Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll as stories for adults Alices Adventures in Wonderland

and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll are well-known stories for children written in the 19th century. They originated as a story told by Carroll to three little girls on a river cruise. The girls were bored and eager to listen about some adventures. One of the girls name was Alice and she became the model for the main heroine of the story. After publishing it in a book, Alice... very soon became popular. It has been translated into nearly one hundred languages and is now one of the most recognizable stories among both children and adults. What is more, it has become a source of inspiration for many artists: filmmakers, singers and even poets. There are numerous adaptations of the book, lots of songs are influenced by the story and musical makers turned it into plays. In addition, the book has been analyzed by many scholars including linguists, psychologists and sociologists. They proved that the book is full of symbols, allegories and allusions. Since it is composed of many hilarious, unrealistic and at the same time very symbolic situations and characters, Alices Adventures in Wonderland can be regarded not only as an entertaining book for children, but also a great study material for adults. Having read the books, the adult who is interested in history, at least on the basic level, will notice the reference to the famous War of the Roses. As C.W. Giles explains in his essay, The Queen of Hearts [...], who demanded red roses, can be none other than the Lancastrian Queen MARGARET, wife of HENRY VI., the somnolent and ineffectual Red King (par. 3). Obviously, a few-years-old child will only laugh at the absurd situation of changing the colour of the flowers. This is one of the examples of political satire present in the book. Another one is the Cheshire Cat. According to Giles, the term Cat stood for Sir William Catesby, who was the speaker of the House of Commons. The Cheshire Cats appearances and disappearances refer to the assembly and prorogation of Parliament (Giles, The truth about "Alice" par. 9). Another element that might provoke some discussions among adults is the presence of harmful substances in the Wonderland. At the very beginning, Alice has to eat the expanding cake or drink the reducing potion. The effect resembles some psychedelic visions. The same situation can be observed during the appearing and reappearing of the Cheshire Cats grin. As Makinen observes in his article, at every turn Alice comes into contact with what could be

termed hallucinogenic animals and objects (par. 3). Besides the cat, the drink and cake there is also a mushroom, which can expand ones mind and a caterpillar smoking water pipe. Because of the presence of those substances in the story, the adaptation of the book was supposed to be classified as a Parental Guidance. Some of the opponents of the production considered it as inappropriate for children as it is promoting the unhealthy lifestyle. The last component more understandable for adults rather than for children is the word-plays. As a matter of fact, some of them require even a specific research to be fully comprehensible. A perfect instance of it is a fragment from Through the Looking-Glass, when a White Queen explains to Alice her way of payment: jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today (24). Reading that fragment, a child would be absolutely sure that it refers to a fruity substance that you spread on your bread, but according to Brady Bush jam is a Latin word for now. As he later explains it is not only a beguiling puzzle, but a fitting play on words, that the impossibility of now never coming makes perfect sense behind the Looking-Glass (7). Summing up, Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass written by Lewis Carroll are two-dimensional novels. One dimension is represented by the adventurous story for children in which they can find magical and extraordinary creatures as well as unusual places. The other dimension reveals their hidden meaning and allusions to the real life. Carroll constructed the stories in such a way that they are highly valued by all generations. Not only did he write a timeless novel, but also provided a great material for different fields of studies.

Works cited Carroll, Lewis. Alices Adventures in Wonderland. 3rd ed. LLC: Cricket House Books, 2010.

Carroll, Lewis. Through the Looking-Glass. 3rd ed. LLC: Cricket House Books, 2010. Makinen, R., et.al., Alice in Wonderland: Interactions between a book and changing cultures., MNU Bulletin II (1971): 1-2. Giles, C.W. Punch, August 15, 1928, The truth about "Alice" Bush, Brady. Making Sense of Nonsense: A Literary Analysis of Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. 2004