This year, numerous events around the world mark the 150th anniversary of the first edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Whether it is an innocent fantasy or a dark fairy tale, spears are still being broken among the professional public.
Walt Disney made a movie about her, Salvador Dali painted, and the group "Jefferson Airplane" dedicated a song to her. Vivienne Westwood made a cover for the new edition of the book in her own style, inspired by the Mad Hatter's tea party and the world beyond the looking glass. And the British Royal Mail issued a set of postage stamps in her honor.
"Alice in Wonderland" celebrates its 150th birthday this year, and the whole world is still fascinated by her character. Or, rather, by the spell that Lewis Carroll cast on entire generations of children and adults when he wrote the book back in 1865. The fantasy world of rabbit holes and mad hatters, magical cakes and hidden doors has spawned numerous adaptations in all spheres of the arts.
Disney made an animated film in 1951, and British director Tim Burton made a dark feature adaptation in 2010. There are video games, theme parks, and endless franchises. But is this just an innocent story about an imagined children's adventure or is there something much more to it? Since the book is a creation of the Victorian era, succeeding generations were more than willing to look for hidden meanings and messages in the novel. Are narcotics at issue, is the author far less harmless than it seems at first?
Professor Bill Brooke from London, author of the book "Alice's Adventures - Lewis Carroll in Popular Literature" says that each generation has interpreted the text in a way that reflected their contemporary culture. In the XNUMXs it was psychoanalysis, in the XNUMXs it was psychedelia, and in the XNUMXs it was pedophilia. All these ideas about the dark secret behind the friendship with Alice are the product of a much more cynical era. Future generations will certainly find different hidden meanings.
But as far as children are concerned, the universal theme of an innocent child trying to make sense of the adult world will always suffice. So, feel free to head down the rabbit hole and leave modern assumptions at the enchanted door.
Alisa took all the glory for herself, at the request of Luis Karol. His quote that speaks of this obsessive curiosity towards children's imagination is almost forgotten: "I would give all the wealth that has been accumulated over the years, I would also give what is left of life, if only I could be a little child one more time, and experience just one bright summer day”.
Bonus video:
