Not So Wonderful Wonderland

Not So Wonderful Wonderland. Mad·ness/ˈmadnəs/ noun:1.The state of being mentally ill. 2.Extremely foolish behavior, this is the theme of many classic novels. The theme of madness can be found everywhere you look, at work, school but most importantly in yourself. Although everyone thinks they have made foolish decisions at one point in their life, nothing is comparable to the madness in Lewis Carrolls most well known series. Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have a strong undeniable theme of madness amongst them. At first glance the novels seem easy enough to understand, they follow the structure of a basic children's story and the writing is simple. Yet when studied more in depth the reader will find that the theme of madness is very dark and scary. These novels are not intended for Children, the reader recognizes this through locations, characters and time. This unique intent for adults puts a different slant on the novels. The first time the core theme of madness is evident is through locations. The first glimpse of Wonderland that the reader sees is the rabbit hole. One of the first rules a person is taught as a child is to never go anywhere without parents. Within the first page of the novel Alice disobeys this rule and follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole. The hole in the ground is supposed to be very deep: “She though she would fall through the middle of the earth” (Fensh 421). Alice explains in the novel that as she falls it feels as though she is falling for days. She describes the objects she sees on her way down and how things nearly hit her in the head. As a child reader the thought of possibly falling down into the middle of the earth would be a scary thought, and not only falling for so long, but the initial fall would be frightening. The madness in these first few pages of the book are the least dark and scary. Throughout the entire first novel Alice’s Wonder-World is mad and dark, however, the most elaborate description of the location is on the caterpillars mushroom. This is where the mood turns from mad, to creepy. The mushroom is described as being “a large mushroom growing near her, about the same hight as herself,”(Carroll 52) Carroll goes on to explain what the caterpillar looks like, he explains that he is blowing large puffs of smoke, this makes it hard for Alice to see. When reading this children might imagine the caterpillar on his mushroom, growing big and small and blowing smoke puffs in Alice’s face. For a small child’s imagination this is a lot to take in. They cannot see with the smoke in their face which would make them frightened and they would feel lost with no sense of security. As stated by the Canadian Mental Health Association, “Children must have their basic needs met if they are to feel safe and comfortable....When children feel safe, they are less likely to be afraid” (CMHA 2). With the image of foggy air and not being able to see where they are, children will become frightened by the novel. Contrary to Wonderland, where the atmosphere is more or less light and happy, the backwards world of Through the Looking Glass has the maddest locations throughout the series. The first thing Alice notices when she enters the Looking Glass world is that every thing is backwards. The pictures are on opposite sides, along with the fire place and doors. Alice goes on to explain that she finds some things that are quite bizarre, “For instance, the picture on the wall next the fire seemed to be all alive, and the very clock on the chimney-piece had got the face of a little old man” (Carroll 174). The craziest thing about all of these happenings is that Alice does not seem the slightest bit bothered by the talking objects. For an adult reading this story it may seem just silly that the walls are talking along with the chess pieces, but for a child this could be very frightening. Children need to be able to relate to situations in order to not only understand what is going on, but also to feel confident. Michael Berzonsky states, “Familiarity had a significant effect on children’s casual reasoning” (Berzonsky 1). The most unfamiliar thing for children to comprehend is the ground of the looking glass world: “‘I declare it’s marked out just like a large chessboard!’ Alice said at last” (Carroll 192). For a small child in the Victoria era where Alice in wonderland is set it would make more sense for a child to know how to play chess. For more modern children that read the book, they will not know how to play chess or even what it is. They are fearful of the large checkered floor that surrounds Alice. Although location is a defining part of the madness in the Wonderland Series, characters have a huge impact on the theme of madness. “Designed as a tale for children,(Alice) is, in fact, an encyclopedic study of adult psychology” (Boas 114). This sentence perfectly embodies exactly what Alice’s Adventures are all about. They are not small stories for children to giggle at, but they come with a much greater meaning. The first character to show this, is Alice herself. In the first chapter Alice tumbles down a rabbit hole. When she arrives at the bottom of the hole she foolishly drinks from an unlabeled bottle, she does not know that in a short time she will be shrinking. As Alice reaches her smallest point she eats cake that makes her grow. There have been speculations that Alice’s constant change of hight and emotions symbolize an adolescent girl sometimes feeling like an adult and sometimes still feeling like a child. As a child reading this they will not understand the hidden meaning of the change in size, and it will just appear as scary. Objects are quickly growing as tall as a house and then, “shutting up like a telescope,” (Carroll 18). Alice battles with her constant change in height throughout the entire series, although Alice is supposed to be the character children relate to, she may be the farthest thing from relatable with a child. Of all the characters in wonderland Alice is the least mad, compared to the friends she meets at tea time. The tea party is not the first example of madness but it is by far the most extreme. Charles Frey and John Griffith agree by saying, “The tea party picks up the pace of madness” (Frey & Griffith,2). The entire chapter where Alice encounters the Hatter, March Hare and Doormouse is full of madness. The hatter is described as opening his eyes wide and staring into Alice’s as he approaches her closely and asks her a riddle, for a child audience this would paint a bad visual in their head. The tone of madness is not through actions in this chapter, but more though the dialogue of the four characters, it lacks structure and is constantly jumping back and fourth without direction. A child reading the novel would not be able to pick up on all the changing characters and witty responses. For example when Alice first sits down she is told not to sit, when she finally get permissions to sit she is offered wine. After a look around she notices there is none and says, “Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it” (Carroll 81) the March Hare comes back with a very witty response, “It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited”(Carroll 81). Children would not be able to pick up on the humor being used in this instance, they might think that Alice is in trouble, and the characters are being mean. The way the Hatter speaks is not where the craziness stops. The Hatter and the rest of the tea party are stuck in tea time, and in hopes to get out they continually try different methods of time chasing. When Alice is at the tea party the Mad Hatter dips his watch into his cup of tea and slathers butter all over the inside. Adults may think this is just nonsense and foolishness, and has no harm, but children reading this though are scared at how abnormal the trio is. As if there was not enough madness in the book after the Hatter, Carroll introduces the reader to the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts is the ruler of Wonderland and everything she says goes. She knows this and takes full advantage of her power. The Queen is one of the only characters in Wonderland, aside from the Cheshier Cat, that has absolutely nothing to fear. She is in control of all of the executions, which is what the characters in Wonderland fear most. Although the Queen never actually executes anyone she is most well know for her hasty decisions made in only moments: “The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed ‘Off with her head! Off-’” (Carroll 96). This is a pivotal moment in the series because this is the first time Alice is actually frightened by the nonsense in Wonderland. Children who are reading the story would be just as frightened as Alice, if not more. In the real world no one, especially not the Queen, would behead people for no reason. There must be some sense of logic behind someones actions. Although the children can recognize that the Queen is only a playing card this is still an undeniably frightful area of the novel for a child. Madness through the characters is the most obvious example, but madness is also portrayed through the undertone theme of time. Madness in time is the first theme in the book; it is what propels the plot and gets Alice into the mess she is in. Possibly the most famous and recognizable quote from the series is, “‘Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!’ but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet” (Carroll12). Without the White Rabbits poor sense of time, the strange adventures of Wonderland would have never taken place. Time in-itself is a hard concept for a small reader to grasp. They will rely on a schedule to have a sense of time, not a pocket watch. This is insanity at it’s finest, a talking rabbit, running on two feet, checking the time. For a child this is confusing and unrealistic, they will question why the rabbit is talking, and better yet why it is checking the time. Although this is not the most absurd thing that happens in Wonderland it is the most defining. For the White Rabbit he was afraid of being late, he did not want time to catch up with him. As for the Mad Hatter and the tea party trio, all they want is for time to catch up to them. “It’s always tea time for the Mad Hatter, March Hare and the Dormouse” (Henkle 2). Through the laws of Wonderland the three are stuck in six’o clock tea time. When Alice arrives at their table they tell her the same stories and riddles over and over again, in which some have no meaning, like the Raven and Writting desk riddle. Since the Mad Hatter has been stuck in the same world, and time for so long he is slowly starting to loose his mind, he asks Alice constantly for the time when he has it right in front of him. He is also trying to escape the time warp he found himself in. The three are constantly trying to fix their clocks, switch around to different seats, sing songs, tell riddles, anything to speed up time. Although when they are in tea time they seem to really enjoy themselves, for a child this concept of time is hard to understand. Children will be confused as to why it is always six’ o clock, and why they are trying to escape time. As an adult reader onr can look more in depth into the time warp, since it is every adults fantasy to just play, and get away from the real world. Robert Henkle proves this theory correct by saying, “Much of our enjoyment...lies in our realization that we, too, would like to play and carry on just as the adult creatures of Wonderland and Thought the Looking-Glass do” (Henkle 2). The madness is evident in the dreamers worlds. "The two Alices are not books for children; they are only books in which we become children” (Virginia Woolf, 115). The children are not mature enough or educated enough to grasp the key concepts of Alice in Wonderland, or see the dark undertones. Children can not wrap their brains around the strange locations that Alice finds herself exploring. The different lunatic characters Alice mingles with along the way are difficult for children to keep up with. Children will also not be able to fully understand the concept and main theme of time. Children who read the Alice books will later read them as adults to their children, and they will discover a new story, one that will bring them back to their childhood. Instead of the frightful book they remember it will be a deep philosophical story. And the not so wonderful Wonderland, really will be a dream.