Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (also known asAlice in Wonderland) is an 1865 Englishchildren's novel byLewis Carroll, a mathematicsdon at theUniversity of Oxford. It details the story of a girl namedAlice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world ofanthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of theliterary nonsense genre. The artistJohn Tenniel provided 42 wood-engraved illustrations for the book.
It received positive reviews upon release and is now one of the best-known works ofVictorian literature; its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have had a widespread influence on popular culture and literature, especially in thefantasy genre.[1][2] It is credited as helping end an era ofdidacticism inchildren's literature, inaugurating an era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain".[3] The tale plays withlogic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.[4] The titular character Alice shares her name withAlice Liddell, a girl Carroll knew—scholars disagree about the extent to which the character was based upon her.[5][6]
The book has never been out of print andhas been translated into 174 languages. Its legacy includesadaptations to screen, radio, visual art, ballet, opera, and musical theatre, as well as theme parks, board games and video games.[7] Carroll published a sequel in 1871 entitledThrough the Looking-Glass and a shortened version for young children,The Nursery "Alice", in 1890.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was conceived on 4 July 1862, whenLewis Carroll and the ReverendRobinson Duckworth rowed up the riverIsis with the three young daughters of Carroll's friendHenry Liddell:[8][9] Lorina Charlotte (aged 13; "Prima" in the book's prefatory verse);Alice Pleasance (aged 10; "Secunda" in the verse); and Edith Mary (aged 8; "Tertia" in the verse).[10]
The journey began atFolly Bridge, Oxford, and ended 5 miles (8 km) upstream atGodstow, Oxfordshire. During the trip, Carroll told the girls a story that he described in his diary as "Alice's Adventures Under Ground", which his journal says he "undertook to write out for Alice".[11] Alice Liddell recalled that she asked Carroll to write it down: unlike other stories he had told her, this one she wanted to preserve.[12] She finally received the manuscript more than two years later.[13]
4 July was known as the "golden afternoon", prefaced in the novel as a poem.[14] In fact, the weather around Oxford on 4 July was "cool and rather wet", although at least one scholar has disputed this claim.[15] Scholars debate whether Carroll in fact came up withAlice during the "golden afternoon" or whether the story was developed over a longer period.[14]
Carroll had known the Liddell children since around March 1856, when he befriended Harry Liddell.[16] He had met Lorina by early March as well.[17] In June 1856, he took the children out on the river.[18] Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, who wrote a literary biography of Carroll, suggests that Carroll favoured Alice Pleasance Liddell in particular because her name was ripe for allusion.[19] "Pleasance" means pleasure and the name "Alice" appeared in contemporary works, including the poem "Alice Gray" by William Mee, of which Carroll wrote a parody; Alice is a character in "Dream-Children: A Reverie", a prose piece byCharles Lamb.[19] Carroll, an amateur photographer by the late 1850s,[20] produced many photographic portraits of the Liddell children – and especially of Alice, of which 20 survive.[21]
Page from the manuscript ofAlice's Adventures Under Ground, 1864. Handwritten and illustrated by Carroll, it is held in the British Library.
Carroll began writing themanuscript of the story the next day, although that earliest version is lost. The girls and Carroll took another boat trip a month later, when he elaborated the plot of the story to Alice, and in November, he began working on the manuscript in earnest.[22] To add the finishing touches, he researchednatural history in connection with the animals presented in the book and then had the book examined by other children—particularly those ofGeorge MacDonald. Though Carroll did add his own illustrations to the original copy, on publication he was advised to find a professional illustrator so that the pictures were more appealing to his audience. He subsequently approachedJohn Tenniel to reinterpret his visions through his own artistic eye, telling him that the story had been well-liked by the children.[22]
Carroll began planning a print edition of theAlice story in 1863.[23] He wrote on 9 May 1863 that MacDonald's family had suggested he publishAlice.[13] A diary entry for 2 July says that he received a specimen page of the print edition around that date.[23] On 26 November 1864, Carroll gave Alice the manuscript ofAlice's Adventures Under Ground, with illustrations by Carroll, dedicating it as "A Christmas Gift to a Dear Child in Memory of a Summer's Day".[24][25] The published version ofAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is about twice the length ofAlice's Adventures Under Ground and includes episodes, such as the Mad Hatter's Tea-Party (or Mad Tea Party), that do not appear in the manuscript.[26][23] The only known manuscript copy ofUnder Ground is held in theBritish Library.[23]Macmillan published a facsimile of the manuscript in 1886.[23]
Alice, a young girl, sits bored by a riverbank and spots aWhite Rabbit with apocket watch andwaistcoat lamenting that he is late. Surprised, Alice follows him down a rabbit hole, which sends her into a lengthy plummet but to a safe landing. Inside a room with a table, she finds a key to a tiny door, beyond which is a garden. While pondering how to fit through the door, she discovers a bottle labelled "Drink me". Alice drinks some of the bottle's contents, and to her astonishment, she shrinks small enough to enter the door. However, she had left the key upon the table and cannot reach it. Alice then discovers and eats a cake labelled "Eat me", which causes her to grow to a tremendous size. Unhappy, Alice bursts into tears, and the passing White Rabbit flees in a panic, dropping a fan and two gloves. Alice uses the fan for herself, which causes her to shrink once more and leaves her swimming in a pool of her own tears. Within the pool, Alice meets various animals and birds, who convene on a bank and engage in a "Caucus Race" to dry themselves. Following the end of the race, Alice inadvertently frightens the animals away by discussing her cat.
The White Rabbit appears looking for the gloves and fan. Mistaking Alice for his maidservant, he orders her to go to his house and retrieve them. Alice finds another bottle and drinks from it, which causes her to grow to such an extent that she gets stuck in the house. Attempting to extract her, the White Rabbit and his neighbours eventually take to hurling pebbles that turn into small cakes. Alice eats one and shrinks herself, allowing her to flee into the forest. She meets aCaterpillar seated on a mushroom and smoking ahookah. During the Caterpillar's questioning, Alice begins to admit to her current identity crisis, compounded byher inability to remember a poem. Before crawling away, the Caterpillar says that a bite of one side of the mushroom will make her larger, while a bite from the other side will make her smaller. During a period of trial and error, Alice's neck extends between the treetops, frightening a pigeon who mistakes her for a serpent. After shrinking to an appropriate height, Alice arrives at the home of aDuchess, who owns a perpetually grinningCheshire Cat. The Duchess's baby, whom she hands to Alice, transforms into a piglet, which Alice releases into the woods. The Cheshire Cat appears to Alice and directs her toward theHatter andMarch Hare before disappearing, leaving his grin behind. Alice finds the Hatter, March Hare, and a sleepyDormouse in the midst of atea party. The Hatter explains that it is always 6 p.m. (tea time), claiming that time is standing still as punishment for the Hatter trying to "kill it". A conversation ensues around the table, and the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" is brought up. Alice impatiently decides to leave, calling the party stupid.
Noticing a door on a tree, Alice passes through and finds herself back in the room from the beginning of her journey. She takes the key and uses it to open the door to the garden, which turns out to be thecroquet court of theQueen of Hearts, whose guard consists of living playing cards. Alice participates in a croquet game, in which hedgehogs are used as balls, flamingos are used as mallets, and soldiers act as hoops. The Queen is short-tempered and constantly orders beheadings. When the Cheshire Cat appears as only a head, the Queen orders his beheading, only to be told that such an act is impossible. Because the cat belongs to the Duchess, Alice prompts the Queen to release the Duchess from prison to resolve the matter. When the Duchess ruminates on finding morals in everything around her, the Queen dismisses her on the threat of execution.
Alice then meets aGryphon and aMock Turtle, who dance to theLobster Quadrille while Alice recites (rather incorrectly)a poem. The Mock Turtle sings them "Beautiful Soup", during which the Gryphon drags Alice away for a trial, in which theKnave of Hearts stands accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. The trial is conducted by theKing of Hearts, and the jury is composed of animals that Alice previously met. Alice gradually grows in size and confidence, allowing herself increasingly frequent remarks on the irrationality of the proceedings. The Queen eventually commands Alice's beheading, but Alice scoffs that the Queen's guard is only a pack of cards. Although Alice holds her own for a time, the guards soon gang up and start to swarm all over her. Alice's sister wakes her up from a dream, brushing what turns out to be leaves from Alice's face. Alice leaves her sister on the bank to imagine all the curious happenings for herself.
Mad Tea Party.Theophilus Carter, an eccentric furniture dealer from Oxford, has been suggested as a model forThe Hatter.
InThe Annotated Alice,Martin Gardner provides background information for the characters. The members of the boating party that first heard Carroll's tale show up in chapter 3 ("A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale"). Alice Liddell is there, while Carroll is caricatured as the Dodo (Lewis Carroll was apen name for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson; because he stuttered when he spoke, he sometimes pronounced his last name as "Dodo-Dodgson"). The Duck refers toRobinson Duckworth, and the Lory and Eaglet to Alice Liddell's sisters Lorina and Edith.[27]
Bill the Lizard may be a play on the name of British Prime MinisterBenjamin Disraeli.[28] One of Tenniel's illustrations inThrough the Looking-Glass—the 1871 sequel toAlice—depicts the character referred to as the "Man in White Paper" (whom Alice meets on a train) as a caricature of Disraeli, wearing a paper hat.[29] The illustrations of the Lion and the Unicorn (also inLooking-Glass) look like Tenniel'sPunch illustrations ofWilliam Ewart Gladstone and Disraeli, although Gardner says there is "no proof" that they were intended to represent these politicians.[30]
Gardner has suggested that the Hatter is a reference toTheophilus Carter, an Oxford furniture dealer, and that Tenniel apparently drew the Hatter to resemble Carter, on a suggestion of Carroll's.[31] The Dormouse tells a story about three little sisters named Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie. These are the Liddell sisters: Elsie is L.C. (Lorina Charlotte); Tillie is Edith (her family nickname is Matilda); and Lacie is ananagram of Alice.[32]
The Mock Turtle speaks of a drawling-master, "an oldconger eel", who came once a week to teach "Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils". This is a reference to the art criticJohn Ruskin, who came once a week to the Liddell house to teach the children to draw, sketch, and paint in oils.[33][34] The Mock Turtle sings "Turtle Soup", which is a parody of a song called "Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star", which the Liddells sang for Carroll.[35][36]
Carroll wrote multiple poems and songs forAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, including:
"All in the golden afternoon..."—the prefatory verse to the book, an original poem by Carroll that recalls the rowing expedition on which he first told the story of Alice's adventures underground
Three cards painting the white rose tree red to cover it up from the Queen of Hearts (Coloured Tenniel illustration)
Carroll's biographerMorton N. Cohen readsAlice as aroman à clef populated with real figures from Carroll's life. Alice is based on Alice Liddell; the Dodo is Carroll; Wonderland is Oxford; even the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, according to Cohen, is a send-up of Alice's own birthday party.[5] The critic Jan Susina rejects Cohen's account, arguing that Alice the character bears a tenuous relationship with Alice Liddell.[6]
Beyond its refashioning of Carroll's everyday life, Cohen argues,Alice critiques Victorian ideals of childhood. It is an account of "the child's plight in Victorian upper-class society", in which Alice's mistreatment by the creatures of Wonderland reflects Carroll's own mistreatment by older people as a child.[43]
In the eighth chapter, three cards are painting the roses on a rose tree red, because they had accidentally planted a white-rose tree that the Queen of Hearts hates. According toWilfrid Scott-Giles, the rose motif inAlice alludes to the EnglishWars of the Roses: red roses symbolised theHouse of Lancaster, and white roses the rivalHouse of York.[44]
Alice is full of linguistic play, puns, and parodies.[45] According toGillian Beer, Carroll's play with language evokes the feeling of words for new readers: they "still have insecure edges and a nimbus of nonsense blurs the sharp focus of terms".[46] The literary scholar Jessica Straley, in a work about the role of evolutionary theory in Victorian children's literature, argues that Carroll's focus on language prioritises humanism overscientism by emphasising language's role in human self-conception.[47]
Pat's "Digging for apples" is across-language pun, aspomme de terre (literally; "apple of the earth") means potato andpomme means apple.[48] In the second chapter, Alice initially addresses the mouse as "O Mouse", based on her memory of the noundeclensions "in her brother'sLatin Grammar, 'A mouse – of a mouse – to a mouse – a mouse – O mouse!'" These words correspond to the first five of Latin's six cases, in a traditional order established by medieval grammarians:mus (nominative),muris (genitive),muri (dative),murem (accusative),(O) mus (vocative). The sixth case,mure (ablative) is absent from Alice's recitation. Nilson suggests that Alice's missing ablative is a pun on her father Henry Liddell's work on the standardA Greek-English Lexicon, since ancient Greek does not have an ablative case. Further, mousa (μούσα, meaningmuse) was a standard model noun in Greek textbooks of the time in paradigms of the first declension, short-alpha noun.[49]
Mathematics and logic are central toAlice.[50] As Carroll was a mathematician at Christ Church, it has been suggested that there are many references and mathematical concepts in both this story andThrough the Looking-Glass.[51][52] Literary scholar Melanie Bayley asserts in theNew Scientist magazine that Carroll wroteAlice in Wonderland in its final form as a satire on mid-19th century mathematics.[53]
Carina Garland notes how the world is "expressed via representations of food and appetite", naming Alice's frequent desire for consumption (of both food and words), her 'Curious Appetites'.[54] Often, the idea of eating coincides to make gruesome images. After the riddle "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?", the Hatter claims that Alice might as well say, "I see what I eat…I eat what I see" and so the riddle's solution, put forward by Boe Birns, could be that "A raven eats worms; a writing desk is worm-eaten"; this idea of food encapsulates idea of life feeding on life itself, for the worm is being eaten and then becomes the eater—a horrific image of mortality.[55]
Nina Auerbach discusses how the novel revolves around eating and drinking which "motivates much of her [Alice's] behaviour", for the story is essentially about things "entering and leaving her mouth."[56] The animals of Wonderland are of particular interest, for Alice's relation to them shifts constantly because, as Lovell-Smith states, Alice's changes in size continually reposition her in the food chain, serving as a way to make her acutely aware of the 'eat or be eaten' attitude that permeates Wonderland.[57]
Alice is an example of theliterary nonsense genre.[58] According toHumphrey Carpenter,Alice's brand of nonsense embraces thenihilistic andexistential. Characters in nonsensical episodes such as the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, in which it is always the same time, go on posing paradoxes that are never resolved.[59]
Wonderland is a rule-bound world, but its rules are not those of our world. The literary scholar Daniel Bivona writes thatAlice is characterised by "gamelike social structures."[60] She trusts in instructions from the beginning, drinking from the bottle labelled "drink me" after recalling, during her descent, that children who do not follow the rules often meet terrible fates.[61] Unlike the creatures of Wonderland, who approach their world's wonders uncritically, Alice continues to look for rules as the story progresses.Gillian Beer suggests that Alice looks for rules to soothe her anxiety, while Carroll may have hunted for rules because he struggled with the implications of thenon-Euclidean geometry then in development.[62]
Alice byJohn Tenniel, one of his 42 illustrations for the 1865 published version of the book.
The manuscript was illustrated by Carroll, who added 37 illustrations—printed in afacsimile edition in 1887.[24] John Tenniel provided 42wood-engraved illustrations for the published version of the book.[63] The first print run was destroyed (or sold in the US)[64] at Carroll's request because Tenniel was dissatisfied with the printing quality. There are only 22 known first edition copies in existence.[63] The book was reprinted and published in 1866.[24] Tenniel's detailed black-and-white drawings remain the definitive depiction of the characters.[65]
Carroll first metAlexander Macmillan, a high-powered London publisher, on 19 October 1863.[13] His firm,Macmillan Publishers, agreed to publishAlice's Adventures in Wonderland by sometime in 1864.[67] Carroll financed the initial print run, possibly because it gave him more editorial authority than other financing methods.[67] He managed publication details such astypesetting and engaged illustrators and translators.[68]
Macmillan had publishedThe Water-Babies, also a children's fantasy, in 1863, and suggested its design as a basis forAlice's.[69] Carroll saw a specimen copy in May 1865.[70] 2,000 copies were printed by July, but Tenniel objected to their quality, and Carroll instructed Macmillan to halt publication so they could be reprinted.[24][71] In August, he engaged Richard Clay as an alternative printer for a new run of 2,000.[72] The reprint cost £600, paid entirely by Carroll.[73] He received the first copy of Clay's edition on 9 November 1865.[73]
Macmillan finally published the new edition, printed by Richard Clay, in November 1865.[2][74] Carroll requested a red binding, deeming it appealing to young readers.[75][76] A new edition, released in December 1865 for the Christmas market but carrying an 1866 date, was quickly printed.[77][78] The text blocks of the original edition were removed from the binding and sold with Carroll's permission to the New York publishing house ofD. Appleton & Company.[79] The binding for the AppletonAlice was identical to the 1866 MacmillanAlice, except for the publisher's name at the foot of thespine. The title page of the AppletonAlice was an insert cancelling the original Macmillan title page of 1865 and bearing the New York publisher's imprint and the date 1866.[2]
The entire print run sold out quickly.Alice was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike.[2]Oscar Wilde was a fan;[80]Queen Victoria was also an avid reader of the book.[81] She reportedly enjoyedAlice enough that she asked for Carroll's next book, which turned out to be a mathematical treatise; Carroll denied this.[82] The book has never been out of print.[2]Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into 174 languages.[83]
In 1907, thecopyright onAlice's Adventures in Wonderland expired in the UK, entering the tale into thepublic domain. Since the story was intimately tied to the illustrations byTenniel, new illustrated versions were then received with some significant objection by English reviewers.[84] In 2010, artistDavid Revoy received the CG Choice Award for hisdigital painting "Alice in Wonderland".
The following list is a timeline of major publication events related toAlice's Adventures in Wonderland:
1869: Published in German asAlice's Abenteuer im Wunderland, translated by Antonie Zimmermann.[85]
1869: Published in French asAventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles, translated by Henri Bué.[86]
1870: Published in Swedish asAlice's Äventyr i Sagolandet, translated by Emily Nonnen.[87]
1871: Carroll meets another Alice, Alice Raikes, during his time in London. He talks with her about her reflection in a mirror, leading to the sequel,Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, which sells even better.
1872: Published in Italian asLe Avventure di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie, translated by Teodorico Pietrocòla Rossetti.[88]
1886: Carroll publishes afacsimile of the earlierAlice's Adventures Under Ground manuscript.[89]
1906: Published in Finnish asLiisan seikkailut ihmemaailmassa, translated byAnni Swan.[85]
1907: Copyright onAlice's Adventures in Wonderland expires in the UK, entering the tale into thepublic domain,[91][84]42 years after its publication, some nine years after Carroll's death in January 1898.
1910: Published in Esperanto asLa Aventuroj de Alicio en Mirlando, translated by E. L. Kearney.[85]
1928: The manuscript ofAlice's Adventures Under Ground written and illustrated by Carroll, which he had given to Alice Liddell, was sold atSotheby's in London on 3 April. It was sold toPhilip Rosenbach of Philadelphia for£15,400, a world record for the sale of a manuscript at the time; the buyer later presented it to theBritish Library (where the manuscript remains) as an appreciation for Britain's part in two World Wars.[94][95]
1998: Carroll's own copy of Alice, one of only six surviving copies of the 1865 first edition, is sold at an auction forUS$1.54 million to an anonymous American buyer, becoming the most expensive children's book (or 19th-century work of literature) ever sold to that point.[98]
2008: Folio publishesAlice's Adventures Under Groundfacsimile edition (limited to 3,750 copies, boxed withThe Original Alice pamphlet).
2009: Children's book collector and former American football playerPat McInally reportedly sold Alice Liddell's own copy at auction for US$115,000.[99]
Alice in Wonderland (1879) by the artistGeorge Dunlop Leslie. Exhibited at theRoyal Academy of Arts, it depicts a mother reading the book to her child (whose light blue dress and white pinafore were inspired by Alice).
Alice was published to critical praise.[100] One magazine declared it "exquisitely wild, fantastic, [and] impossible".[101] In the late 19th century,Walter Besant wrote thatAlice in Wonderland "was a book of that extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete".[102]
No story in English literature has intrigued me more than Lewis Carroll'sAlice in Wonderland. It fascinated me the first time I read it as a schoolboy.
F. J. Harvey Darton argued in a 1932 book thatAlice ended an era ofdidacticism inchildren's literature, inaugurating a new era in which writing for children aimed to "delight or entertain".[3] In 2014,Robert McCrum namedAlice "one of the best loved in the English canon" and called it "perhaps the greatest, possibly most influential, and certainly the most world-famous Victorian English fiction".[2] A 2020 review inTime states: "The book changed young people's literature. It helped to replace stiff Victorian didacticism with a looser, sillier, nonsense style that reverberated through the works of language-loving 20th-century authors as different asJames Joyce,Douglas Adams andDr. Seuss."[1] Joe Sommerlad inThe Independent writes thatRoald Dahl "owes a debt to the "Drink Me" episode inAlice" in regard to Dahl'sGeorge's Marvellous Medicine where the grandmother drinks a potion and is blown up to the size of a farmhouse.[104] The protagonist of the story, Alice, has been recognised as acultural icon.[105] In 2006,Alice in Wonderland was named among the icons of England in a public vote.[106]
Screenshot of the British silent filmAlice in Wonderland (1903), the first screen adaptation of the book, which theBFI called a "landmark fantasy"[107]
Halloween costumes of Alice and the Queen of Hearts, 2015
Books for children in theAlice mould emerged as early as 1869 and continued to appear throughout the late 19th century.[108] Released in 1903, the British silent filmAlice in Wonderland was the first screen adaptation of the book.[109]
Since the first publication ofAlice's Adventures in Wonderland 150 years ago, Lewis Carroll's work has spawned a whole industry, from films and theme park rides to products such as a "cute and sassy" Alice costume ("petticoat and stockings not included"). The blank-faced little girl made famous by John Tenniel's original illustrations has become a cultural inkblot we can interpret in any way we like.[7]
Labelled "a dauntless, no-nonsense heroine" by theGuardian, the character of the plucky, yet proper, Alice has proven immensely popular and inspired similar heroines in literature and pop culture, many also named Alice in homage.[110] The book has inspired numerous film and television adaptations, which have multiplied, as the original work is now in the public domain in all jurisdictions. Musical works inspired byAlice includethe Beatles's song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", with songwriterJohn Lennon attributing the song's fantastical imagery to his reading of Carroll's books.[111] Argentine prog-rock bandSeru Giran usedAlice as a metaphor to represent the political climate in Argentina during the 1970s in their song "Canción de Alicia en el país [es]".[112] A popular figure in Japan sincethe country opened up to the West in the late 19th century, Alice has been a popular subject for writers ofmanga and a source of inspiration for Japanese fashion, in particularLolita fashion.[113][114]
The first full major production wasAlice in Wonderland, amusical play in London'sWest End byHenry Savile Clarke andWalter Slaughter, which premiered at thePrince of Wales Theatre in 1886. Twelve-year-old actressPhoebe Carlo (the first to play Alice) was personally selected by Carroll for the role.[115] Carroll attended a performance on 30 December 1886, writing in his diary that he enjoyed it.[116] The musical was frequently revived during West End Christmas seasons during the four decades after its premiere, including a London production at theGlobe Theatre in 1888, withIsa Bowman as Alice.[117][118]
As the book and its sequel are Carroll's most widely recognised works, they have also inspired numerous live performances, including plays, operas, ballets, and traditional Englishpantomimes. These works range from fairly faithful adaptations to those that use the story as a basis for new works.Eva Le Gallienne's stage adaptation of theAlice books premiered on 12 December 1932 and ended its run in May 1933.[119] The production was revived in New York in 1947 and 1982. A community theatre production ofAlice wasOlivia de Havilland's first foray onto the stage.[120]
Joseph Papp stagedAlice in Concert at thePublic Theater in New York City in 1980.Elizabeth Swados wrote the book, lyrics, and music based on bothAlice's Adventures in Wonderland andThrough the Looking-Glass. Papp and Swados had previously produced a version of it at theNew York Shakespeare Festival.Meryl Streep played Alice, the White Queen, and Humpty Dumpty.[123] The cast also includedDebbie Allen,Michael Jeter, andMark Linn-Baker. Performed on a bare stage with the actors in modern dress, the play is a loose adaptation, with song styles ranging the globe.
The 1992 musical theatre productionAlice used both books as its inspiration. It also employs scenes with Carroll, a young Alice Liddell, and an adult Alice Liddell, to frame the story. Paul Schmidt wrote the play, withTom Waits andKathleen Brennan writing the music.[124][125] Although the original production inHamburg, Germany, received only a small audience, Tom Waits released the songs as the albumAlice in 2002.[126]
The English composerJoseph Horovitz composed anAlice in Wonderland ballet commissioned by theLondon Festival Ballet in 1953. It was performed frequently in England and the US.[127] A ballet byChristopher Wheeldon andNicholas Wright commissioned for theRoyal Ballet entitledAlice's Adventures in Wonderland premiered in February 2011 at theRoyal Opera House in London.[128][129] The ballet was based on the novel Wheeldon grew up reading as a child and is generally faithful to the original story, although some critics claimed it may have been too faithful.[130]
Stained glass window ofAlice characters (King and Queen of Hearts) inAll Saints' church, Daresbury, Cheshire
Characters from the book are depicted in the stained glass windows of Carroll's hometown church,All Saints', inDaresbury, Cheshire, England.[135] Another commemoration of Carroll's work in his home county of Cheshire is the granite sculptureThe Mad Hatter's Tea Party, located in Warrington.[136] International works based on the book include the Alice in Wonderland statue inCentral Park, New York, and the Alice statue inRymill Park,Adelaide, Australia.[137][138]
In 2015,Alice characters were featured on aseries of UK postage stamps issued by theRoyal Mail to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of the book.[139] In 2021, theRoyal Mint issued their firstAlice's Adventures in Wonderland commemorative coin collection, including a£5 coin featuring Alice and the Cheshire Cat (inspired by Tenniel's original illustration).[140]
^abJaques & Giddens 2016, p. 139: "The public perception ofAlice was ... intimately tied to the illustrations created by Tenniel, and it is therefore perhaps no great surprise that when copyright toWonderland expired in 1907, the appearance of a plethora of new illustrated versions was received with some significant objection by English reviewers."
^Jaques, Zoe; Giddens, Eugene (2012).Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass: A Publishing History. Routledge. p. 202.
.jpg)
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
