3.1 Fear and Frustration 9

3.2 Loss and Confusion 11

3.3 Doubt and Disgust 12

4 Growth and Courage 15

4.1 To Understand the Unknown with Reason 15

4.2 To Find Self-assurance 16

4.3 To Grow in the Real World 18

5 Conclusion 20

Bibliography 22

1 Introduction

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) is one of the greatest novels of all times by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

The novel primarily concerns the seven-year-old little girl named Alice. The protagonist inadvertently chases after a White Rabbit and falls the Rabbit Hole through which she enters into a fantastic world. In this wonderland, the animals can talk, magic can easily change body’s size and logic can no longer be in good order. Alice begins her adventures and comes to be accustomed to all sorts of strange and crazy things, including Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Dormouse, etc. Meanwhile, Alice disgusts this absurd world where she feels fear and confused but finally finds herself and comes back to the reality.论文网

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is regarded as the classic work of the English Children’s Fantasy. Due to its extensive influence and high literature value, it is popular among children, adult readers and it has attracted a great number of scholars to conduct literary analysis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into 120 languages since it was first published in 1865.

The success of this novel makes a great contribution to the children’s literature. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland symbolizes the distinction from the adult literature as a significant boundary. It begins the Golden Age of Children’s Literature to the England in the 19th century. Furthermore, since Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written in Victorian Age. It reflects the state of living of human beings in the end of 19th century, namely, self-loss, confusion facing to the earth-shaking changes and appeals to people to mature themselves with courage in the unknown world, like Alice.

In addition to the success of the content, rhetoric devices of the novel are also non-negligible. Puns, coinages, nonsense verses and literary quotations are diffusely applied in the novel. The main character, the March Hare and the Hatter are originated from the idiom “mad as a March hare” and “mad as a hatter”. The nonsense verses appear in the novel are familiar among the British. For example, the poem You are Old, Father William rewrote by Carroll in the novel is originated from

Robert Southey’s The Old Man’s Comfort. These linguistic features of the novel undoubtedly add

aesthetic value to the novel.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832- 14 January 1898) better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll engaged himself in various fields, such as literature, mathematics, logics, poetry and photography. He was shy by nature and suffered from severe stammer, but he was willing to communicate with others, especially children. Also, he published many famous poems. In 1876, he created Snake Shark Hunting. Thus, the new word “Snark” was widely used among the public and was included in the English Dictionary. He almost devoted his whole life to mathematics and logics. The profession and passion of mathematics, logic and children’s life brought up the hit of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.