Alice In Wonderland
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
creatures. It is seen as an example of the
literary nonsense Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most well-kn ...
genre. The artist
John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and poli ...
provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the book. It received positive reviews upon release and is now one of the best-known works of
Victorian literature Victorian literature refers to English literature during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901). The 19th century is considered by some to be the Golden Age of English Literature, especially for British novels. It was in the Victorian era tha ...
; its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have had widespread influence on
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
and literature, especially in the
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
genre. It is credited as helping end an era of
didacticism Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
in
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
, inaugurating a new era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain". The tale plays with
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. The titular character Alice shares her given name with
Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
, a girl Carroll knew. The book has never been out of print and has been
translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
into 174 languages. Its legacy covers
adaptations In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the ...
for screen, radio, art, ballet, opera, musicals, theme parks, board games and video games. Carroll published a sequel in 1871 entitled ''
Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
'' and a shortened version for young children, '' The Nursery "Alice"'', in 1890.


Background


"All in the golden afternoon..."

''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' was inspired when, on 4 July 1862,
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
and Reverend
Robinson Duckworth Robinson Duckworth (4 December 1834 – 20 September 1911) was a British priest, who was present on the original boating expedition of 4 July 1862 during which Alice's adventures were first told by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). H ...
rowed up
The Isis "The Isis" () is an alternative name for the River Thames, used from its source in the Cotswolds until it is joined by the Thame at Dorchester in Oxfordshire. It derives from the ancient name for the Thames, ''Tamesis'', which in the Middle ...
in a boat with three young girls. The three girls were the daughters of scholar Henry Liddell: Lorina Charlotte Liddell (aged 13; "Prima" in the book's prefatory verse);
Alice Pleasance Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
(aged 10; "Secunda" in the verse); and Edith Mary Liddell (aged 8; "Tertia" in the verse). The journey began at
Folly Bridge Folly Bridge is a stone bridge over the River Thames carrying the Abingdon Road south from the centre of Oxford, England. It was erected in 1825–27, to designs of a little-known architect, Ebenezer Perry (died 1850), who practised in London. ...
, Oxford, and ended away in Godstow, Oxfordshire. During the trip Carroll told the girls a story that he described in his diary as "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" and which his journal says he "undertook to write out for Alice". Alice Liddell recalled that she asked Carroll to write it down: unlike other stories he had told her, this one she wanted to preserve. She finally got the manuscript more than two years later. 4 July was known as the " golden afternoon", prefaced in the novel as a poem. In fact, the weather around Oxford on 4 July was "cool and rather wet", although at least one scholar has disputed this claim. Scholars debate whether Carroll in fact came up with ''Alice'' during the "golden afternoon" or whether the story was developed over a longer period. Carroll had known the Liddell children since around March 1856, when he befriended Harry Liddell. He met Lorina by early March as well. In June 1856, he took the children out on the river. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who wrote a literary biography of Carroll, suggests that Carroll favoured Alice Pleasance Liddell in particular because her name was ripe for allusion. "Pleasance" means pleasure and the name "Alice" appeared in contemporary works including the poem "Alice Gray" by William Mee, of which Carroll wrote a parody; and Alice is a character in "Dream-Children: A Reverie", a prose piece by
Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764 ...
. Carroll, an amateur photographer by the late 1850s, produced many photographic portraits of the Liddell children—but none more than Alice, of whom 20 survive.


Manuscript: ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground''

Carroll began writing the manuscript of the story the next day, although that earliest version is lost. The girls and Carroll took another boat trip a month later, when he elaborated the plot to the story of Alice, and in November he began working on the manuscript in earnest. To add the finishing touches he researched natural history in connection with the animals presented in the book, and then had the book examined by other children—particularly those of
George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. I ...
. Though Carroll did add his own illustrations to the original copy, on publication he was advised to find a professional illustrator so the pictures were more appealing to its audiences. He subsequently approached
John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and poli ...
to reinterpret Carroll's visions through his own artistic eye, telling him that the story had been well liked by the children. On 26 November 1864, Carroll gave Alice the handwritten manuscript of ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'', with illustrations by Carroll himself, dedicating it as "A Christmas Gift to a Dear Child in Memory of a Summer's Day". The published version of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' is about twice the length of ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'' and includes episodes, such as the Mad Tea-Party, that did not appear in the manuscript. The only known manuscript copy of ''Under Ground'' is held in the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. Macmillan published a facsimile of the manuscript in 1886. Carroll began planning a print edition of the ''Alice'' story in 1863, before he gave Alice Liddell the handwritten manuscript. He wrote on 9 May 1863 that MacDonald's family had suggested he publish ''Alice''. A diary entry for 2 July says that he received a specimen page of the print edition around that date.


Plot

A young girl named Alice sits bored by a riverbank, where she suddenly spots a
White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...
with a
pocket watch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristw ...
and
waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. ...
lamenting that he is late. The surprised Alice follows him down a rabbit hole, which sends her down a lengthy plummet but to a safe landing. Inside a room with a table, she finds a key to a tiny door, beyond which is a beautiful garden. As she ponders how to fit through the door, she discovers a bottle reading "Drink me". Alice hesitantly drinks a portion of the bottle's contents, and to her astonishment, she shrinks small enough to enter the door. However, she had left the key upon the table and is unable to reach it. Alice then discovers and eats a cake, which causes her to grow to a tremendous size. As the unhappy Alice bursts into tears, the passing White Rabbit flees in a panic, dropping a fan and pair of gloves. Alice uses the fan for herself, which causes her to shrink once more and leaves her swimming in a pool of her own tears. Within the pool, Alice meets a variety of animals and birds, who convene on a bank and engage in a "Caucus Race" to dry themselves. Following the end of the race, Alice inadvertently frightens the animals away by discussing her cat. The White Rabbit appears in search of the gloves and fan. Mistaking Alice for his
maidservant A handmaiden, handmaid or maidservant is a personal maid or female Domestic worker, servant. Depending on culture or historical period, a handmaiden may be of slave status or may be simply an employee. However, the term ''handmaiden'' generally ...
, the White Rabbit orders Alice to go into his house and retrieve them. Alice finds another bottle and drinks from it, which causes her to grow to such an extent that she gets stuck within the house. The White Rabbit and his neighbors attempt several methods to extract her, eventually taking to hurling pebbles that turn into small cakes. Alice eats one and shrinks herself, allowing her to flee into the forest. She meets a
Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
seated on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. Amidst the Caterpillar's questioning, Alice begins to admit to her current identity crisis, compounded by her inability to remember a poem. Before crawling away, the Caterpillar tells her that a bite of one side of the mushroom will make her larger, while a bite from the other side will make her smaller. During a period of trial and error, Alice's neck extends between the treetops, frightening a pigeon who mistakes her for a serpent. After shrinking to an appropriate height, Alice arrives at the home of a
Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
, who owns a perpetually grinning
Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Ch ...
. The Duchess's baby, whom she hands to Alice, transforms into a piglet, which Alice releases into the woods. The Cheshire Cat appears to Alice and directs her toward the
Hatter Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
and
March Hare The March Hare (called Haigha in ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a character most famous for appearing in the tea party scene in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. The main character, Alice, hypothesizes, : "T ...
before disappearing, leaving his grin behind. Alice finds the Hatter, March Hare, and a sleepy
Dormouse A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...
in the midst of an absurd tea party. The Hatter explains that it is always 6 pm (tea time), claiming that time is standing still as punishment for the Hatter trying to "kill it". A strange conversation ensues around the table, and the riddle " Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is brought forward. Eventually, Alice impatiently decides to leave, dismissing the affair as "the stupidest tea party that
he has He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
ever been to". Noticing a door on one of the trees, Alice passes through and finds herself back in the room from the beginning of her journey. She is able to take the key and use it to open the door to the garden, which turns out to be the
croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the Wor ...
court of the
Queen of Hearts The queen of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. Queen of Hearts or The Queen of Hearts may refer to: Books * "The Queen of Hearts" (poem), anonymous nursery rhyme published 1782 * ''The Queen of Hearts'', an 1859 novel by ...
, whose guard consists of living playing cards. Alice participates in a croquet game, in which hedgehogs are used as balls, flamingos are used as mallets, and soldiers act as gates. The Queen proves to be short-tempered, and she constantly orders beheadings. When the Cheshire Cat appears as only a head, the Queen orders his beheading, only to be told that such an act is impossible. Because the cat belongs to the Duchess, Alice prompts the Queen to release the Duchess from prison to resolve the matter. When the Duchess ruminates on finding morals in everything around her, the Queen dismisses her on the threat of execution. Alice then meets a
Gryphon The griffin, griffon, or gryphon ( Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and ...
and a weeping
Mock Turtle The Mock Turtle is a fictional character devised by Lewis Carroll from his popular 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Its name is taken from a dish that was popular in the Victorian period, mock turtle soup. ''Alice's Adventures in ...
, who dance to the Lobster Quadrille while Alice recites (rather incorrectly) " 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster". The Mock Turtle sings them "Beautiful Soup" during which the Gryphon drags Alice away for an impending trial, in which the Knave of Hearts stands accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. The trial is ridiculously conducted by the
King of Hearts The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Hearts may also refer to: Games * The King of Hearts Has Five Sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo Books * King of Hearts (''Alice's Adventures ...
, and the jury is composed of various animals that Alice had previously met. Alice gradually grows in size and confidence, allowing herself increasingly frequent remarks on the irrationality of the proceedings. The Queen finally commands Alice's beheading, but Alice scoffs that the Queen's guard is only a pack of cards. Although Alice holds her own for a time, the card guards soon gang up and start to swarm all over her. Alice's sister wakes her up from a dream, brushing what turns out to be some leaves from Alice's face. Alice leaves her sister on the bank to imagine all the curious happenings for herself.


Characters

The main characters in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' are the following:


Character allusions

upright=1.2, Mad Tea Party.
The Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...
In ''The Annotated Alice'', Martin Gardner provides background information for the characters. The members of the boating party that first heard Carroll's tale show up in chapter 3 ("A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale").
Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
herself is there, while Carroll is caricatured as the Dodo (because Carroll stuttered when he spoke, he sometimes pronounced his last name as "Dodo-Dodgson"). The Duck refers to
Robinson Duckworth Robinson Duckworth (4 December 1834 – 20 September 1911) was a British priest, who was present on the original boating expedition of 4 July 1862 during which Alice's adventures were first told by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). H ...
, and the Lory and Eaglet to Alice Liddell's sisters Lorina and Edith. Bill the Lizard may be a play on the name of British Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
. One of Tenniel's illustrations in ''
Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
''—the 1871 sequel to ''Alice''—depicts the character referred to as the "Man in White Paper" (whom Alice meets on a train) as a caricature of Disraeli, wearing a paper hat. The illustrations of the Lion and the Unicorn (also in ''Looking-Glass'') look like Tenniel's ''
Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...
'' illustrations of
William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
and Disraeli, although Gardner says there is "no proof" that they were intended to represent these politicians. Gardner has suggested that the Hatter is a reference to
Theophilus Carter Theophilus Carter (1824 – 21 December 1904) was an eccentric British furniture dealer who may have been an inspiration for the illustration by Sir John Tenniel of Lewis Carroll's characters the Mad Hatter in his 1865 novel ''Alice's Adven ...
, an Oxford furniture dealer, and that Tenniel apparently drew the Hatter to resemble Carter, on a suggestion of Carroll's. The Dormouse tells a story about three little sisters named Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie. These are the Liddell sisters: Elsie is L.C. (Lorina Charlotte); Tillie is Edith (her family nickname is Matilda); and Lacie is an
anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...
of Alice. The Mock Turtle speaks of a drawling-master, "an old
conger ''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 2 m (6 ft) or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during t ...
eel", who came once a week to teach "Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils". This is a reference to the art critic
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
, who came once a week to the Liddell house to teach the children drawing, sketching, and painting in oils. The Mock Turtle also sings "Turtle Soup". This is a parody of a song called "Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star", which the Liddells sang for Carroll.


Poems and songs

Carroll wrote multiple poems and songs for ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', including: *" All in the golden afternoon..."—the prefatory verse to the book, an original poem by Carroll that recalls the rowing expedition on which he first told the story of Alice's adventures underground *"
How Doth the Little Crocodile "How Doth the Little Crocodile" is a poem by Lewis Carroll which appears in chapter 2 of his 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Alice recites it while attempting to recall " Against Idleness and Mischief" by Isaac Watts. It describ ...
"—a parody of
Isaac Watts Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...
' nursery rhyme, " Against Idleness and Mischief" *"
The Mouse's Tale "The Mouse's Tale" is a shaped poem by Lewis Carroll which appears in his 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Though no formal title for the poem is given in the text, the chapter title refers to "A Long Tale" and the Mouse introduces ...
"—an example of
concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct me ...
*" You Are Old, Father William"—a parody of
Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
's " The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them" *The Duchess's lullaby, "Speak roughly to your little boy..."—a parody of David Bates' "Speak Gently" *"
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" is a poem recited by the Mad Hatter in chapter seven of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. It is a parody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Text Context The Hatter is interrupted in ...
"—a parody of Jane Taylor's "
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star". The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in '' Rhymes for the Nurser ...
" *" The Lobster Quadrille"—a parody of Mary Botham Howitt's " The Spider and the Fly" *" 'Tis the Voice of the Lobster"—a parody of
Isaac Watts Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...
' " The Sluggard" *"Beautiful Soup"—a parody of James M. Sayles's "Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star" *" The Queen of Hearts"—an actual nursery rhyme *"They told me you had been to her..."—White Rabbit's evidence


Writing style and themes


Symbolism

Carroll's biographer Morton N. Cohen reads ''Alice'' as a
roman à clef ''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship ...
populated with real figures from Carroll's life. The Alice of ''Alice'' is
Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
; the Dodo is Carroll himself; Wonderland is Oxford; even the Mad Tea Party, according to Cohen, is a send-up of Alice's own birthday party. The critic Jan Susina rejects Cohen's account, arguing that Alice the character bears a tenuous relationship with Alice Liddell. Beyond its refashioning of Carroll's everyday life, Cohen argues, ''Alice'' critiques Victorian ideals of childhood. It is an account of "the child's plight in Victorian upper-class society" in which Alice's mistreatment by the creatures of Wonderland reflects Carroll's own mistreatment by older people as a child. In the eighth chapter, three cards are painting the roses on a rose tree red, because they had accidentally planted a white-rose tree that The Queen of Hearts hates. According to
Wilfrid Scott-Giles Charles Wilfrid (or Wilfred) Scott-Giles (24 October 1893 – 1982) was an English writer on heraldry and an officer of arms, who served as Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary. Life Charles Wilfrid Giles was born in Southampton on 24 October 1893, ...
, the rose motif in ''Alice'' alludes to the English
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
: red roses symbolised the House of Lancaster, while white roses symbolised their rival
House of York The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, ...
.


Language

''Alice'' is full of linguistic play, puns, and parodies. According to Gillian Beer, Carroll's play with language evokes the feeling of words for new readers: they "still have insecure edges and a nimbus of nonsense blurs the sharp focus of terms". The literary scholar Jessica Straley, in a work about the role of evolutionary theory in Victorian children's literature, argues that Carroll's focus on language prioritises humanism over
scientism Scientism is the opinion that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality. While the term was defined originally to mean "methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to natural scientis ...
by emphasising language's role in human self-conception. Pat's "Digging for apples" is a cross-language pun, as ''pomme de terre'' (literally; "apple of the earth") means potato and ''pomme'' means apple. In the second chapter, Alice initially addresses the mouse as "O Mouse", based on her memory of the noun
declension In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence, by way of some inflection. Declensions may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and ar ...
s "in her brother's
Latin Grammar Latin is a heavily inflected languages, inflected language with largely free word order. Nouns are inflected for grammatical number, number and grammatical case, case; pronouns and adjectives (including participles) are inflected for number, cas ...
, 'A mouse – of a mouse – to a mouse – a mouse – O mouse!'" These words correspond to the first five of Latin's six cases, in a traditional order established by medieval grammarians: ''mus'' (
nominative In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
), ''muris'' (
genitive In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
), ''muri'' (
dative In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
), ''murem'' (
accusative The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
), ''(O) mus'' (
vocative In grammar, the vocative Grammatical case, case (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers ...
). The sixth case, ''mure'' (
ablative In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; sometimes abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages; it is sometimes used to express motion away from something, among other uses. ...
) is absent from Alice's recitation. Nilson has plausibly suggested that Alice's missing ablative is a pun on her father Henry Liddell's work on the standard ''A Greek-English Lexicon'' since ancient Greek does not have an ablative case. Further, Mousa (meaning
muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
) was a standard model noun in Greek books of the time in paradigms of the first declension, short-alpha noun.


Mathematics

Mathematics and logic are central to ''Alice''. As Carroll was a mathematician at Christ Church, it has been suggested that there are many references and mathematical concepts in both this story and ''
Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...
''. Literary scholar Melanie Bayley asserted in the ''
New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...
'' magazine that Carroll wrote ''Alice in Wonderland'' in its final form as a satire of mid-19th century mathematics.


Eating and devouring

Carina Garland notes how the world is "expressed via representations of food and appetite", naming Alice's frequent desire for consumption (of both food and words), her 'Curious Appetites'. Often, the idea of eating coincides to make gruesome images. After the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?", the Hatter claims that Alice might as well say, "I see what I eat…I eat what I see" and so the riddle's solution, put forward by Boe Birns, could be that "A raven eats worms; a writing desk is worm-eaten"; this idea of food encapsulates idea of life feeding on life itself, for the worm is being eaten and then becomes the eater a horrific image of mortality. Nina Auerbach discusses how the novel revolves around eating and drinking which "motivates much of her lice'sbehaviour", for the story is essentially about things "entering and leaving her mouth". The animals of Wonderland are of particular interest, for Alice's relation to them shifts constantly because, as Lovell-Smith states, Alice's changes in size continually reposition her in the food chain, serving as a way to make her acutely aware of the 'eat or be eaten' attitude that permeates Wonderland.


Nonsense

''Alice'' is an example of the
literary nonsense Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most well-kn ...
genre. According to
Humphrey Carpenter Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkl ...
, ''Alice'' brand of nonsense embraces the nihilistic and existential. Characters in nonsensical episodes such as the Mad Tea Party, in which it is always the same time, go on posing paradoxes that are never resolved.


Rules and games

Wonderland is a rule-bound world, but its rules are not those of our world. The literary scholar Daniel Bivona writes that ''Alice'' is characterised by "gamelike social structures". She trusts in instructions from the beginning, drinking from the bottle labelled "drink me" after recalling, during her descent, that children who do not follow the rules often meet terrible fates. Unlike the creatures of Wonderland, who approach their world's wonders uncritically, Alice continues to look for rules as the story progresses. Gillian Beer suggests that Alice, the character, looks for rules to soothe her anxiety, while Carroll may have hunted for rules because he struggled with the implications of the
non-Euclidean geometry In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean geo ...
then in development.


Illustrations

The manuscript was illustrated by Carroll himself who added 37 illustrations—printed in a
facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...
edition in 1887.
John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and poli ...
provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the published version of the book. The first print run was destroyed (or sold to the US) at Carroll's request because he was dissatisfied with the quality. There are only 22 known first edition copies in existence. The book was reprinted and published in 1866. Tenniel's detailed black-and-white drawings remain the definitive depiction of the characters. Tenniel's illustrations of Alice do not portray the real
Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934), was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip beca ...
, who had dark hair and a short fringe. ''Alice'' has provided a challenge for other illustrators, including those of 1907 by Charles Pears and the full series of colour plates and line-drawings by
Harry Rountree Harry Rountree (26 January 1878''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 26 September 1950) was a prolific illustrator working in England around the turn of the 20th century. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he moved to London in 1901, when he was 23 ...
published in the (inter-War) Children's Press (Glasgow) edition. Other significant illustrators include:
Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...
(1907),
Willy Pogany William Andrew Pogany (born Vilmos András Pogány; August 24, 1882 – July 30, 1955) was a prolific Hungarian illustrator of children's and other books. His contemporaries include C. Coles Phillips, Joseph Clement Coll, Edmund Dulac, Harvey Du ...
(1929),
Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...
(1946),
Ralph Steadman Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture ...
(1967),
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
(1969), Graham Overden (1969),
Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...
(1970), Peter Blake (1970),
Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and ...
(1977), Anthony Browne (1988),
Helen Oxenbury Helen Gillian Oxenbury (born 1938) is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in North London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been runner-up ...
(1999), and
Lisbeth Zwerger Lisbeth Zwerger (born 26 May 1954) is an Austrian illustrator of children's books. For her "lasting contribution to children's literature" she received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1990. Zwerger was born in Vienna in 1954. ...
(1999).


Publication history

Carroll first met Alexander Macmillan, a high-powered London publisher, on 19 October 1863. His firm,
Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
, agreed to publish ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' by sometime in 1864. Carroll financed the initial print run, possibly because it gave him more editorial authority than other financing methods. He managed publication details such as typesetting and engaged illustrators and translators. Macmillan had published ''The Water-Babies'', also a children's fantasy, in 1863, and suggested its design as a basis for ''Alice''. Carroll saw a specimen copy in May 1865. 2,000 copies were printed by July but
John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and poli ...
, the illustrator, objected to their quality and Carroll instructed Macmillan to halt publication so they could be reprinted. In August, he engaged Richard Clay as an alternative printer for a new run of 2,000. The reprint cost £600, paid entirely by Carroll. He received the first copy of Clay's reprint on 9 November 1865. Macmillan finally published the revised first edition, printed by Richard Clay, in November 1865. Carroll requested a red binding, deeming it appealing to young readers. A new edition, released in December of the same year for the Christmas market, but carrying an 1866 date, was quickly printed. The text blocks of the original edition were removed from the binding and sold with Carroll's permission to the New York publishing house of D. Appleton & Company. The binding for the Appleton ''Alice'' was identical to the 1866 Macmillan ''Alice'', except for the publisher's name at the foot of the spine. The title page of the Appleton ''Alice'' was an insert cancelling the original Macmillan title page of 1865, and bearing the New York publisher's imprint and the date 1866. The entire print run sold out quickly. ''Alice'' was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike. Oscar Wilde was a fan. Queen Victoria was also an avid reader of the book. She reportedly enjoyed ''Alice'' enough that she asked for Carroll's next book, which turned out to be a mathematical treatise; Carroll denied this. The book has never been out of print. ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' has been translated into 174 languages.


Publication timeline

The following list is a timeline of major publication events related to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'': *1869: Published in German as ''Alice's Abenteuer im Wunderland'', translated by Antonie Zimmermann. *1869: Published in French as ''Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles'', translated by Henri Bué. *1870: Published in Swedish as ''Alice's Äventyr i Sagolandet'', translated by Emily Nonnen. *1871: Carroll meets another Alice, Alice Raikes, during his time in London. He talks with her about her reflection in a mirror, leading to the sequel, ''Through the Looking-Glass, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'', which sells even better. *1872: Published in Italian as ''Le Avventure di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie'', translated by Teodorico Pietrocòla Rossetti. *1886: Carroll publishes a
facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...
of the earlier ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'' manuscript. *1890: Carroll publishes '' The Nursery "Alice"'', an abridged version, around Easter. *1905: Mrs J. C. Gorham publishes ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Retold in Words of One Syllable'' in a series of such books published by A. L. Burt Company, aimed at young readers. *1906: Published in Finnish as ''Liisan seikkailut ihmemaailmassa'', translated by Anni Swan. *1907: Copyright on ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' expires in the UK, entering the tale into the public domain. *1910: Published in Esperanto as ''La Aventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando,'' translated by E. L. Kearney. *1915: Alice Gerstenberg's stage adaptation premieres. *1928: The manuscript of ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'' written and illustrated by Carroll, which he had given to Alice Liddell, was sold at Sotheby's in London on 3 April. It sold to Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philip Rosenbach of Philadelphia for , a world record for the sale of a manuscript at the time; the buyer later presented it to the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
(where the manuscript remains) as an appreciation for Britain's part in two World Wars. *1960: American writer Martin Gardner publishes a special edition, ''The Annotated Alice''. *1988: Lewis Carroll and Anthony Browne, illustrator of an edition from Julia MacRae Books, wins the Kurt Maschler Award. *1998: Carroll's own copy of Alice, one of only six surviving copies of the 1865 first edition, is sold at an auction for United States dollar, US$1.54 million to an anonymous American buyer, becoming the most expensive children's book (or 19th-century work of literature) ever sold to that point. *1999: Lewis Carroll and
Helen Oxenbury Helen Gillian Oxenbury (born 1938) is an English illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She lives in North London. She has twice won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal, the British librarians' award for illustration and been runner-up ...
, illustrator of an edition from Walker Books, win the Kurt Maschler Award for integrated writing and illustration. *2008: Folio publishes ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground'' Facsimile, facsimile edition (limited to 3,750 copies, boxed with ''The Original Alice'' pamphlet). *2009: Children's book collector and former American football player Pat McInally reportedly sold Alice Liddell's own copy at auction for US$115,000.


Reception

''Alice'' was published to critical praise. One magazine declared it "exquisitely wild, fantastic, [and] impossible". In the late 19th century, Walter Besant wrote that ''Alice in Wonderland'' "was a book of that extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete". F. J. Harvey Darton argued in a 1932 book that ''Alice'' ended an era of
didacticism Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...
in
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
, inaugurating a new era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain". In 2014, Robert McCrum named ''Alice'' "one of the best loved in the English canon" and called it "perhaps the greatest, possibly most influential, and certainly the most world-famous Victorian English fiction". A 2020 review in ''Time (magazine), Time'' states: "The book changed young people's literature. It helped to replace stiff Victorian didacticism with a looser, sillier, nonsense style that reverberated through the works of language-loving 20th-century authors as different as James Joyce, Douglas Adams and Dr. Seuss." The protagonist of the story, Alice, has been recognised as a cultural icon. In 2006, ''Alice in Wonderland'' was named among the icons of England in a public vote.


Adaptations and influence

Books for children in the ''Alice'' mould emerged as early as 1869 and continued to appear throughout the late 19th century. Released in 1903, the British silent film, ''Alice in Wonderland (1903 film), Alice in Wonderland'', was the first screen adaptation of the book. In 2015, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst in ''The Guardian'' wrote, Labelled "a dauntless, no-nonsense heroine" by ''The Guardian'', the character of the plucky, yet proper, Alice has proven immensely popular and inspired similar heroines in literature and pop culture, many also named Alice in homage. The book has inspired numerous film and television adaptations which have multiplied as the original work is now in the public domain in all jurisdictions. Musical works inspired by ''Alice'' includes The Beatles' single "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", with songwriter John Lennon attributing the song's fantastical imagery to his reading of Carroll's ''Alice in Wonderland'' books. A popular figure in Japan since the country opened up to the West in the late 19th century, Alice has been a popular subject for writers of manga and a source of inspiration for Japanese fashion, in particular Lolita fashion.


Live performance

The first full major production of 'Alice' books during Lewis Carroll's lifetime was ''Alice in Wonderland (musical), Alice in Wonderland'', an 1886 musical theatre, musical play in London's West End theatre, West End by Henry Savile Clark (book) and Walter Slaughter (music), which played at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Twelve-year-old actress Phoebe Carlo (the first to play Alice) was personally selected by Carroll for the role. Carroll attended a performance on 30 December 1886, writing in his diary he enjoyed it. The musical was frequently revived during West End Christmas seasons during the four decades after its premiere, including a London production at the Globe Theatre (Newcastle Street), Globe Theatre in 1888, with Isa Bowman as Alice. As the book and its sequel are Carroll's most widely recognised works, they have also inspired numerous live performances, including plays, operas, ballets, and traditional English pantomimes. These works range from fairly faithful adaptations to those that use the story as a basis for new works. Eva Le Gallienne's stage adaptation of the ''Alice'' books premiered on 12 December 1932 and ended its run in May 1933. The production has been revived in New York in 1947 and 1982. Joseph Papp staged ''Alice in Concert'' at the Public Theater in New York City in 1980. Elizabeth Swados wrote the book, lyrics, and music. Based on both ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Through the Looking-Glass'', Papp and Swados had previously produced a version of it at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Meryl Streep played Alice, the White Queen, and Humpty Dumpty. The cast also included Debbie Allen, Michael Jeter, and Mark Linn-Baker. Performed on a bare stage with the actors in modern dress, the play is a loose adaptation, with song styles ranging the globe. A community theatre production of Alice was Olivia de Havilland's first foray onto the stage. The 1992 musical theatre production ''Alice'' used both ''Alice'' books as its inspiration. It also employs scenes with Carroll, a young Alice Liddell, and an adult Alice Liddell, to frame the story. Paul Schmidt wrote the play, with Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan writing the music. Although the original production in Hamburg, Germany, received only a small audience, Tom Waits released the songs as the album ''Alice (Tom Waits album), Alice'' in 2002. The English composer Joseph Horovitz composed an ''Alice in Wonderland'' ballet commissioned by the London Festival Ballet in 1953. It was performed frequently in England and the US. A ballet by Christopher Wheeldon and Nicholas Wright (playwright), Nicholas Wright commissioned for The Royal Ballet entitled ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' premiered in February 2011 at the Royal Opera House in London. The ballet was based on the novel Wheeldon grew up reading as a child and is generally faithful to the original story, although some critics claimed it may have been too faithful. Gerald Barry (composer), Gerald Barry's 2016 one-act opera, ''Alice's Adventures Under Ground (opera), Alice's Adventures Under Ground'', first staged in 2020 at the Royal Opera House, is a conflation of the two ''Alice'' books.


Commemoration

Characters from the book are depicted on the stained glass windows of Lewis Carroll's hometown church, All Saints' Church, Daresbury, All Saints', in Daresbury, Cheshire. Another commemoration of Carroll's work in his home county of Cheshire is the granite sculpture, The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, located in Warrington. International works based on the book include the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park, New York, and the Alice statue in Rymill Park, Adelaide, Australia. In 2015, ''Alice'' characters featured on a Great Britain commemorative stamps 2010–2019#2015, series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of the book.


See also

*Through the Looking-Glass, ''Through the Looking Glass'' *Down the rabbit hole *Translations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Translations of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' *Translations of Through the Looking-Glass, Translations of ''Through the Looking-Glass''


References


Works cited

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Text

* * *


Audio

* * {{Authority control 1865 British novels 1865 fantasy novels British children's novels British children's books Children's books set in subterranea Children's fantasy novels English fantasy novels High fantasy novels Surreal comedy Victorian novels Series of children's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice in Wonderland Cultural depictions of Benjamin Disraeli British novels adapted into films British novels adapted into plays Novels adapted into video games Books about rabbits and hares Novels about dreams Fiction about size change Fictional fungi Novels set in fictional countries Works by Lewis Carroll Books illustrated by John Tenniel Books illustrated by Arthur Rackham Macmillan Publishers books D. Appleton & Company books