Alice in Wonderland

Summary of Alice in Wonderland

One of the earliest examples of fantasy literature is the English children’s book Alice in Wonderland (1865). The full title is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It was written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pen name Lewis Carroll. 

As the story begins, Alice, a seven-year-old girl, is sitting on a riverbank, feeling tired. Suddenly a talking rabbit runs by, and Alice follows it down the rabbit hole. She ends up journeying through an underworld - Wonderland - where everything seems strange and illogical. 

Alice shrinks and grows in size throughout the story, always due to something she eats or drinks. She meets many magical creatures, such as the Cheshire Cat, the March Hare, the Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts. Most of the beings in Wonderland puzzle her with strange tales or riddles, and some of the beings even frighten or attack her. However, she gradually learns to stand up for herself. 

In the final chapter, Alice disrupts a courtroom, which makes the Queen of Hearts scream: “Off with her head!” As the Queen’s guards attack, Alice is woken up on the riverbank by her sister, making everything that happened to her seem like a dream.

Carroll and the creation of the book 

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was an extremely gifted child, with a flair for logic, mathematics, and word play. He went on to teach mathematics at Oxford University. He never married or had an...