Not So Wonderful Wonderland.
Mad·ness/ˈmadnəs/ noun:1.The state of being mentally ill. 2.Extremely foolish behavior, this is the theme of many classic novels. The theme of madness can be found everywhere you look, at work, school but most importantly in yourself. Although everyone thinks they have made foolish decisions at one point in their life, nothing is comparable to the madness in Lewis Carrolls most well known series. Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass have a strong undeniable theme of madness amongst them. At first glance the novels seem easy enough to understand, they follow the structure of a basic children's story and the writing is simple. Yet when studied more in depth the reader will find that the theme of madness is very dark and scary. These novels are not intended for Children, the reader recognizes this through locations, characters and time. This unique intent for adults puts a different slant on the novels. The first time the core theme of madness is evident is through locations.

The first glimpse of Wonderland that the reader sees is the rabbit hole. One of the first rules a person is taught as a child is to never go anywhere without parents. Within the first page of the novel Alice disobeys this rule and follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole. The hole in the ground is supposed to be very deep: “She though she would fall through the middle of the earth” (Fensh 421). Alice explains in the novel that as she falls it feels as though she is falling for days. She describes the objects she sees on her way down and how things nearly hit her in the head. As a child reader the thought of possibly falling down into the middle of the earth would be a scary thought, and not only falling for so long, but the initial fall would be frightening. The madness in these first few pages of the book are the least dark and scary.

Throughout the entire first novel Alice’s Wonder-World is mad and dark, however, the most elaborate description of the location is on the caterpillars mushroom. This is where the mood turns from mad, to creepy. The mushroom is described as being “a large mushroom growing near her, about the same hight as herself,”(Carroll 52) Carroll goes on to explain what the caterpillar looks like, he explains that he is blowing large puffs of smoke, this makes it hard for Alice to see. When reading this children might imagine the caterpillar on his mushroom, growing big and small and blowing smoke puffs in Alice’s face. For a small child’s imaginati...

1 1.the 114 115 174 18 192 2 2.extremely 421 52 81 96 abl abnorm absolut absurd action actual adolesc adult advantag adventur afraid agre air alic aliv along also although alway amongst anyon anyth anywher appear approach area around arriv asid ask associ atmospher audienc away back backward bad basic battl beast becom behavior behead behind berzonski better big bit bizarr blow boa book bother bottl bottom brain bring butter cake canadian cannot card carri carrol carroll12 casual cat catch caterpillar chang chapter charact charl chase check checker cheshier chess chessboard child childhood children chimney chimney-piec civil classic clock close cmha come comfort compar comprehend concept confid confus constant continu contrari control core correct could crazi craziest creatur creepi crimson cup dark day dear decis declar deep defin depth describ descript design desk dialogu differ difficult dip direct discov disobey door doormous dormous dream dreamer drink earth easi eat educ effect elabor embodi emot encount encycloped enjoy enough enter entir era escap especi even everi everyon everyth everywher evid exact exampl execut explain explor extrem eye face fact fall familiar famous fantasi far farthest fear feel feet fensh final find finest fire first fix floor foggi follow foolish found four fourth frey friend fright frighten front full fulli furi get giggl girl glanc glare glass glimps go goe got grasp greater griffith ground grow happen happi hard hare harm hasti hatter head health heart height henkl hidden hight hit hole hope hous howev huge humor hurri ill imag imagin impact import in-itself initi insan insid instanc instead intend intent introduc invit john jump keep key know known lack larg last late later law least less lewi lie life light like littl locat logic long look looking-glass loos lost lot lunat mad maddest made main make man mani march mark matur may mean meet mental mess met method michael middl might mind mingl modern moment mood much mushroom must near need ness never new next none nonsens noth notic noun novel o object obvious offer oh old one onr open opposit order pace page paint parent part parti peopl perfect permiss person philosoph pick pictur piec pivot place play plot pocket point poor portray possibl power propel prove psycholog puff put queen question quick quit quot rabbit raven reach read reader real realiz realli reason recogn recogniz relat reli rememb respons rest riddl right robert rule ruler run safe said say scare scari schedul school scream seat secur see seem sens sentenc seri set shall short show shrink shut side signific silli simpl sinc sing sit situat six size slant slather slightest slowli small smallest smoke someon sometim song speak specul speed stare start state still stop stori strang strong structur stuck studi suppos surround switch symbol tabl take taken tale talk tall taught tea telescop tell theme theori thing think though thought three throughout time told tone took tri trio troubl tumbl turn two undeni understand underton unfamiliar uniqu unlabel unrealist use victoria virginia visual waistcoat waistcoat-pocket wall want warp wasn watch way well white wide wild wine within without witti wonder wonder-world wonderland woolf work world would wrap writ write yet ˈmadnə