The Dualist in Wonderland

An Inside Look into the Dualist Nature of the Characters in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures

in WonderlandBy: Taylor Rightmyer

Dualism

Dualism, by definition is the metaphysical view that all things are reducible to two essentially different realities. It is called dualism because everything is formed from two things, mind and matter (Miller 112).

Rene Descartes believed in a form of Dualism where the mind controlled the bodies journey, causing separation, yet the body did exist and was physically taken on the journey.Figure 1: Rene Descartes, a famous

Dualist, drew this image to represent his view on dualism and the minds

control of the body (Miller).

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll’s idea for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland came from some of his actual real life experiences. His friends daughter, Alice Liddell, was always distant, living inside her mind (Stanley 25).

Carroll described Alice as having “all the knowledge that only dreamers know.”

Carroll described the Cheshire Cat as the “symbol of dualism.”

The Mad Hatter was designed to live “inside his mind.”

The Characters

Alice

The “dreamer” and inventor of Wonderland.

The Cheshire Cat

The symbol of Dualism in Wonderland.

The Mad Hatter

The character that runs his life based on his mind. Figure 2: The Cheshire Cat as seen in the

Disney version of Alice in Wonderland (Cheshire Cat).

Alice

The “dreamer of Wonderland”

In the end, Alice removes herself from Wonderland all together, proving that she imagines the entire experience.

“Alice is often fond of being two people at once, so that, besides giving herself good advice, scolding herself to tears, she has also been known to play a game of croquet against herself” (Bloom 11).

Figure 3: A Disney movie picture of Alice pondering her adventures in Wonderland (Alice).

The Cheshire Cat

The Cheshire Cat is known as the “symbol of Wonderland.”

“The Cat has the ability to fade away at times, often reappearing as just a head” ( Stanley 25).

The reappearing head represents the separation of mind and body.

Figure 4: The Cheshire Cat at a moment of mind and

body separation, balancing his body on his mind (Balancing Cat).

The Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter has a battle with a personified “time” in his mind.

Everyday the Mad Hatter loses a battle with “time” and he has to have tea at six o’clock (Bloom 11).

The internal battle with time represents the dualist nature of the Mad Hatter.

Figure 5: The Mad Hatter in the original Disney movie, having his daily six o’clock tea (Mad Hatter).

Summary

Over all, the Dualism present in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, develops through the characters of Alice, the Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter.

Figure 6: A drawing of the Cheshire Cat’s head taken from Lewis Carroll’s original Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

(Carroll).

Works CitedAlice. Disney. Web. May 29, 2012.

Balancing Cat. Disney. Web. May 29, 2012.

Bloom, Harold. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” The Hero’s Journey. New York: Bloom’s Literary Criticism, 2009. 11. Print.

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Web. May 30, 2012.

Cheshire Cat. Disney. Web. May 29, 2012.

Mad Hatter. Disney. Web. May 29, 2012.

Miller, Ed L. “Mind and Body Problem.” Questions That Matter: An Invitation to Philosophy. 3rd ed. 1992. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992. 112. Print.

Stanley, Deborah A. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Notes for Students. Vol. 7. 1991. Michigan: Gale Group Inc, 1991. 25. Print.