| dc.description.abstract | In the Victorian era one of the most famous children’s book was written by Charles Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland. The book became famous because of its imaginative elements and anti-morality; the nonsense humour. The book was part of a revolutionary movement with the message that certain values of the Victorian period were no longer wished for, like the morality and the manner-focussed mentality. Soon after the release of Alice in Wonderland in 1865, a sequel was written in 1871, called Alice Through the Looking Glass, which also made a huge impact on the people. Both stories have a main focus on the character Alice and her psychedelic adventures; the character Alice is inspired by a real girl called Alice Liddle. It is said that Dodgson was in love with Alice and that he even wanted to marry her. Her father, the Dean, did not agree and any form of contact was prohibited. The Alice stories were created before this event and it all started on a rainy day when a trip to the river was cancelled due to the weather. Carroll made up stories to entertain Alice and her sisters and half a year later the Alice stories were written down.
This paper will focus on the reception of the book and the underneath lying criticism Carroll may have intended. The criticism shows in the language use of certain characters and their representation in the illustration. I will use the elements of the concept of parody to point out that Carroll uses parody as a vehicle to criticise his society for its class system. I will point this out by using three characters and their representation, namely Pat, the Irish workman, Bill the Lizard, the English workman, and the Gryphon, the representer of two realms, heaven and earth, and in my analysis the representer of the higher classes and the lower classes:
1. He is criticising the ethnical prejudice by society towards the Irish; there is no full description, nor a display of the character Pat and the description the character does have, is not a positive one. Pat may be connected to the guinea pig in the story, which results into Carroll’s point of view towards the English: the English use the Irish as some sort of guinea pig workmen;
2. He criticises the representation of the working class as well, by creating the simpleton Bill the Lizard: the illustrations and description of Bill are plain and portray Bill as an unintelligent creature, that gets picked on by other creatures. Carroll also criticises the Victorian jury system by letting Bill be part of the juries. Also, Bill is not able of using his voice, unless it is given to him by the Queen, which shows that the elite has the power still;
3. Lastly, he criticises the border between the lower classes and higher classes by creating the creature The Gryphon. The Gryphon used to represent two realms, heaven and earth, and this is transferred by Carroll to the ruler of the lower classes and higher classes. With the Gryphon’s portrayal as a sleeping Gryphon by Tenniel, Carroll and Tenniel point out that it is not possible for the Gryphon to be the ruler of two realms if there is a strong segregation amongst the classes. | |
