The Element of Fantasy in Lewis Carrolls

Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass

Seema Devi Yein

when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and
looks at it,....she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to see it
pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. In another moment down
went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get
out again.
-Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 1, Pg. 10
And thus begins Alices fantastical adventures in wonderland or
underground and in the looking-glass room. For over a century, the novel
has endured admiration by the audience, influencing contemporary
writers, artists, and inspiring adaptations to the stage and screen. The
element of fantasy is seen as a facet in the novel.
Fantasy, according to Concise Oxford Dictionary, Tenth Edition, is the
faculty or activity of imagining improbable or impossible things. It is a
genre of imaginative fiction involving magic and adventure.
There are various ways that fantasy writers set up their worlds. Some
novels begin and end in a fantasy world. For instance: The Hobbit. Others
start in the real world and move into a fantasy world like Alice in
Wonderland or Peter Pan. Another type of fantasy is set in the real world
but elements of magic intrude upon it as in Mary Poppins or David
Almonds Skellig. In a fantasy, realistic settings are often called primary
worlds while fantasy settings are referred to as secondary worlds.
And as M.H.Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harphams A Handbook of Literary
terms tells us, Fantasy is as old as the fictional utopias, and its satiric
forms have an important precursor in the extraordinary countries
portrayed in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels (1726). Among the notable
recent writers of fantasy are C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit and
The Lord of the Rings), whose works incorporate materials from classical,
biblical, and medieval sources.
There are different types of fantasy. Some of them are: Dark Fantasy,
Heroic Fantasy, Bangsian Fantasy, High Fantasy, Medieval Fantasy, Urban
Fantasy, Comic Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Juvenile Fantasy, Fairytale
Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Slavic Fantasy, Hard
Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, and the likes.

One of the most fascinating figures of the Victorian period, who is known
for his immensely famous fantasy novel Alices Adventures in Wonderland
was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, renowned by his pen name, Lewis Carroll.
He has inherited the status of a classic. Fantasy, parody, humor, love for
childhood and lamentation in the loss of it were some common themes in
Dodgsons works. He was a master of nonsensical verse and some of his
best known works are composed of nonsensical verses. What made him so
special was his ability to capture the imaginations of children and adults
alike not stymied of the boundaries created by time.
Lewis Carroll was born on January 27, 1832, in a small parish named
Daresbury, England. He was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford,
where he became a lecturer in Mathematics in 1855. His most famous
work Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) originated in a boat trip
with the young daughters of H.G. Liddell: Lorina, Alice and Edith; it was for
Alice that he expanded an unpremeditated story into book form. Through
the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There followed in 1871; both
volumes were illustrated by Tenniel. One reviewer attributed the success
of these works to the fact that, unlike most childrens books of the period,
they had no moral and did not teach anything. Dodgsons other works
include Phantasmagoria and Other Poems (1869), The Hunting of the
Snark (1876), and Sylvie and Bruno (1889, vol. 2, 1893). The most
valuable of his various mathematical treatises is his light-hearted defense
of Euclid, Euclid and His Modern Rivals (1879). Dodgson was also a keen
amateur photographer, with a particular interest in photographing little
girls, whose friendship he valued highly. His diaries were edited by R.L.
Green (2 vols., 1953), his letters by M.N. Cohen with R.L. Green (2 vols.,
1979).
- (Oxford Concise Companion to English Literature, Pg. 197,198)
Quoting Stuart Dodgson Collingwood, Carrolls nephew, about his uncle
that, he (Carroll) invented the strangest diversions for hemade pets of
the most odd and unlikely animals, and numbered certain snails and toads
among his intimate friends. The element of fancy was common in his
poems and he was fascinated by anything that aroused his imagination.
Originally entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground, and written for his
young friend Alice Liddell, it tells how Alice dreams and pursues a White
Rabbit down a rabbithole to a world where she encounters celebrated
characters such as the Duchess and the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and
the March Hare, the King and Queen of Hearts, and the Mock Turtle. It
contains the poems You are old, Father William, Beautiful Soup, and
others, and Carroll's typographical experiment Fury and the Mouse, in

the shape of a mouse's tail. (Oxford Concise Companion to English

Literature, Pg. 13)
The main focus of this paper will be based on the element of fantasy and
how it is projected in the novel Alices Adventures in Wonderland and
Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.
Lewis Carrolls peculiar mix of fantasy, creativity, nonsense, satire, and
dry wit have gained him highly acclaimed status in popular culture with
such memorable characters as Alice herself, the white Rabbit, the March
Hare, a mad Hatter, the sleepy Dormouse, the wise Dodo, the Duchess,
the Queen, the hookah smoking Caterpillar, and the Cheshire Cat. He is
the source of such oft-quoted witticisms, puns and nonsense phrases like
Everythings got a moral, if only you can find it, Speak in French when
you cant think of the English for a thing, turn your toes out when you
walk, And remember who you are!, We called him Tortoise because he
taught us, No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise, Who in the
world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle, She generally gave herself very
good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), She doesnt believe
theres an atom of meaning in it, I can't explain myself, Im afraid,
because Im not myself, you see, You would have to be half mad to
dream me up. The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterdaybut never
jam today, Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave
the court, Sentence first, verdict afterwards, That's the reason they're
called lessons, because they lessen from day to day and Curiouser and
curiouser! It also repeats certain phrases like Hold your tongue!, Off
with their heads! and so on.
In the novel Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the
protagonist Alice, is a seven year-old girl. She falls down into a rabbit-hole
while chasing a White Rabbit and ends up in Wonderland, a place where
logic no longer applies and animals talk. We follow her on her adventures
where she encounters with absurd characters such as the Cheshire Cat,
the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the Caterpillar.
The title of the novel itself tells the readers that it has an element of
fantasy in it. The word wonderland can be referred to something which
does not exist in reality but in the fancy of human beings, especially
children. As a child, we often listened to stories told and re-told by our
grandparents or parents. Most of them were fairytale or horror stories but
we were not aware of the fact that it too had an element of fantasy within
these stories.
In Alices Adventures in Wonderland too the element of fantasy is very
poignant. Alice is like any child but when she noticed the white rabbit and

followed it into the rabbit hole under the hedge, she too became a part of
the transient world of fantasy. In every fantasy, there is a certain entity
which connects the real and the world of fantasy. In this novel the rabbit
hole which for Alice is, what seemed to be a very deep well serves its
purpose. Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end?
Again, at the end of the novel, she wakes up finding that it was just a
dream, Oh, Ive had such a curious dream! and narrates to her sister
about the adventure that she had in wonderland or underground.
There are numerous events that take place in the story. She meets various
kinds of animals who can actually speak like her. For instance, the white
Rabbit who says, Oh! The Duchess, The Duchess!..., then the caterpillar,
Hattar, March Hare, Dormouse, Cheshire Cat, Crab, Duck, Dodo, Lorry,
Eaglet, Mouse, White Queen, and the likes . It is also to be marked that
some of these creatures does things that are beyond imagination. For
instance, the caterpillar sits on a mushroom and takes hookah. It also
gives advice to Alice, Keep your temper. Again, the baby of the Duchess
turns into a pig. If it had grown up, she said to herself, it would have
made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.
Moreover the pigeon calls Alice as serpent, I'm NOT a serpent!' said Alice
indignantly. `Let me alone! Next, the three gardeners were seen painting
the white rose tree red in fear of the Queen. Again, the mock turtle went
to a school under the sea shore and was taught by a tortoise. Moreover,
the Queen executes anyone whom she feels as annoying. She even
executes the Duchess who was invited to play the Croquet.
Certain things keep on repeating like Alice grows and reduces in size after
she eats a cake or anything that is labeled as, DRINK ME! or EAT ME!
At one point, she also realizes that the Rabbits fan which she was holding
unknowingly made her shrink rapidly so she drops the fan. It is quite funny
when the readers learn that Alice got drown in her own tears. Poor Alice
was literally swimming in the salt-water and regrets later, I wish I hadn't
cried so much! This also created a racket among the other animals. All
the animals were seen swimming. It is also interesting when we come to
know that the mouse speaks in French tongue.
Alice also encounters with a hattar, March Hare and dormouse at a mad
tea-party. And when Alice gets offended at the party, she walks off. For
her, Its the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all in my life! Just then
she finds that there was a tree and one of the trees had a leading door
right into it to which out of curiosity she enters. Here, again the element
of fantasy is found.

It is also to be stated that though its a book for children but the readers
also come across names of high profile people like Mary Ann, William the
Conqueror, Duchess and so on. Alice who went to school and is an
intelligent child can memorize poems and knows about other subjects like
history, geography, etc. But after she enters the world of wonderland she
forgets whatever she has learned. She gets confuse with words, Let me
see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times
seven is - oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! However, the
Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography. London is the
capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome - no, that's all
wrong, I'm certain! I must have been changed for Mabel!
`Off with her head!' the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody
moved. `Who cares for you?' said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by
this time.) `You're nothing but a pack of cards!' And then the adventure
in the world of fantasy comes to the world of reality when all the pack of
cards rises up in the air and Alice finds herself sleeping on her sisters lap.
The element of fantasy is well portrayed in the novel.
Alice had begun with 'Let's pretend we're kings and queens;' and her
sister, who liked being exact, had argued that they couldn't, because
there were only two of them, and Alice hand been reduced at last to say,
'Well, you can be one of them then, and I'll be the rest.
-Through the Looking Glass and what Alice found there (Chapter
1)
In Carrolls sequel to Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Alice once again
finds herself in a bizarre and nonsensical place when she passes through a
mirror and enters a looking-glass world where nothing is quite as it seems.
From her guest appearance as a pawn in chess match to her meeting with
Humpty Dumpty, Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there
follows Alice on her curious adventure and shows Carrolls great skill at
creating an imaginary world full of the fantastical and extraordinary
elements.
Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there is an adventurous
journey of Alice, where she is shown growing into womanhood. Here, she
meets few animals and mostly talking flowers and insects. The game of
chess is a prominent factor in this novel. Alice plays the part of the White
Queens daughter Lily as she is sick and becomes the White Queens
pawn. Alice is told that at the eight square she would become the Queen.
The whole novel is transformed into a chess board where the white pawn
(Alice) wins the match in eleven moves.

While in the process she meets people like Tweedledee and Tweedledum,
Unicorn, Sheep, White Knight, Messenger, Humpty Dumpty, Carpenter,
Walrus, Crow, Lion, Oyster, White King and Queen, Red King and Queen,
aged man. The strange things about these creatures are that, they
suddenly transform form one person to another. For instance: the White
Queen transforms into a sheep, the egg which Alice buys from the sheep
turns into Humpty Dumpty, the Red Queen turns into the kitten and so on.
This is fantasy.
Alice in Chapter 1 of Through the Looking glass and what Alice found
there tells her kitten, Lets pretend that youre the Red Queen, Kitty!
And in Chapter 10 and 11, we come to know, The Red Queen made no
resistance whatever: only her face grew very small, and her eyes got large
and green: and still, as Alice went on shaking her, she kept on growing
shorter-and fatter-and softer-and rounder-andand it really was a kitten,
after all. This is a combination of fantasy and reality.
The ideology in the world of Looking glass is very contradictory. For
instance: A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here you see, it
takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to
get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.". Next,
"You'd be nowhere. Why you're only a sort of thing in his dream!", "If that
there King was to wake," added Tweedledum, "you'd go out -- bang! -- just
like a candle!" Then, You may look in front of you, and on both sides, if
you like," said the Sheep; "but you can't look all round you - unless you've
got eyes at the back of your head." Again, You don't know how to
manage Looking-glass cakes," the Unicorn remarked. "Hand it round first,
and cut it afterwards." All these are various kinds of ideas and events
which occurs in the world of Looking-glass.
Moreover, whenever Alice was in danger, someone comes and saves her
like the Red knight comes to harm Alice while the White knight saves her.
The moves are analogy to the chess game. Alice can never come
backward or think her past because she is a pawn. The White queen
appears anywhere and at anytime because she can take moves in all
direction. The King can take only one step. All these rules which are
applied in chess are applicable in the world of the Looking-Glass as well. It
is the world of fantasy.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream
Lingering in the golden gleam
Life, what is it but a dream?
Life is a dreamed-reality. For many people, life is a dream. We want to go
ahead in life. Some does, but not all. Like Alice, many of us too dream in
our own wonderlands. We want to visit the looking glass, the other side of
reality which is a fancy. We interact with animals in our daily life but in
wonderland it is different. For Alice, in Alices Adventures in Wonderland it
was a queer thing when she saw the white rabbit in a waistcoat, the
caterpillar taking hookah, the baby of the Duchess turning into a pig, the
way she was growing and shrinking in size, the mad tea-party which she
attended, the gardener painting the white roses red, the way she was
forgetting her lessons, the stories and the poems that she shared with the
creatures and so on. She never expected these things to happen in her
real life. In her dream, she even meets the Queen, the Duchess, visits a
royal courtroom, which most probably is not possible for a young girl like
her. All want to achieve success like Alice, who becomes Queen Alice in
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice found there. But to get there
she had to face obstacles and was of course rescued by the white-knight.
We too have our saviours; our conscience or God who directs our way. For
us, we are our own master but the God is the master of all beings. Alice
thought that it was her dream but later comes to know that she was in the
dream of the Red King. Carroll vey cleverly makes its readers to get inside
the book. But some chapters end abruptly like the Humpty Dumpty. All
these are possible due to the element of fantasy which the novel
formulates. The element of fantasy is impeccably penned down by Lewis
Carroll which makes the readers amusing.

Bibliography:

Abrams, M.H. and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Handbook of Literary

Terms. India: Cengage Learning, 2011.

Carrol, Lewis. Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the

Looking-Glass. London: Penguin Classics, 1998.
Drabble, Margaret and Jenny Stringer. Oxford Concise Companion to
English Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

References:

www.online-literature.com
www.poetryfoundation.org
www.victorianweb.org