Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Analysis of Major Characters
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the vivid and whimsical characters that populate Lewis Carroll's classic tale. Central to the narrative is Alice, a curious and strong-willed young girl who embarks on a fantastical journey after following the White Rabbit down his hole. The White Rabbit, characterized as anxious and aristocratic, acts as a reluctant prime minister in the chaotic realm of Wonderland. Contrasting with him is the Queen of Hearts, an ill-tempered ruler who arbitrarily demands beheadings, embodying the theme of arbitrary authority. The King of Hearts provides a foil to her, being timid yet kind-hearted, as he covertly pardons her victims.
Other notable figures include the Cheshire Cat, known for its enigmatic smiles and philosophical conversations; the Mad Hatter and March Hare, who host a nonsensical tea party; and the Mock Turtle, who shares his melancholic tale with Alice. Through interactions with these characters, Alice navigates a world that challenges her understanding of logic and reality. Each character serves to highlight various themes, such as the absurdity of authority, the nature of identity, and the fluidity of reality, making this analysis engaging for those exploring the deeper meanings behind Carroll's enchanting narrative.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Lewis Carroll
First published: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass: And What Alice Found There (1871 but dated 1872)
Genre: Novel
Locale: The dream world of an imaginative child
Plot: Fantasy
Time: Victorian England
Alice, a curious, imaginative, strong-willed, and honest young English girl. She falls asleep by the side of a stream in a meadow and dreams that she follows a White Rabbit down his hole. She has many adventures in a Wonderland peopled by all kinds of strange characters and animals.
The White Rabbit, anxious, aristocratic, dandified. Alice follows him down his hole, which leads to an enchanted house and garden. The White Rabbit is a prime minister of sorts in Wonderland, for he has close contact with the royalty there and carries out their orders, although he does not institute policy.
The Queen of Hearts, the ill-tempered Queen of Wonder-land. She constantly demands that everyone who crosses her be beheaded. Fond of croquet, she orders Alice to take part in a game in which flamingoes are used for mallets and hedgehogs for balls. She issues an order for Alice's execution at the end of the book, but the order is never carried out because Alice accuses the Queen and all her company of being only a pack of cards, an assertion that turns out to be true.
The King of Hearts, a timid, kindly man. Although he is completely under his wife's power because of her temper, he manages to pardon all her victims surreptitiously.
The Duchess, another member of royalty in Wonderland, a platitude-quoting, moralizing, ugly old woman who lives in a chaotic house. Deathly afraid of the Queen, she is ordered to be beheaded, but the sentence is never carried out.
The Cook, the Duchess'servant. She flavors everything with pepper, insults her mistress, and throws cooking pans at her.
The Cheshire Cat, the Duchess' grinning cat. Continually vanishing and reappearing, he is a great conversationalist, and he tells Alice much of the gossip in Wonderland.
The Duchess' Baby, a strange, howling, little infant. The baby turns into a pig when the Duchess entrusts it to Alice's care.
The Knave of Hearts, a timid, poetry-writing fellow accused of stealing some tarts that the Queen has made.
The March Hare, the rude host of a mad tea party to which Alice invites herself and then wishes that she had not.
The Mad Hatter, a riddle-making, blunt, outspoken guest at the tea party. He is a good friend of the March Hare, and at the party, the two try to prove to Alice that she is stupid.
The Dormouse, another guest at the tea party. He is a sleepy creature, aroused long enough to recite for Alice and then pushed headfirst into the teapot.
The Gryphon, a mythical creature, half bird, half animal, who escorts Alice to the home of the Mock Turtle so that she may hear the recital of the Turtle's life story.
The Mock Turtle, an ever-sobbing animal. He recites his life's story to Alice and everyone else within earshot.
The Caterpillar, a hookah-smoking insect who perches on the top of a magic mushroom. Officious and easily offended, he tests Alice's intelligence with a series of ridiculous riddles.
Bill, The Lizard, an unfortunate fellow picked by the other animals to go down the chimney of the White Rabbit's house and try to force out Alice, who has assumed gigantic proportions after drinking a magic potion she found on the table.
The Mouse, who greets Alice in the pool of tears that she has made by crying while she was of gigantic size. Now of minute proportions, she is almost overwhelmed by the Mouse, a creature easily offended.
The Lorry, The Duck, The Dodo, The Eaglet, The Crab, and The Baby Crab, creatures whom Alice meets in the pool of her tears and who swim around with her.
Father William and Father William's Son, characters in a poem that Alice recites. The old man, a former athlete, can still balance an eel on his nose, much to the amazement of his curious and impertinent son. The poem is a parody of Robert Southey's “The Old Man's Comforts.”
The Pigeon, a bird Alice meets after she has made herself tall by eating part of the Caterpillar's mushroom.
The Fish Footman, the bearer of a note from the Queen inviting the Duchess to play croquet.
The Frog Footman, the impolite servant of the Duchess; his wig becomes entangled with that of the Fish Footman when the two bow in greeting each other.
The Puppy, a playful animal Alice meets while she is in her small state.
The Flamingo, the bird Alice uses for a croquet mallet in the game with the Queen.
The Hedgehog, the animal that acts as the ball in the croquet game.
Five, Two, and Seven, three quarrelsome gardeners of the Queen. When Alice meets them, they are painting all the white roses in the garden red, to obliterate the mistake someone had made in ordering white ones.
Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie, three sisters in the Dormouse's story. They live at the bottom of a well and exist solely on treacle.
Dinah, Alice's pet cat in real life.
Alice's Sister, the wise older sister who is charmed by Alice's tales of her adventures in Wonderland.