Quick Facts

Plot

Screenshot of the Disney's adaptation of Alice

Alice sits next to her sister in a riverbank on a summer day feeling bored when suddenly she sees a white rabit in a waistcoat running a few meters from her. The rabbit grabs his watch and exclaims he is late and run for a nearby rabbit hole. Alice without thinking twice follows the rabbit and jumps inside the hole. After falling for several minutes, Alice hits the bottom and encounter a huge hallway with many looked doors. She finds a small door that opened with a key that was lying over a table in the middle of the room. Through the tiny door she can see an beautiful garden, however, she doesn't fit through it. After drinking a bottle labeled "DRINK ME" and shrinking, Alice founds herself crying when she realizes she left the key to the door over the table and she can't reach it. Alice then discovers a little cake marked "EAT ME", which she eats and grows until the ceiling. Once again she finds herself crying since she is to big to fit in the doors. However, now her tears are so big they turn in to an ocean where she starts to drown. A mice appears out of nowhere and helps Alice to get to the shore, there she meets a couple of animals but quickly scare them away and finds herself alone again. Alice finally gets to the wonderland. Here, she will experience the most weird and impossible events trying to get back to her world. Meanwhile Alice mets various iconic characters which either help her on her journey or are foils between Alice and Her goal. The antagonist of the novel, the Queen of Hearts, is the supreme ruler of Wonderland and won't let Alice leave. After great suffering, Alice finally manages to leave Wonderland. She wakes up on her sister's lap at the riverbank questioning if it was all a dream.


Characters


Alice: The protagonist of the novel. A seven year old girl, who is used to the monotony of the world and has a insatiable curiosity on everything around her. Wonderland is the great contrast between everything she believed.


The White Rabbit: A very important character to the story. He is the one who brings Alice to Wonderland. He is always worried about the time  adn somewhat manic, timid and aggressive. 


The Queen of Hearts: The ruler of Wonderland. The antagonist of the novel, a very demanding a angry character.


The Cheshire Cat:  A classic and iconic character of the novel. A cat who can teleport and become invisible at will. He is responsible for explaining the madness of the Wonderland to Alice


The Caterpillar: Another Wonderland creature. He lives in a mushroom and is constantly smoking a hookah. He always treat Alice with disdain.


Setting

Alice in Wonderland  is set in various places such as riverbank at the begining of the story or the rabbit hole. However it is mostly set in the magical places inside the Wonderland such as the forest she meets the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts Castle


SparkNotes. "Alice in Wonderland" 2011. n. pag. Web. 28/02/2011


PS. I used Sparknotes since it's hard to remember every detail of the plot or traces of the characters. It was some kind of aid while i was writing. I'm not that lazy ;D

Lewis Carrol

If i was told to describe Lewis in a single phrase, i would probably say:


"Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, mostly known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, was born in England in 1832 and was a mathematic, photographer, logician and writer who became famous because of his work Alice in Wonderland; died in 1898."

However, one phrase is nothing compared to the actual life of this unique man and his entire work developed throughout his 66 years alive.

Lewis Carroll

Charles L. Dodgson was born, more precisely, in Daresbury, England, on January 27th of 1832. He received a very religious education from his protestant father and was expected to also follow the religious carrier. However, Charles decided to attend the University of Oxford. And in 1855 he was invited to stay at the university as a mathematics teacher, where he taught until 1881. Contrasting his first books regarding geometry and algebra, Dodgson stood out for his outstanding logician skills. This interest for logic, reason and numbers led Charles to write some books about it -The Game of Logic (1887) and Symbolic Logic (1896).

During his years in Oxford, Dodgson met one of his great friends, Henry Liddell, father of 3 daughters - Alice, Lorina and Edith. His friend's daughter name, Alice, and his famous novel character is not a coincidence. Charles inspired his pure character in this enigmatic flesh and bones girl.


C. Dodgson finally adopts the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll, which he uses to sign his literary works leaving his real name to the scientific papers. After the huge success Alice in Wonderland in 1865, Carrol wrote its sequel Through de Looking Glass in 1871, which was also an masterpiece. Other notable works were: The Hunting of Snark of 1876 and Sylvie and Bruno of 1889.

From 1850 onwards, Carroll also stood out as a photographer. His favorite pictures were important figures of the time ( artists, writers, poets, scientists, teachers, etc) and children, mostly girls between 8 and 12 years old


Charles Lutwidge Dodgson passed away in January 14th of 1899 in the city of Guilford, England

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Lewis Carroll is mostly known for his peculiar writing style. Characterizing it as unique is a slight underrating of his skills. Carroll's books transmit an incredible amount of energy and charm, perfect for a children's book. One of Carroll's many traits in writing is the often use of italics to give emphasis to many words and passages. Its amazing how this italics together with his colorful writing adds to the mood of the work. Lewis makes it clear how his writing isn't 100% serious, its almost like children playing. You can feel the magic in it.


Wikipedia. "Lewis Carroll" 2011. n. pag. Web. 28/02/2011

The Victorian Era

Well, this the first actual post/topic and is one of the most important, since we can situate ourselves in history and the contexts in which the authors lived and the novels were written. Let's begin then, shall we?

The Victorian literature was produced during the reign of Queen Victoria who lived between 1837 and 1901. This period later on was called the Victorian Era. Mainly, it was a transition period between the writers of the romantic era and the modern literature of the 20th century.

Queen Victoria in 1887

Queen Victoria is known for her great administration of the United Kingdom. During her reign, the British were gifted with a prolonged prosperity and solid peace. In addition, Queen Victoria, is also responsible for economic, colonial, and industrial consolidation.

During the Victorian Era, people saw the "novel" taking the lead over all the various literary works out there in English Literature. Because of that, more works were influencing more people. Books and novels rapidly gained value and importance, creating a huge reading mass not only in the United Kingdom but in other countries.

Victorian literature is known for its strong sense of morality, prudishness and oppression. Its novels are mostly idealized portraits of difficult lives in which hard work, perseverance, love and luck pervade. Virtue is always rewarded and evil are suitably punished. They tended to show an improving human nature with a central moral lesson at its core. While this formula was the basis for much of earlier Victorian fiction, the situation became more complex as the century progressed. In addition, Victorian literature is also known for its attempts to combine imagination and emotion with the neoclassical ideal of the presence of art in the common person. Some of the best-known authors of this period are Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre), Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights), and Charles Dickens (Great Expectations).
Wikipedia. "Victorian Era" 2011. n. pag. Web. 28/02/2011

Wikipedia. "Victorian Literature" 2011. n. pag. Web. 28/02/2011

eNote. "Victorian Literature" 2011. n. pag. Web. 28/02/2011

Introduction

Hello everybody! (or just Ms. Lima. since I'm pretty sure you'll be the only person to ever read this blog)

I felt it would be adequate to write an introduction to this blog , something like an "about page", since just trowing a bunch of info here wouldn't make that much sense.

Well, this blog is part my AP English Course and I'll be graded for it =D. Here I'll discuss some topics related to the Victorian Era in the English Literature and the novel Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol.

I hope you enjoy!