A Critical characterisation of Queen Victoria in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s adventures in wonderland 1865 and through thelooking glass 1871
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Date
2017
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university of Oum- El- Bouaghi
Abstract
This research investigates the possible criticism and mockery that Lewis Carroll implemented for Queen Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901), in his works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. With reliance on the New Historicist theory, this dissertation examines the symbolism used by the author and his creation to the fictional character of the Queen of Wonderland. The purpose that leads to the conduction of this research is to discover Carroll's intentions behind the creation of such sarcastic character, and figure out the hidden meanings he tended to convey about Queen Victoria through a story that is considered as mere children's literature. Furthermore, several assets of the personality of Queen Victoria's fictional analogue in the story are explored, analyzed, and compared to the former's historical real assets, and a considerable resemblance between the two is exposed. Despite the fact that Carroll's intended criticism of Queen Victoria is implicitly created in a form of a fictional character, that occupies the same royal title as Queen Victoria did, in a surrealistic imaginative literary work, it cannot be denied especially with regard to its compatibility with the historical facts concerning the Queen and its credibility comparing to them. The importance of this research lays in the discovery that Carroll's work is not a mere collection of children's stories, however it is a rebellious literary work through which the British empress is indirectly criticized and mocked. Although Carroll's literary works are categorized as stories for kids, they should not be underestimated for the deep meanings they carry.
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Keywords
Queen Victoria, Alice’s adventures in wonderland, Through the looking glass.