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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 1 - Down the Rabbit-Hole
Explanation and Analysis—Time:
Carroll's treatment of time in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reminds readers of the absurdity of his fictional universe. This motif appears again and again to illustrate that common conceptions of time do not apply to the creatures of Wonderland. In Chapter 1, for instance, the White Rabbit declares:
“Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (when she thought it over afterwards it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it[...]
In Chapter 7, Mad Hatter likewise has a pocket watch, but it does not work. It seems odd that the rabbit's watch works, but the human's does not. It seems even odder that the Hatter permitted the March Hare to put butter in his watch:
The Hatter was the first to break the silence. “What day of the month is it?” he said [...] Alice considered a little, and then said “The fourth.” “Two days wrong!” sighed the Hatter. “I told you butter wouldn’t suit the works!” he added, looking angrily at the March Hare.
Here are two instances of absurdity when it comes to time; a rabbit who possesses a pocket watch (and the need to abide by the time), and a man whose pocket watch is full of butter and thus cannot tell him what day it is. Later, Hatter says, "If you knew Time as well as I do [...] you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him." The Hatter's way of personifying and gendering time makes him seem even stranger to Alice while making the reader question figures of speech like "wasting time" that make sense only because they are such common idioms.
Related Themes:
Chapter 2 - The Pool of Tears
Explanation and Analysis—Curiosity:
Alice's most famous line ("curiouser and curiouser") appears in the second chapter when she eats the little cake:
“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).
Curiosity is the initial inspiration for her tumble down the rabbit hole. Alice continually marvels at the weirdness of Wonderland, and the reader's wonder at the strange scenes mirrors her own.
In Chapter 12, Alice terms her dream "curious":
“Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said “It was a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea: it’s getting late.”
It's important to note that no matter what world she occupies, Alice uses the same word to describe her positive experiences in Wonderland. The word "nonsense," however, often serves as a counterpoint to curiosity, as Alice uses it when she feels hopeless. In Chapter 8, during the croquet scene, she uses it to express her exasperation at the Queen's ridiculous behavior:
The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed “Off with her head! Off with—” “Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent. The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said “Consider, my dear: she is only a child!”
Here, Alice is so fed up with the ridiculous violence of the Queen of Hearts that she mouths off to her. If only out of surprise, the Queen momentarily falls silent. Alice uses the word "nonsense" when she is at her wit's end, in contrast to "curious," which she uses when she wants to discover more about the world around her.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Words & Language:
Throughout the story, Carroll emphasizes unconventional language. The constant stream of puns, songs, poems, and made-up words reminds readers of Wonderland's strange qualities. For example, in Chapter 2, Alice briefly forgets proper English:
"Curiouser and curiouser!" said Alice. (She was very surprised, and for a minute she forgot how to speak good English.)
The loss of language signifies a loss of control during this inversion of Alice's reality. She finds herself able to recall random facts from school and yet unable to speak in an entirely proper way. The narrator's parenthetical assertion reminds readers how the fall momentarily flusters her.
Carroll makes use of more traditional wordplay, too. A good example appears in Chapter 12 during the trial scene, in which the King makes a pun on the word "fit":
“Why, there they are!” said the King triumphantly, pointing to the tarts on the table. “Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again—‘before she had this fit’—you never had fits, my dear, I think?” he said to the Queen. “Never!” said the Queen, furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke [...] “Then the words don’t fit you,” said the King, looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence. “It’s a pun!” the King added in an offended tone, and everybody laughed.
This scene is particularly funny because nobody finds the King's pun amusing at first, but when he takes offense at the crowd's silence, everyone begins to laugh. The Queen, meanwhile, busily proves that the word "fit" fits her perfectly by throwing an inkstand at the poor Lizard. Here, Carroll heightens the comedy of the scene with wordplay.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7 - A Mad Tea-Party
Explanation and Analysis—Time:
Carroll's treatment of time in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reminds readers of the absurdity of his fictional universe. This motif appears again and again to illustrate that common conceptions of time do not apply to the creatures of Wonderland. In Chapter 1, for instance, the White Rabbit declares:
“Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (when she thought it over afterwards it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it[...]
In Chapter 7, Mad Hatter likewise has a pocket watch, but it does not work. It seems odd that the rabbit's watch works, but the human's does not. It seems even odder that the Hatter permitted the March Hare to put butter in his watch:
The Hatter was the first to break the silence. “What day of the month is it?” he said [...] Alice considered a little, and then said “The fourth.” “Two days wrong!” sighed the Hatter. “I told you butter wouldn’t suit the works!” he added, looking angrily at the March Hare.
Here are two instances of absurdity when it comes to time; a rabbit who possesses a pocket watch (and the need to abide by the time), and a man whose pocket watch is full of butter and thus cannot tell him what day it is. Later, Hatter says, "If you knew Time as well as I do [...] you wouldn't talk about wasting it. It's him." The Hatter's way of personifying and gendering time makes him seem even stranger to Alice while making the reader question figures of speech like "wasting time" that make sense only because they are such common idioms.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8 - The Queen's Croquet-Ground
Explanation and Analysis—Curiosity:
Alice's most famous line ("curiouser and curiouser") appears in the second chapter when she eats the little cake:
“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).
Curiosity is the initial inspiration for her tumble down the rabbit hole. Alice continually marvels at the weirdness of Wonderland, and the reader's wonder at the strange scenes mirrors her own.
In Chapter 12, Alice terms her dream "curious":
“Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said “It was a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea: it’s getting late.”
It's important to note that no matter what world she occupies, Alice uses the same word to describe her positive experiences in Wonderland. The word "nonsense," however, often serves as a counterpoint to curiosity, as Alice uses it when she feels hopeless. In Chapter 8, during the croquet scene, she uses it to express her exasperation at the Queen's ridiculous behavior:
The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed “Off with her head! Off with—” “Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent. The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said “Consider, my dear: she is only a child!”
Here, Alice is so fed up with the ridiculous violence of the Queen of Hearts that she mouths off to her. If only out of surprise, the Queen momentarily falls silent. Alice uses the word "nonsense" when she is at her wit's end, in contrast to "curious," which she uses when she wants to discover more about the world around her.
Related Themes:
Chapter 12 - Alice's Evidence
Explanation and Analysis—Curiosity:
Alice's most famous line ("curiouser and curiouser") appears in the second chapter when she eats the little cake:
“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).
Curiosity is the initial inspiration for her tumble down the rabbit hole. Alice continually marvels at the weirdness of Wonderland, and the reader's wonder at the strange scenes mirrors her own.
In Chapter 12, Alice terms her dream "curious":
“Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said “It was a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea: it’s getting late.”
It's important to note that no matter what world she occupies, Alice uses the same word to describe her positive experiences in Wonderland. The word "nonsense," however, often serves as a counterpoint to curiosity, as Alice uses it when she feels hopeless. In Chapter 8, during the croquet scene, she uses it to express her exasperation at the Queen's ridiculous behavior:
The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed “Off with her head! Off with—” “Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent. The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said “Consider, my dear: she is only a child!”
Here, Alice is so fed up with the ridiculous violence of the Queen of Hearts that she mouths off to her. If only out of surprise, the Queen momentarily falls silent. Alice uses the word "nonsense" when she is at her wit's end, in contrast to "curious," which she uses when she wants to discover more about the world around her.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Dreams:
In the final chapter, readers find out that Alice's adventures were all part of a crazy dream. She awakens on the riverbank next to her sister:
“Wake up, Alice dear!” said her sister; “Why, what a long sleep you’ve had!”
“Oh, I’ve had such a curious dream!” said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said “It was a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea: it’s getting late.”
This passage resolves the tensions created in the book as Alice travels through Wonderland. The realization that all of her experiences were part of a dream gives her a sense of fondness and distance from them. Alice's sister even imagines how Alice will tell her stories of Wonderland to her future children, and how delighted they will be to learn of her fanciful imagination.
Throughout the story, readers get clues that everything is a dream, such as when Alice gets bored and sleepy at the beginning of the book, or merely by the fact that everything is so absurd it could not possibly be reality. Readers never doubt the fact that Alice will remain safe, even in uncanny circumstances, though the trial scene calls this into question. However, before Alice's predicament can become too scary, her sister awakens her. The chapter title "Alice's Evidence" cleverly reflects the fact that Alice lacks any evidence for having experienced the dream beyond the vivid clarity with which she tells the story.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Words & Language:
Throughout the story, Carroll emphasizes unconventional language. The constant stream of puns, songs, poems, and made-up words reminds readers of Wonderland's strange qualities. For example, in Chapter 2, Alice briefly forgets proper English:
"Curiouser and curiouser!" said Alice. (She was very surprised, and for a minute she forgot how to speak good English.)
The loss of language signifies a loss of control during this inversion of Alice's reality. She finds herself able to recall random facts from school and yet unable to speak in an entirely proper way. The narrator's parenthetical assertion reminds readers how the fall momentarily flusters her.
Carroll makes use of more traditional wordplay, too. A good example appears in Chapter 12 during the trial scene, in which the King makes a pun on the word "fit":
“Why, there they are!” said the King triumphantly, pointing to the tarts on the table. “Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again—‘before she had this fit’—you never had fits, my dear, I think?” he said to the Queen. “Never!” said the Queen, furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke [...] “Then the words don’t fit you,” said the King, looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence. “It’s a pun!” the King added in an offended tone, and everybody laughed.
This scene is particularly funny because nobody finds the King's pun amusing at first, but when he takes offense at the crowd's silence, everyone begins to laugh. The Queen, meanwhile, busily proves that the word "fit" fits her perfectly by throwing an inkstand at the poor Lizard. Here, Carroll heightens the comedy of the scene with wordplay.
Related Themes:
