BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Folklore and Mythology New Article Post and a ? about Alice in Wonderland

Take a look at my new article.

Traditional Folklore and Vampires

With Halloween now being over it's time to move on from vampires and witches, unless you want more? Personally I don't get tired of vampires, witches and other assorted "monsters." (They appeal to my dark side! LOL)

I've taken a look at some articles within the site that need to be rewritten since they don't meet the miminum allowed words. Some of the topics are African goddesses, assorted Greek gods/goddesses. So I'll be working on those.. however, is there anything that someone wants to know more of, or has a question that they want answered in regards to folklore and myth? (One of the editors asked about fairy knots and horses, but I've been unable to uncover enough on the topic to write an article about it.)

The combination of the two subjects is very broad, wide and ranging. We can go all over the place, and I intend to, however I would like to have some friendly input so we can go in the same direction together, should you choose.

I have a paper due on symbolism on the fourteenth, I thought that the topic would also make for a good article here. The class is Children's Literature and I believe I'm going to focus on "Alice and Wonderland."
Does anyone like Alice in Wonderland? If so, what's your favorite character and why. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours first

I think we all love Alice. Her innocence against those "bad & scary things" or the unknown helps us like her. But boy imagine the thought process going into the writing of this? Perhaps a trip of some kind or @least several bottles of something!!!!!


Mary Caliendo

I actually got to do a paper on "Alice in Wonderland" & "Through the Looking Glass" my Sr year in high school.

Boy, was I surprised at how different it was from the Disney versioin!!!! But I liked it - it still is one of the most intelligent books (or set, I should say) I have ever read. I also Like "Gulliver's Travels". I like irony and sarcasm, LOL!

The cheshire cat is my fave - he so blatantly points out the flaws in govt, and gets away with it, because no one had any idea that Carroll was writing a Satire!

Yes, it very much a political satire, as well as, a bit of how he thought of himself.
The Disney version is altered from the book but it is such a wonderful depiction of the characters and its artistry is based so closely on the original illustrations. (The genius that is Disney.)

A number of years back Hallmark produced "Alice in Wonderland" with a cast of stars; this one stuck a little closer to Carroll's storyline. (I bought it when they released it on VHS and watched it again a few weeks ago, I fell asleep for a while watching it. LOL)

I love the Chesire Cat because he's smarmy (Whoopie Goldberg played him in the Hallmark version)...all of Carroll's characters are so unique. My personal favorite is Disney's Version of The Mad Hatter,somehow I am reminded of myself! LOL
However in the book I will have to say it was Humpty Dumpty.

Yes, Gulliver's Travels was another political jab. It's amazing how these authors were able to conjure up such fantastical stories and characters and use them as voices for political disapproval during their time. There is no doubt as to why they are timeless pieces of literature.

(For pleasure, right now I am reading "Travels" by Marco Polo.)

You'd be surprised at a lot of Disney tales if you knew their original stories. The Little Mermaid for instance. Read the original Hans Christian Andersen version.

That ending makes me feel sad. I like the Disney version better.

Many Disney versions are "different" then the original. Alice in Wonderland, in particular. I throughly enjoyed re-reading Alice in Wonderland, and as I mentioned before I love the Mad Hatter. Interesting tid-bit on him: His character was fashioned after a man near the town of Oxford who wore a top hat, he was an eccentric furniture dealer who invented the "alarm clock bed." It was a unique contraption in that it threw you out of bed! LOL Also, hatters at the time used mercury when constructing hats; this exposure led to the shakes and eventually to hallucinations. Therefore they were considered "mad."

Exactly Michelle-

Disney has sugar coated many of the classics and taken actual facts and twisted them into a nice little commercial package for Disney resale.

Most classic stories are also political satire as well like "Little Miss Muffet" for example is a political slam and like the song "Ring around the Rosie" is about the Black-Plague.

I haven't seen Disney's version of "The Princess and the Frog Prince" so I am unsure if it's similar to the Grimm's fairytale; I would imagine that it is. However, as we have already discerned, Disney, I'm sure, has probably made some significant changes.
One of the first versions of this tale was found to be written sometime in the thirteenth century. The Grimm Brother's first edition was published in 1812, the final published in 1857. (The first edition gives a lot more detail to her repulsion of the frog sleeping with her.)
There are a lot of factors within this story that relate to sexuality and a young woman's coming of age...not only as a young woman's awakening to sex, and her ability to see something beautiful in something that may seem at first repulsive; but perhaps most importantly is her independence for standing up for herself and rebelling against her father's wishes. (An uncommon theme in most fairytales when a girl is usually obedient to the male authority figure.)

Onto "Ring around the Rosey"-yes, it supposidly about the Black Plaque. This reference was determined by James Leasor who wrote the book "The Plague and the Fire." ("Rosey" refers to the purple splotches found on the chest back or neck. They were also referred to as "God's tokens" and their appearance often signified a person had the plague.) "The pocket full of posey" was to keep the air smelling sweet- as the odor of death was quite overwhelming.
The nursery rhyme appeared in print for the first time in 1881.

The underlying "theme" of Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron" is about a group of young men and women who tell tales to one another to entertain themselves while staying in Florence (escaping the Black Plague.) If you haven't read the book, you must...the tales are sooo very enjoyable!

Ironically,just yesterday did I purchase from a local library on the Black Plague titled "The Great Morality-An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time."