Oxford World's Classics: Basic Overview for Students: Alice's adventures in wonderland through the looking glass, by Lewis Carroll

Carroll, Lewis. Alice's adventures in wonderland through the looking glass, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Penned in 1865 by English author Charles Lutwidge Johnson and under the pseudonym name of Lewis Carroll, Alice's adventure in wonderland through the looking glass has been of uuquestionable influence to writers of the fantasy genre due to its freely creative apects in what is commonly reffered to as the literary nonesense genre. Although drawing inferences from companions of the author and known figures of the 19th century C.E, and despite the plethora of essay's and investigations into the 'real meanings' of the characters and aspects of this novel, this novel, although a social commentary,has nonetheless been afforded the grimacingly unfortunate designation of a children's classic by some, due to the timeless Disney adaptation of the novel, Alice in Wonderland.

Whilst sitting by the river with her sister, a young teenager named Alice spots a white rabbit rushing and muttering to himself, and intrigued, follows him-down the rabbit hole. On this decision, Alice finds herself in Wonderland, a bizzare alternate world complete with a King of Queen (of cards), soldier deck of cards; finds herself in many socially odd predicaments including a tea party with a mad-hatter and finds herself charged and brought before the terrible Queen of Hearts for trial.

A Chinese Opium pipe from the late 1800's

But wait! Why are all the animals in wonderland speaking, and why doesn't Alice see this as strange? Adult student may read between the lines when some of the characters, and indeed, some of Alice's own experiences demonstrate something with more than a little dark spice from the Victorian age: the blue Caterpillar smoking opium; The pills that make you larger and smaller; magical mushrooms; the deck of cards (gambling) and of course-Alice chasing the white Rabbit! Yes to the horror of some students who may remember the childlike and harmless fantasy of Alice, it is actually a book filled with chronic drug use and some very disturbing themes (think of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum telling the warped children's story about the Walrus grooming and then eating all the young clams).