Personajes y temas

Major Themes


Growth into Adulthood



This theme is central to both books. Alice's adventures parallel the journey from childhood to adulthood. She comes into numerous new situations in which adaptability is absolutely necessary for success. She shows marked progress throughout the course of the book; in the beginning, she can barely maintain enough composure to keep herself from crying. By the end of the novel, she is self-possessed and able to hold her own against the most baffling Wonderland logic.

Size change



Closely connected to the above theme, size change is another recurring concept. The dramatic changes in size hint at the radical changes the body undergoes during adolescence. The key, once again, is adaptability. Alice's size changes also bring about a change in perspective, and she sees the world from a very different view. In the last trial scene, her growth into a giant reflects her interior growth. She becomes a much stronger, self-possessed person, able to speak out against the nonsensical proceedings of the trial.

Death



This theme is even more present in the second Alice book, Through the Looking Glass. Alice frequently makes references to her own death without knowing it. Childhood is a state of peril in Carroll's view: children are quite vulnerable, and the world presents many dangers. Another aspect of death is its inevitability. Since the Alice books are at root about change (the transition from childhood to adulthood, the passage of time), mortality is inescapable as a theme. Death is the final step of this process of growth. While death is only hinted at in the first book, the second book is saturated with references to mortality and macabre humor. Games/ Learning the Rules



Every new encounter is something of a game for Alice; there are rules to learn, and consequences for learning or not learning those rules. Games are a constant part of life in Wonderland, from the Caucus race to the strange croquet match to the fact that the royal court is a living deck of cards. And every new social encounter is like a game, in that there are bizarre, apparently arbitrary rules that Alice has to master. Learning the rules is a metaphor for the adaptations to new social situations that every child makes as she grows older. Mastering each challenge, Alice grows wiser and more adaptable as time goes on.

Language and Logic/Illogic



Carroll delights in puns. The Alice books are chockfull of games with language, to the reader's delight and Alice's confusion. The games often point out some inconsistency or slipperiness of language in general and English in particular. The books point out the pains and advantages of language. Language is a source of joy and adaptability; it can also be a source of great confusion.



Just as baffling is the bizarre logic at work in Wonderland. Every creature can justify the most absurd behavior, and their arguments for themselves are often fairly complex. Their strange reasoning is another source of delight for the reader and challenge for Alice. She has to learn to discern between unusual logic and utter nonsense.



Character List


Alice



The heroine of the story. Her adventures begin with her fateful jump down the rabbit hole, and the tale is an extended metaphor for the challenges she will face as she grows into an adult. She possesses unusual composure for a child, and she seems bright but makes many charming mistakes. She grows more confident as the book progresses.

White Rabbit



Alice's adventures begin when she follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit-hole. He is a messenger and a herald at the Court of the King and Queen of Hearts. He wears a waist-coat and carries a pocket watch.

Mouse



Alice meets the mouse while swimming in the pool of tears. He hates cats and dogs, and he begins to tell Alice a disturbing story about being put on trial. He is very sensitive.

Bill



A lizard in the service of the White Rabbit. When Alice is a giant and stuck in the White Rabbit's house, she kicks Bill out of the chimney. Bill is also one of the jurors at the trial at the end of the book. Caterpillar



Wise, enigmatic, and unshakably mellow, the Caterpillar gives Alice some valuable advice about how to get by in Wonderland. He smokes a hookah and sits on a mushroom. He gives Alice the valuable gift of the mushroom (one side making her bigger, and the other making her small), which gives her control of her size in Wonderland.

The Pigeon



The Pigeon is afraid for her eggs, and mistakes Alice for a serpent. Alice tries to reason with her, but the Pigeon forces her away.

Duchess



When Alice first meets the Duchess, she is a disagreeable woman nursing a baby and arguing with her cook. Later, she is put under sentence of execution. The Duchess seems different when Alice meets her a second time, later in the book, and Alice notices that the Duchess speaks only in pat morals.

Cook



Argumentative, and convinced that pepper is the key ingredient in all food. She first appears at the house of the Duchess, where she is throwing everything in sight at the Duchess and the baby. Later, she is a witness at the trial of the Knave of Hearts.

Baby



The baby the Duchess nurses. Alice is concerned about leaving the child in such a violent environment, so she takes him with her. He turns into a pig.

Cheshire Cat



Possessing remarkably sharp claws and alarming sharp teeth, the Cheshire cat is courteous and helpful, despite his frightening appearance. His face is fixed in an eerie grin. He can make any and all parts of his body disappear and reappear.

Hatter



A madman who sits always at tea, every since Time stopped working for him. He takes his tea with the March Hare and the Dormouse. Alice is temporarily their guest, although she finds the event to be the stupidest tea party she has ever attended. Later, the nervous hatter is forced to be a witness at the trial.

March Hare



Playing with the expression, "Mad as a March Hare," Carroll puts him in the company of the mad Hatter and the narcoleptic Dormouse. Their strange tea party is at the March Hare's house.

The Dormouse



Another guest at the mad tea party. He can't seem to stay awake. He is also one of the observers at the trial.

Two, Five, and Seven



These three unfortunate gardeners are struggling to repaint the Queen's roses, as they planted white roses by mistake and now fear for their lives. Like the other people working for the queen, they are shaped like playing cards. When the Queen orders their beheading, Alice hides them.

Queen of Hearts



Nasty, brutal, and loud, the Queen delights in ordering executions, although everyone seems to get pardoned in the end. The people of Wonderland are terrified of her. Although Alice initially thinks she is silly, she grows frightened of her. In the end, however, a giant-size Alice is able to stand up to the Queen's temper and her threats.

King of Hearts



Somewhat overshadowed by his loudmouthed wife, the King of Hearts is a remarkably dense figure. He makes terrible jokes, and cannot seem to say anything clever. Alice outreasons him quite nicely at the trial.

Gryphon



The Gryphon, mythical animal that is half eagle and half lion, takes Alice to sea the Mock Turtle. He attended undersea school with the Mock Turtle.

The Mock Turtle



The Mock Turtle is always crying, and he and the Gryphon tells stories loaded with puns. His name is another play on words (mock turtle soup is a soup that actually uses lamb as its meat ingredient).

The Knave of Hearts



The unfortunate Knave is the man on trial, accused of stealing the tarts of the Queen of Hearts. The evidence produced against him is unjust.

Alice's sister



She helps to anchor the story, appearing at the beginning, before Alice begins her adventures, and at the end, after Alice wakes up from her strange dream. Her presence lets us know that Alice is once again in the real world, in the comfort of home and family.