vacilation between childhood and adolescence in alice in wonderland
Estetisk-Filosofiska Fakulteten
Engelska
Jenny Karlsson
Alice’s Vacillation between
Childhood and Adolescence in Lewis Carroll’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
C-uppsats
Engelska
Termin:
Handledare:
Examinator:
Karlstads universitet 651 88 Karlstad
Tfn 054-700 10 00 Fax 054-700 14 60
0
Information@kau.se www.kau.se
VT - 11
Åke Bergvall
Anna Linzie
In the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the protagonist Alice is a seven year-old girl. She falls down a rabbit-hole chasing a White Rabbit with a waistcoat and ends up in Wonderland, a place where logic no longer applies and animals talk. We follow her on her adventures and encounters with absurd characters such as the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the Caterpillar.
In the world of literature, novels are categorized in different genres. Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland belongs to the genre of fantasy, which itself can be divided into different classifications. The novel includes elements from several fantasy genres and therefore can be classified as mixed fantasy “which includes journey, transformation, talking animal [sic], and magic” (Gates, Steffel and Molson 7). At the same time, it has certain similarities to a
Bildungsroman (even though it may not be the most typical one) which constitutes another special genre of books with child protagonists and is defined by Ross Murfin & Supryia M.
Ray as: “A novel that recounts the development (psychological and sometimes spiritual) of an individual from childhood to maturity, to the point at which the main character recognizes his or her place and role in the world” (31). It is first of all a children’s book as it has a child protagonist; however, it also appeals to adult readers with its advanced logical reasoning, witty puns and trenchant satire of Victorian society.
However, while Alice is supposed to be seven years of age, the reader can perceive her as older than that and
Engelska
Jenny Karlsson
Alice’s Vacillation between
Childhood and Adolescence in Lewis Carroll’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
C-uppsats
Engelska
Termin:
Handledare:
Examinator:
Karlstads universitet 651 88 Karlstad
Tfn 054-700 10 00 Fax 054-700 14 60
0
Information@kau.se www.kau.se
VT - 11
Åke Bergvall
Anna Linzie
In the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the protagonist Alice is a seven year-old girl. She falls down a rabbit-hole chasing a White Rabbit with a waistcoat and ends up in Wonderland, a place where logic no longer applies and animals talk. We follow her on her adventures and encounters with absurd characters such as the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the Caterpillar.
In the world of literature, novels are categorized in different genres. Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland belongs to the genre of fantasy, which itself can be divided into different classifications. The novel includes elements from several fantasy genres and therefore can be classified as mixed fantasy “which includes journey, transformation, talking animal [sic], and magic” (Gates, Steffel and Molson 7). At the same time, it has certain similarities to a
Bildungsroman (even though it may not be the most typical one) which constitutes another special genre of books with child protagonists and is defined by Ross Murfin & Supryia M.
Ray as: “A novel that recounts the development (psychological and sometimes spiritual) of an individual from childhood to maturity, to the point at which the main character recognizes his or her place and role in the world” (31). It is first of all a children’s book as it has a child protagonist; however, it also appeals to adult readers with its advanced logical reasoning, witty puns and trenchant satire of Victorian society.
However, while Alice is supposed to be seven years of age, the reader can perceive her as older than that and
Cited: the Looking-Glass. 1865. London: Dent & Sons, 1957. Print. “Civil.” Def. 4. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman, 2005. Evenshaug, Oddbjørn, and Dag Hallen. Barn- och ungdomspsykologi. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2001 Leach, Elsie. “Alice in Wonderland in Perspective.” in Robert Phillips, ed, Aspects of Alice: Lewis Carroll’s Dreamchild as Seen through the Critics’ Looking-Glasses, 1865-1971. London: Gollancz, 1972. Print. “Mad.” Def. 1. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman, 2005. “Mad.” Def. 2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Harlow: Longman, 2005. Marcus, Leonard S. “Alice’s Adventures, the Pennyroyal Press Edition.” Children’s Literature 12, (1984): 175-184 Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. Print. Natov, Roni. “The Persistence of Alice.” The Lion and the Unicorn 3:1, (1979): 38-61. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print. Books, 2009. Print. Sigler, Carolyn. ”Brave New Alice: Anna Matlack Richards’ Maternal Wonderland.” Children’s Literature 24, (1996): 55-73 Steinberg, Laurence. Adolescence. 8th edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2008.