Alice in Wonderland / What does it all mean?

Alice in Wonderland – what does it all mean?

After 150 years, the search for the meaning behind Alice’s fantastical excursions has provoked many elaborate theories. Here are five of the most popular

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
Friday 20 March 2015

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is infinitely greater than its critics. Of the thousands of books and articles it has inspired over the past 150 years, very few treat it simply as a piece of joyful nonsense. More often it has been viewed as a mystery requiring a solution, with every detail being cross-examined in the hope that it will crack under pressure and reveal what Carroll is really up to. Here are some of the most popular theories.

Book Review 018 / Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll / The never-ending adventures

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

 by Lewis Carroll

 1865

Alice in Wonderland: the never-ending adventures

The 100 best novels written in English / The full list

Book Review

The 100 best novels / No 18 / Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Since its publication 150 years ago, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has kept a powerful grip on the public imagination. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst explores the origins and afterlife of Lewis Carroll’s famous creation

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
Friday 20 March 2015

One of the strangest creatures Alice meets in Wonderland is the Caterpillar, who languidly asks her “Who are you?” and receives the uncertain reply: “I – I hardly know, sir, at present – at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.” Alice’s confusion is understandable – over the course of her adventures she is variously mistaken for a housemaid, a serpent, a volcano, a flower and a monster. Today the Caterpillar’s question would be even harder to answer. Who is Alice?