3. Is there satire in the Alice books? If so, what is its target?
4. In the Alice books there is no direct treatment of such serious matters as how to make a living, the vicissitudes of love, marriage, raising children, and the like. Instead there are impossible situations, absurd characters, animals who talk. But is there, amid the fun, some comment on a serious aspect of human life? If so, what is it?
5. Does Alice herself have any character, any signs of an inner life, or is she just a device to stand in contrast to the others, to be a foil for them?
For Further Reading
BOOKS BY LEWIS CARROLL
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. Edited by Donald J. Gray. Second edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 1992. Includes Through the Looking-Glass and The Hunting of the Snark, as well as critical essays.
Carroll, Lewis. Diversions and Digressions of Lewis Carroll. Edited by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood. New York: Dover, 1961. A selection from Lewis Carroll’s unpublished writings and drawings.
Carroll, Lewis. Symbolic Logic and the Game of Logic. New York: Dover, 1958.
BIOGRAPHICAL
Gordon, Colin. Beyond the Looking-Glass: Reflections of Alice and her Family. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.
Cohen, Morton N. Lewis Carroll: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
——. Reflections in a Looking-Glass: A Centennial Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer. New York: Aperture, 1998.
Hudson, Derek. Lewis Carroll: An Illustrated Biography. London: Constable, 1976.
Wood, James Playsted. The Snark Was a Boojum: A Life of Lewis Carroll. New York: Pantheon Books, 1966.
CRITICISM
Bloom, Harold, ed. Lewis Carroll. Modern Critical Views series. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.
Gardner, Martin. The Annotated Alice. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1960.
Gardner, Martin. More Annotated Alice. New York: Random House, 1990.
Phillips, Robert. Aspects of Alice. New York: Vanguard Press, 1971.
OTHER WORKS OF INTEREST
Deleuze, Gilles. The Logic of Sense. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.
Sewell, Elizabeth. The Field of Nonsense. London: Chatto and Windus, 1952.
a The Liddells had a cat named Dinah.
b Screen that prevents ashes from spilling out of a fireplace.
c Where is my cat? (French).
d Private political meeting among party members.
e Small building that resembles a greenhouse.
f Alice Liddell’s birthday was the fourth of March.
g A kind of molasses.
h Mythical creature with an eagle’s head and wings and a lion’s body; also spelled “griffin.”
i A common fish, often served in England with the tail tucked into the mouth.
j Exactly one week from Wednesday.
k Reference to the head of Queen Victoria, whose portrait appeared on postage stamps.
l Dessert made with sugar, raisins, and boiled wheat.
m A bandage.
n Spinning top with numerals printed on its numerous flat surfaces.
o Feathering is a manner of rowing in which the oar is kept horizontal on the return stroke.
p Travel bag that, when opened, reveals two equal compartments.
q Smelling salts.
r Sugarloaf hats, which were cone-shaped, were common in the sixteenth century.
s A hair dressing.
t Small branches covered with bird lime; used to trap birds.
u Carriages with two wheels, common around the turn of century; frequently
hired out.
v Located in Wales.
w Curlers.
x Fail to acknowledge someone’s greeting.
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