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Description edit
The classic tale of ALICE IN WONDERLAND has been read and loved by children for generations. Filled with humor, adventure, and imagination for children of all ages. The fantastical tale begins when Alice falls into a rabbit hole, literally a dream land.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole and is transported into Wonderland. While there she meets many different characters that behave quite strangely, participates in a Caucus Race, befriends a smiling cat, is introduced to the Duchess and her shape changing child, plays croquet with... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Alice: A seven-year-old girl trying to find her identity in a strange world into which she has tumbles into while following a white rabbit. She is a quick thinker and has a way of always letting people know what she thinks.
- The White Rabbit: The loyal and royal rabbit of the Queen of Hearts. He acts as herald for her, and is always wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch, yelling, "I'm late!" Alice follows him down the rabbit hole.
- The Lory: An imaginary bird who is present during the Caucus Race in the first book. Named for the real Alice's older sister Lorina Liddell.
- The Duchess: The owner of the Cheshire cat.
- The Cheshire Cat: A cat whom Alice meets in Wonderland. He is constantly smiling, and disappearing. Cheshire talks in riddles, so Alice is often confused by his help.
- The March Hare (aka Haigha): Alice meets the utterly mad march hare at Mad Hatter's tea party.
- The Mad Hatter (aka Hatta): A participant in the tea party. He teases Alice with riddles that he doesn't know the answer to.
- The Doormouse: A very sleepy mouse who naps in the food at the tea party. He likes telling stories and rhymes.
- The Queen of Hearts: The Queen of Hearts is the tyrannical ruler of Wonderland.
- The Knave of Hearts: The only character Alice feels sympathy towards. He is in court.
- The King of Hearts: Very submissive to the queen, yet defies her quietly by making sure nobody gets beheaded.
- The Gryphon: A smart creature, half lion and half eagle.
- The Mock Turtle: A turtle who tells stories and teaches Alice some songs.
- Dinah: Alice's pet cat.
- Ada: The girl whose hair was in the form of long ringlets that alice knows.
- Mabel: The girl who knows very little, lives in a poky little house and has no toys to play with that alice knows.
- O Mouse: The mouse she meets in her pool of tears. He tells a long tale.
- Mary Ann: The white rabbit's housemaid. She apparently looks similar to Alice.
- The pigeon: A female pigeon mother
- The Fish-Footman: Delivers a message to the Duchess from the Queen.
- The Frog-Footman: Attends the Duchess's house and receives the invitation from the Fish-Footman
- The Duchess's Baby: The baby that cries and howls continuously.
- The Duchess's Cook: The cook who was stirring the soup in the cauldron in the Duchess's kitchen. She throws dishes into the walls. Fills the air with pepper wherever she goes.
- Five: One of the three gardeners who were painting white roses with red paint for the queen of hearts.
- Seven: One of the three gardeners who were painting white roses with red paint for the queen of hearts.
- Two: One of the three gardeners who were painting white roses with red paint for the queen of hearts.
- Tortoise: The old master turtle.
- Father William: Character in a poem which Alice seems to know. For an elderly person, he is strong and well-coordinated.
- Caterpillar: The Caterpillar lives in the garden and he smokes hooka.
- Lizard (Bill): This creature tries to remove large Alice from a house and comes to an unfortunate end, which doesn't stop him from being in the Queen's trial as a jurur.
- Pat: A creature who assists the white rabbit. He is a gardener.
- White Rabbit: A white rabbit with a pocketwatch whom Alice follows into Wonderland.
- Alice's Sister, Lorina: Does not have a certain name to which reffered to by, but is contantly reading down by the bank. Doesn not believe Alice's Wonderland tales.
- Dodo: A pompous bird that sets up the Caucas Race.
- Crab: Add a description of this character.
- Beaver
- Morcar
- Richard
- Carpenter
- Baker
- Kitty
- Larkspur
- Florence
- Puppy
- Executioner: The Queen of Hearts's executioner.
- Bellman
- Tweedledum
- Snowdrop
Quotes edit
-
“What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?”
Alice -
“Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!”
The White Rabbit -
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
Alice -
“Speak English! I don't know the meaning of half those words, and I don't believe you do either!”
Eaglet -
“I can't explain myself, sir, because I'm not myself you see.”
Alice -
“We're all mad here.”
The Cheshire Cat -
“Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
The Mad Hatter -
“Off with her head!”
The Queen -
“Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.”
The Duchess -
“Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
The King -
““Who in the world am I?””
Alice -
“"Give your evidence," said the King; "and don't be nervous, or I'll have you executed on the spot."”
The King -
“I'm late, I'm late for a very important date”
Rabbit -
“`there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is--"The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours."'”
The Duchess -
“"<Which way you should go> depends a great deal on where you want to get too."”
Cheshire Cat -
“<I'm> Digging for apples, Your Honor!”
Pat
Setting & Locations edit
Wonderland and England during the Victorian Age
- The Long Hall: The hall full of doors that Alice falls into through the rabbit hole.
First Sentence edit
ALICE WAS BEGINNING to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"
Table of Contents edit
Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole
Chapter II: The Pool of Tears
Chapter III: A Caucus Race and a Long Tale
Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill
Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar
Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper
Chapter VII : A Mad Tea Party
Chapter VIII: The Queen’s Croquet Ground
Chapter IX: The Mock Turtle’s Story
Chapter X: The Lobster Quadrille
Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts?
Chapter XII: Alice’s Evidence
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Theme: Life is a meaningless puzzle.
- Theme: The tragic and inevitable loss of childhood innocence.
- Theme: Death as a constant and underlying menace.
- Symbolism: The garden may symbolize the Garden of Eden, an idyllic space of beauty and innocence that Alice is not permitted to access. On a more abstract level, the garden may simply represent the experience of desire, in that Alice focuses her energy and emotion on trying to attain it. The two symbolic meanings work together to underscore Alice’s desire to hold onto her feelings of childlike innocence that she must relinquish as she matures.
- Motif: Dream
- Motif: Subversion
- Motif: Language
- Motif: Curious, nonsense, and confusing
- Nonsense: Nothing is real except themes.
- Political satire: The entire Queen's kingdom is really just a chess set and a pack of cards.
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 2 in Alice. (standard series)
Followed by Through the Looking-Glass.
This is book 37 of 216 in Whitcoulls Kids' Top 50 (2011). (authoritative list)
This book is in The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. (community list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 868 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Reading Challenge (2011). (community list)
This book is in Tor Classics. (publisher edition list)
This book is in Penguin's Top 100 Classics. (authoritative list)
This book is in 100 Fantabulous Book Challenge. (community list)
This is book 29 of 95 in Telegraph Top 100 Books, 2008. (authoritative list)
This is book 30 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
This is book 395 of 985 in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. (authoritative list)
This book is in Dover Children's Thrift Classics. (publisher edition list)
This is book 30 of 82 in BBC "Big Read" Top 100 Novels. (authoritative list)
This is book 2 of 19 in Clássicos Walt Disney. (publisher edition list)
This is book 57 of 101 in Penguin English Library. (publisher series)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Lewis Carroll (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Rene Cloke (Illustrator)
- Arthur Rackham (Illustrator)
- Barry Moser
- Martin Powell
- John Tenniel (Illustrator) - Original
- Rosaura Eichenberg (Translator) - Portuguese edition translator
- Ísis Alves (Translator) - Portuguese edition poem translator
- Barry Moser (Designer) - Designed and Illustrated the Pennyroyal Edition
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Macmillan
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 26 November 1865
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Macmillan
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 26 November 1865
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 192
Awards edit
- Whitcoulls Kids' Top 50 (2011) (2011, #27)
- BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #30)
- Greenaway Award (1999)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PR4611
- Dewey: 741.5973
Subjects edit
- Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › British › Classics › Carroll, Lewis
- Books › Children's Books › Literature › Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror › Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
- Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( C ) › Carroll, Lewis
- Books › Children's Books › Authors & Illustrators, A-Z › ( C ) › Carroll, Lewis
- Books › Children's Books › Literature › Classics by Age
- Books › Children's Books › Ages 4-8
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- Wikipedia
- Project Gutenberg: Free e-book, full text
- Librivox Free Audio Book: Read by Peter Yearsley (Total running time: 2:43:00)
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