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Essay / The Victorian Era and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by...
The Victorian Era and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollKnown for its utilitarian ideals, the Victorian education system he Victorian era limited the thoughts, speech and actions of the individual; People were products of the Victorian society in which they grew up. Many Victorian novelists highlight this mechanization of human beings because it contributed to the Victorian era's epidemic of identity crisis, in which children were particularly affected. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll uses the emphasis on facts in the Victorian education system, the likelihood that Victorian society discouraged the use of the imagination, and the importance of the Victorian citizen's ideal male and female roles, imposed on children at school. a young age, to create the confused character of Alice analogous to the identity crisis of children in the Victorian era. Utilitarian theory of education became the norm of elite education, beginning with Victorian pre-elementary education. It was believed that, even if the child was initially incapable, every child, if educated enough, could become the ideal citizen. An illogical link between memorization and regurgitation of information and individual success in adulthood has created a school system of young robots incapable of thinking and feeling for themselves. Victorian society's emphasis on facts in its education system and the resulting identity crisis of children is visible in Lewis Carroll's character, Alice, due to her constant repetition of facts and lessons at home. place of the absurd thought process of the average child. In the falling scene titled Down the Rabbit-Hole, Alice first illustrates her eag...... middle of paper ......ng. Alice continues the passage by expressing that she does not desire to be a particular size, but that she simply does not wish to change so often. Alice's desire to be herself is important to note because it clearly defines the identity crisis that Lewis Carroll reveals about children in the Victorian era due to the societal influences placed on them. Children are fed facts, forced to conform to elite societal norms, thereby repressing their inner child, and are left, according to Lewis Carroll, to waste between a divided personality. So, children's identity crisis in the Victorian era is a result of these societal influences and, like Alice, they ask themselves, "Who am I?" Ah, that’s the big puzzle! » (19). Works Cited Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985.