinions on it, but overall it is an entertaining and interesting book.

Stan Walker is a writer who analyzes Lewis Carroll story, he looked at how the story was written and found hidden meanings. “ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland can be characterized as a funhouse mirror version of a child’s journey through the adult life” (Walker 1832-1898). Walker’s opinion is that the story is it child going through adulthood but in a fun way to better understand, there are going to be hurdles but push through that. There are many obstacles when going through adulthood which Alice was experiencing except in a way that was more appropriate for her age. Walker also said “another device Carroll used was creating incident out of common sayings” (Walker 1832-1898). this goes back to the Victorian era and how it influenced him to write certain things. For example, the Cheshire Cat was based on the phrase grin like a Cheshire Cat (Embedded). like this, all the characters and events were based on the Victorian era and the phrases, stories, events, and songs of that time. the book has pictures as well as different symbols like the stars to represent the Alice change her size once again. Stan Walker uses this aspect to prove how Lewis Carroll’s imagination took over and how he put a lot of thought into making it interesting for children.

It is true what Stan Walker is saying, I was with a young girl who went on this marvelous journey into a rabbit hole and goes through lots of trouble to get out. This represents adulthood because people taking the opportunity which in this case was when Alice went into the rabbit hole, they’ve been having to keep working hard until they are content. During that time, people may encounter some problems but in the end, everything works out. The book may seem unusual, and it is, “Carroll himself said that in the book he meant only nonsense” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2019). The book cannot be relatable or real, after all, it is a fiction book, the events, characters, and the storyline is not realistic at all which is why Lewis Carroll calls it nonsense. Also, the influence of the Victorian era is true, many events and sayings from that time. Inspired Carroll to include it in the book. “The majority of the songs in the book are burlesque’s of poems and songs popular at the time, and familiar to Carroll’s child audience (Walker 1832-1898). Compared to the present day, music plays an important role in children’s lives, it is entertaining and it brings joy, during the Victorian era many children also loved music. So the people who read the story can easily pick up on the hidden messages because there are a lot of references to songs and events. It is also true that Carroll’s audience mainly consisted of children and young kids because he used to tell a lot of stories to Children. The book is also visually pleasing with all the illustrations and storyline, Carroll mainly targeted children with the story. In general Stan Walker had great opinions that one can agree with, the book is unique and has an interesting storyline.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a good book that children will enjoy. Personally, I enjoyed it, although this one for children I think it was interesting. The visuals would interest children as well as the small details that a lot to the story. Another aspect of the book that makes it better is the songs, for example, the one told by the White Rabbit on page 119 “ they told me you had been to her…”(Carroll 119) . images, songs, storyline etc are what keep children’s attention, which helps young readers improve their skills, including such things, makes the story unique and interesting. A good storyline is also important, at the end of the story when Alice says “ oh, I’ve had such a curious dream” (Carroll 123) I was shocked because the events of the story were on and strange so I thought the ending would be his fault but the ending was when reality hit Alice, she woke up from a crazy dream which was the whole book. This unexpected ending was a great way to end the story as it is subtle compared to the rest of this book which was nonsense. I would recommend this novel to young readers who enjoy fiction books as well as Aventuras box, it was definitely unique but it was good and I think children will enjoy it more. Overall the adventures of Alice went on for a great journey, and I do recommend I said it’s entertaining and has a good storyline.