Oral de LELE

Alice’s adventures in wonderland= down the rabbit hole

a little girl named alice is sitting beside her sister who is reading what alice thinks is a very dull book, when suddenly a white rabbit appears and says “oh dear! i shall be late!” for a moment, the rabbit doesn’t strike alice as odd at all, until she realizes that she has never seen a rabbit in a waistcoat or with a pocket-watch before. instinctively, she follows him across a field and, before she has a chance to think, down a rabbit hole. Alice’s dream state - and her magical thinking as a young child- are on displays as she is not surprised by the fact of a talking rabbit- it’s only when she realizes that it’s a well-dressed talking rabbit that it gets her attention. And she follows the rabbit from her world to it’s world, the world of the dream.

Alice’s adventures in wonderland begins as a pleasant fairy tale. Alice and her sister are reading a book that has neither pictures nor conversations. Alice finds the reading tedious: she is anxious for more vivid and direct forms of experience. Her boredom and anxiety cause her to withdraw from the “civilized pastime” of reading dull books and to fall asleep, entering the world of dreams. At the edge of semi-sleep consciousness, she sees the form of a white rabbit scurrying toward a rabbit-hole/ Immediately, Alice is curious and pursues him down the hole. The reason for Alice’s pursuit is that she burns with curiosity; after all the rabbit is wearing a waistcoat, talking to himself, walking upright, and he has a pocket watch, his image is thus unusual, suggesting romantic and fairy tale “people”. The rabbit’s hole functions like a large laundry chute, and, curiously, Alice “floats” down the hole in a slow descent. In her fall, she has fantasies relating to the absence of gravity, the quality of infinite space, the shape of her body, mass, and velocity. Her free, fanciful associations in the tunnel are in vivid contrast to her innocent, non-reflective curiosity that led her to leap down the hole in the first place.

The Author's Voice : Humour and Nonsense

Fin de "Down the Rabbit Hole"

Alice 's adventures in Wonderland was a way for Lewis Caroll to channel his platonic love for Alice.

"Carroll’s sudden break with the Liddell family in the early 1860s has led to a great deal of speculation over the nature of his relationship with Alice Liddell. Some books indicate that the split resulted from a disagreement between Carroll and Dean Liddell over Christ Church matters. Other evidence indicates that more insidious elements existed in Carroll’s relationships with young children and with Alice Liddell in particular. This possibility seems to be supported by the fact that Mrs. Liddell burned all of Carroll’s early letters to Alice and that Carroll himself tore pages out of his diary related to the break. However, no concrete evidence exists that Carroll behaved inappropriately in his numerous friendships with children. Records written by Carroll’s associates and Alice Liddell herself do not indicate any untoward behavior on his part. " Lewis Carrol (cliff notes, sparknotes)

A mathematic teacher → logics and sophism → the master of nonsense (adj: nonsensical) that makes sense.

It’s a book about childhood and becoming an adult, the loss of innocence.

Fear of being eaten at the back of our mind through out the book.

Carrol had a very religious education, his father was a priest and Lewis Carrol was deacon.

He was a teacher at Oxford where he met Charles Lidell who had three daughters and a son. One of the daughter’s name was Alice which is why he wrote Alice in wonderland.

Carrol was also a photographer and an inventor.

He had a stutter in company of adults which is why he enjoyed the company of kids

Alice asks herself « Who in the world am I ? Ah that’s the great puzzle. » → search of identity

The victorian time was a time of positivism. They taught that science could solve everything. It was the last step of humanity.

Alice is a smart girl who knows a lot of things, she’s obviously educated. She’s going to understand that she actually knows nothing. She’s learned (instruite)

the book : knowledge, boredom, tedious, strict, austere, the victorian times

the hole : a rebirth, a new delivery

she’s falling asleep and is dreaming

garden of eden : safety and comfort

White rabbit with pink eyes : caricature of a victorian business man or symbolises time bc Alice ca never catch up with him.

Time was important in the Victorian times. Development of England (a quarter of the world was British) The exchanges had been multiplied by ten > powerful bc development of business : Rule Britania.

A time of optimisme, thought they would control everyone and they were the best > criticism of this by Carrol.

Children side and Victorian side, she’s growing up and becoming a victorian girl who thinks she’s the best and knows everything. « cats eat bats or bats eat cats » : We think that it’s a pun but she plays with the language, she’s playing with words and sounds but in fact, Alice is raising the existential question that all mammals have on the planet : to eat or to being eaten.

She doesn’t fit through the door : she doesn’t belong in the victorian society yet

She’s not at ease with her body which is too big or too small. Her body is starting to change and she doesn’t like it.

She questions all her certitudes, certainties. The book is a lot about confusedness, unsatisfaction, frustration (can’t catch the rabbit).

The pot of marmalade : she puts it back on the shelf : a sense of responsibility, she doesn’t want to hurt someone. She had a good up-bringing.

Geography : she shows off her knowledge, her victorian education. She shows herself smarter

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