The story of Alice in Wonderland is one I would confidently say most of the world is familiar with, from Alice falling into the rabbit hole to her waking up from a magic dream that concealed all of her adventures in Wonderland. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll guides us to an illogical world, where nothing seems to make much sense and Alice’s struggle to understand said nonsense. Animals that talk, cats that disappear, potions that can make you shrink and cakes that can make you grow are just a few of the nonsensical ideas one can find in Wonderland. Behind all this nonsense, the book fails to explicitly tell the audience of a deeper meaning beyond it just being a bedtime tale. After some in-depth analysis it becomes clear that all the stories are analogies to explain how the mind and feelings are processed through the consequences of Alice’s actions. More specifically, it is taking a look at how the themes presented in the story transcend the fairy tale narrative into the real world.
In the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the narration of the story follows a stereotypical structure for a bedtime tale. Creative storytelling and the situations Alice encounters seems to accomplish getting the audience entertained. However, –in the book– these situations and interactions Alice runs into do not give the impression of being related in any way to one another, but merely a “queer” set of circumstances. One of the most expected interactions while reading the book was when Alice and the Mad Hatter first converge. As they become acquainted with each other, both indulge in an argument about the meaning and purpose of Time where the Mad Hatter explains to Alice that “you’d only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!”; letting her know that time can move as one pleases only if you ask Time. The Hatter moves forward to share a story on how one of his dear friends was sentenced to lose his head by the Red Queen for messing with Time. Nonetheless, the book fails to attach a meaning to this story in the overall narrative, and characters did not suffer any consequence from their actions anywhere throughout the book. Just as none of the interactions between the characters appear to follow a significant sequence, there are too many coincidences showing in the midst of these exchanges. For this, it is relevant to mention Alice and the Caterpillar’s first encounter, where Alice asks the Caterpillar to help her grow since the shrinking potion left her being too small and “three inches is such a wretched height to be”. In response, the Caterpillar angrily reared itself upright measuring exactly three inches high. This coincidence and others, though not expanded in the book at any point, shows there is a bigger connection between Alice and the Wonderland creatures than what this book compels it to be. Taking these fortuitous circumstances, it is hard to understand how Alice’s experience in Wonderland does not have a real purpose, considering that she comes back to the “real world” just waking up from a dream and not gaining any knowledge nor serving as a tool in the Wonderland doings. As a result of the intrigue the book can cause and the necessity of finding a purpose for Alice in the magical world that is Wonderland, a deeper analysis for its meaning arises.
While Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland offers only Alice’s first exploration of Wonderland, in the director Tim Burton’s movie adaptation of the story, Alice in Wonderland (2010), he combines features and characters of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and several sequel books like Through the Looking Glass and Jabberwocky. By doing so, the movie adaptation proposes a more complete and cohesive version of the story, that –added to the information found in the first book– leads to a better understanding of the overall story and an explicit purpose for Alice to be in Wonderland. Characters like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum –a set of identical twins that appear in the Through the Looking Glass book– are part of the characters that do not emerge in the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland book but do show in both Tim Burton’s and the Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951) movie adaptations. In the Disney adaptation, these characters only serve as curiosity motivation for Alice and share with her The Walrus and The Carpenter poem –which is written by Lewis Caroll outside of the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland books–. This poem narrates the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter as they are looking for oysters to eat, where the Walrus tricks the Carpenter for him to eat all of the oysters by himself without sharing any, to which the Carpenter runs behind the Walrus possibly to reprimand him. One could easily assume that this poem is an analogy for greed, and the twins were in a way trying to teach Alice the lesson; however, the movie fails to expand on this lesson or show Alice use the new gained knowledge.
Furthermore, characters like the White Rabbit –who is essential and is the reason why Alice gets to Wonderland through the rabbit hole in all versions of the story– seems to share a different relationship with Alice in the book than in the Tim Burton’s adaptation. In the book as well as in the Disney adaptation, the White Rabbit gives the impression of bringing Alice into Wonderland only by mistake as she is only curious on where this white rabbit with vest is going with such hurry.
Additionally, the Red Queen is another character that shows in all interpretations of the story, and her character is always defined as impulsive, insecure and unmerciful. In the Alice in Wonderland (2010) adaptation, the Red Queen’s insecurity –which is the reason for all her other terrible personality traits– comes from having a voluptuous head. Later it is discovered that the Red Queen’s head developed in size as a consequence of an accident when she was a child, which –in context of her whole character representation in the movie– alludes to the representation of a trauma. This analysis portrays the growth of her head as a visual depiction on how traumas work in human beings, and how one can develop different types of coping mechanisms to protect themselves from the acceptance of what had happened and how to move forward from them. For this, the Red Queen uses the Jabberwocky –a fierce dragon which is introduced in the Jabberwocky book– as a tool to first obtain the throne by burning the previous kingdom to the ground, and then as her defense towards anyone who disagrees with her. Additionally, as a result of her insecurity, all her friends in the movie use various implants in their bodies like big noses, bellies, chins, foreheads, etc., to make them seem voluptuous as well and be appealing to the Red Queen; which represents how humans project their own traumas into their close circle. On that same note, the Red Queen’s love interest –the Knave of Hearts– is depicted as one who’s loyalty to her is only fueled by fear. The Knave of Hearts seems to be constantly perturbed by the Red Queen’s vile actions against every creature. Worried about the outcome of his head, –if he does not stay by the Queen’s side or obey her orders– he remains “loyal” to her until the very end. For this, he persistently pleads with her aiming to get her ruling decisions to change, for he believes being loved is better than feared; yet, the Red Queen always disagrees. Furthermore, in all the versions previously discussed, the White Queen only appears in Tim Burton’s adaptation. The White Queen is the Red Queen’s sister and legitimate ruler of the Wonderland kingdom, and is characterized by being the complete opposite of her sister. In this analysis, the White Queen depicts as one’s peaceful and contented version of themselves, all the Red Queen can not achieve because of her incapability to let go of her traumas and insecurities, and move forward in life. Now, these characters alone do not provide enough support to believe all creatures in Wonderland act as pieces of the mind, or how feelings and their consequences are processed in one’s life. For this, deeper analysis of main characters need to be discussed. This can be done by examining Alice’s interactions with each one of them, and recognizing similarities between the character’s intentions during the exchange with the story’s protagonist. Ultimately, the outcome of Alice’s endeavors affect her course in Wonderland, as well as reflects real life traits of the human mind.
Thanks to the recollection of all characters in Alice in Wonderland (2010), where they all coexist and interact with Alice in different ways, it is easier to evaluate how these interchanges serve as analogies for one’s mind. In this movie, a magnifying glass can be put to better examine characters shown shortly in the book. The Mad Hatter for instance, acts as Alice’s most loyal friend while in Wonderland; he serves as an informer to her, helps her escape trouble and offers guidance when Alice is in doubt. At the same time, the Hatter often gets lost in his own head and goes over and over million different possibilities for a resolution, for which Alice finds herself needing to snap him out of it and bringing him back to reality and calmness. Because of their interaction always going as previously stated, one could assume the Mad Hatter is the personification of overthinking, seeing that he can sometimes provide assistance and solutions but at the same time when overdone, can cause madness and to lose the real point.
Moreover, the iconic and mysterious Cheshire Cat interchanges with Alice multiple times throughout the movie. During these, Alice comes to the Cheshire Cat always with questions, to which the animal would reply with more questions that purposely guide her to the right answer. Almost like in a therapy session, by being asked the right questions Alice acknowledges the correct decision to make or path to take as a result of some sort of epiphany. According to such specific interactions, one can state that the Cheshire Cat represents the AHA! moments in the human mind’s train of thought that is rather frequently accompanied by a big smile, just like the Cheshire Cat’s.
The Caterpillar’s first interlinkage with Alice in all versions of the tale starts with defiant “who are you?” questions. In these, the Caterpillar would challenge Alice to acknowledge who she is; however, she would always respond with doubt and uncertainty being that she does not believe to be quite herself in this world. In Alice in Wonderland (2010), they include a final conversation between the Caterpillar –who is already in its cocoon preparing for its metamorphosis– and Alice. This conversation in particular served as a spark to encourage her to accept the challenge of slaying the Jabberwocky for all the creatures in Wonderland. During said interaction, the Caterpillar boldly questioned her again and called her “stupid girl”, to which Alice’s rebuttal came strong and confident. She assured him this time that her name was indeed Alice, and recognized all her real attributes from the upper world with conviction, to which the Caterpillar just responded “Alice at last”. Just before losing itself inside the cocoon, the Caterpillar remarks to Alice that he believed she called the Underland many years before “Wonderland”, and only then Alice’s memory came back and remembered all her previous adventures as a child in the Land. The final scene they shared together reassessed the meaning behind the Caterpillar. The metaphor behind its transformation into a butterfly and starting a “new life” added strength to the analysis that he –for Alice– acts as the consciousness of the mind bringing clarity to the thinking. With this new inspired confidence and belief, Alice was able to transform, leave all her fears behind, and finally endure her challenge.
On the other hand, in the 2010 adaptation, the twins serve as entertainment for the Red Queen which –along with the full analysis of characters and movie plot– could portray them in a new light that offers a bigger meaning to their characters. The film depicts the twins as representing distracting and evasive thoughts one uses to avoid thinking of what truly matters. Though this conclusion is not drowned by a direct interchange with Alice, it is read by the context of the Red Queen who is –simultaneously– part of Alice’s subconscious.
Additionally, in the Tim Burton’s adaptation –where they show a grown Alice–, the White Rabbit goes to the upper world specifically with the intention of drawing Alice into the rabbit hole and finally to Wonderland. In this adaptation, the White Rabbit’s urgency to bring Alice into Underland is because there is a prophecy she needs to fulfill in order for the Red Queen to be dethroned. Alice’s challenge presented by the White Rabbit is slaying the Jabberwocky, only this way the Red Queen will not have anything to threaten the creatures in Wonderland. By accepting the challenge, Alice learns to believe not only in herself but also in Wonderland, acknowledging like this the realness of the world and the creatures within it. Independently from the different versions of the White Rabbit, it still shows the audience that he is the real connection between Alice and Wonderland, in this fashion he –for Alice– represents the catharsis of her emotions. This representation is quite unique in the story, as it is seen that all other characters represent a single emotion or different ways of thinking. Is this uniqueness that elevates the importance of the White Rabbit in Alice’s life, and consequently in every human’s as well.
Inversely from all the characters discussed before, Time is one barely mentioned in the movies or the book; yet, his meaning is more profound than what each adaptation of him implies. In all the interpretations, Time is only mentioned by the Hatter when he first meets with Alice. Hatter explains that Time is a “he” and one can manipulate time only if you ask him nicely. Time is the master of memories, he manages all of history. He –though has no interactions directly with Alice– is important to every creature in the Underland due to his professional duties. Time, –in this narrative– represents the record of recollection and is able to manipulate how far back the mind can go and for how long one can stay there, or not, in the slightest bit. Time is the personification for memories, which oftentimes can be detrimental with the processing of emotions and traumas if they are not managed properly.
The representation of Time, as a character, and their implications on the story, allows readers to understand the motives as to why the Red and White Queen’s are used as an analogy for the mind’s emotional balance and stability. As aforementioned, the Red Queen is characterized as impulsive, insecure and unmerciful; whereas the White Queen is peaceful, content, and compassionate. Their sisterhood can easily be compared to the Chinese philosophical concept of Yin and Yang, in view of the fact that in all interpretations of the story, they are pictured as good and evil. Furthermore, the Red Queen uses different types of coping mechanisms to protect herself from the world and judgment. Opposed to the previously mentioned coping mechanisms, she is also over-fixated with decapitating creatures as a natural result of her not being comfortable with her own head. In the books and the Disney adaptation, the Red Queen does not really execute all the creatures she sentences to death; in fact, she can not even keep count of all of them. In these, all of her power relies on her rhetoric and manner of speaking. Nevertheless, in the 2010 adaptation –where a more somber interpretation is portrayed–, she very much decapitates everyone and on top of that, showcases the heads in front of the castle most likely as a warning sign for everyone who comes inside of it. Here, she uses the heads as a wall to keep her safe inside, or so she believes. All of the Red Queen’s coping mechanisms are threatened once she finds out Alice is back in Wonderland and the prophecy says she will slay the Jabberwocky, the Red Queen’s most vile defense. To this, the Red Queen knows it is time to meet her little sister, and prepares her army and the Jabberwocky for battle. Upon arrival and despite all of their history together, the White Queen calls her sister out for reason, trying to get her to discard her combat intent. The Red Queen is defensive thus she believes she is entitled to the throne and rejects any scheme for peace. The Red Queen’s inevitable defeat comes after Alice slays the dragon, to which she still asks for Alice’s head. However, the army did not feel compelled to follow her any longer after the defeat of the Jabberwocky. Even her love interest in the movie stops supporting her, and after being sentenced to an eternity with her, tries to kill her. The resolution of the battle explains how after a person who is lost in their own resentment and misery, and puts off walls to “protect” themselves, just ends up being utterly alone and –ironically– sorrowful. The Red Queen thought that by operating solely on coping mechanisms she was doing a favor to herself. But the thing is, coping mechanisms only work for particular situations, and when overused and not adapting to new conditions and situations in life, they just detriment one’s existence. Immediately after one is able to adapt and defeat old ways –hence the overthrow of the Red Queen– a person can find balance and stability with their emotions which is showcased by the legitimate crowning of the White Queen. As it happens, Alice was exclusively selected to battle the Jabberwocky because she was known to be the only one who could defeat it, and why would that be? It is because in actuality she is the real ruler of Wonderland, it is her mind and her creation. She is connected to the Underland in many ways, which is hinted at by a series of coincidences we see and read throughout the different interpretations. These coincidences exist solely because it is her mind creating them, and keep on pointing at her and singling her out in all her Wonderland endeavors. Being that we are in Alice’s mind, it is natural to draw the conclusion that the rest of the characters in the story are versions of herself when she thinks, needs guidance or confidence, finds solutions, hurts and when she is loving as well. Nevertheless, –even when the story she tells is creative in ways not everyone could match– Alice’s mind is not different from the rest of human kind’s minds. The similarities between Alice’s mind and every human’s mind –based on the character’s analysis and what they represent for Alice and the story– create a strong link between both. The overthinking, consciousness, distractive thoughts, and the good and evil that reside in every human, allows this reasoning to confidently assume Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is an analogy to a person’s mind, how is the processing of feelings, and their consequences in one’s life. By ignoring all the clues and hints the different adaptation authors give us to the belief of this analysis, the story would not have a backbone and just be meaningless. Assigning purpose to the characters in Wonderland, and especially Alice, the narration of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland achieves new levels up for interpretation and grants an objective and justification for Alice to be in Wonderland in the first place. Without this analysis, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is merely a bedtime story that does not require much attention and does not deserve the merit it receives.