An analytical response to comparing the original novel Free Essays

Morally different ideas are introduced into the modern appropriation and in the same way, several core ideas pertaining to the 18th century lifestyle are lost. The modern interpretation In essence addresses modern day values through the use of the â€Å"Lice’s Adventures In Wonderland† world, whilst retaining the plot line of the original text and presenting the story in a new textual form: film. In addition, both texts sustain features that are of the satirical and ‘literary nonsense’ genres. We will write a custom essay sample on An analytical response to comparing the original novel or any similar topic only for you Order Now Set In the 18th century, the Ideas surrounding the evolving self of Alice are ransomed, particularly through the visual textual form of film. Lewis Carroll incorporates the value of one’s identity, and the way ‘Alice’ distorts, changes and questions her identity. This exploration of the power of transformation Is fuelled by the recurring theme of deception, questioning what Is real, and what Is a dream. The characters In Wonderland’ continually ask Alice who she Is. As a result, she questions her identity, and the novel becomes a journey of her exploring who she is, and deciding whether or not this reality is one that she likes. This questioning f identity Is particularly seen by the poetic and deceptive nature of the language ‘cat’ uses In the novel. ‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? † â€Å"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to†, said the Cat. â€Å"l don’t much care where†, said Alice. â€Å"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,† said the Cat. Through the use of low modality from Alice, and very much high modality from the characters of Wonderland such as ‘car, Carroll demonstrates the vulnerability of Alice, and how this vulnerability deteriorates throughout the novel as she becomes ere of herself. Due to the novel first being published in the late sass’s, Carroll is very much exploring an idea which was not seen very often in his time, that of society being forced to abide by the strict standards of being ‘prim and proper’, and thus falling Into mainstream society. Carroll, however, throughout the novel discusses ideas of Alice going against what society would expect of her, and this is seen in many occasions of her evading orders of her elders. One such example would be her Interaction with the ‘Red Queen’, an antagonist In the novel, but nevertheless an adult. Through the use of shifts In language forms, Carroll demonstrates who Is holding power in a conversation. In particular, this is seen in one of Lice’s final their interaction, where the Red Queen is dominant, giving orders to Alice in high modality, and in the end, where the Red Queen is speaking in short, truncated sentences, such as â€Å"Off with her head! â€Å", and â€Å"Never again! â€Å". Symbolism through the use of language is further transformed through the motif of a â€Å"White rabbit in a red waistcoat†. This rabbit is always Just out of Lice’s reach, and is very much reflecting memories of her father, who passed away when she was young. Much like her, he had a quirky sense to him, and Alice echoes his words when she says, â€Å"The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible. † The use of the rabbit being represented as wearing the same clothing as her father once had, and that within the story she is trying to follow the rabbit, is symbolic of Alice finding herself, and shaping her identity to become more like her father. It is through the use of various literary techniques such as symbolism and poetic language that Carroll uses the context of ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ to reflect the power of transformation, ND how it changes Alice over the course of the novel. This same exploration of one’s identity is seen within the modern appropriation of the text: ‘Alice in Wonderland’, a film directed by Tim Burton. The same idea of one’s changing identity is transformed by the change in context, from an 18th century novel, to a 21st century film adaptation. Burton explores the same themes through the use of ‘Alice’, the protagonist of the film, saturating social values of being ‘prim and proper’, and going against her peers and elders, who simply want her to marry off to omen her parents chose and not allow her to do what she wants in order to be happy. One of her friends’ in the film says, mirror life will be as happy as mine! You shall marry Hams, it is decided. † Alice, of course, does not accept this from the very start, and this is conveyed through the use of shaking camera shots, and close ups of Alice showing her looking off into the distance, showing her complete disinterest. Alice makes a comment to her mother, later in this scene, saying, â€Å"What if proper was wearing a codfish on your head? Would you wear it? † Alice is rejecting society expectations, and so her solution to finding herself is running away from expectations of her and falling down a rabbit hole. Burton transforms the characters of Wonderland to frame Lice’s changing self, when the paradoxical character of the Mad Hatter, who is one of the only characters who is concurrent with Alice in his views. The Mad Hatter and Alice share the core idea of not living their lives for society, and this is seen before the climax of the movie, where the Mad Hatter says, Mimi cannot live your life to serve others. â€Å"†¦ â€Å"When you step out to fight, you will step out alone. Through the use of makeup artistry and computer generated imagery, the Mad Hatter is visually depicted with strange features such as bright orange hair, a pale white face and abnormally large eyeballs. He is established as an eccentric and peculiar character and through the close relationship that the Mad Hatter and Alice develop, a link between his peculiarity and Lice’s different views on society are made. To keep ‘Alice in Wonderland’ true to its original text, ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ the crucial difference of context is evident in the change of textual form, ND thus the use of literal imagery is transformed to convey characters, values and themes true to the original text. Society has greatly transformed. In both texts, the protagonists are women who show great courage. In ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, Alice is a young girl undergoing puberty, and is dealing with the struggles of growing as a person physically and emotionally. Similarly, in the film adaptation, Alice is being prepared for an arranged marriage, based upon financial security and social class. What accompanies this exploration are themes of patriarchy and struggles of women in the context of Carol’s time. The first of such explorations occurs in chapter two of the novel where Alice has her first conversation with ‘mouse’. â€Å"OÃ'Ëœ est. ma chatty†? Are her first words, and this French phrase means, â€Å"where is my cat†. The phrase itself is only an opening sentence to further dialogue, but the use of French language, only spoken by Alice throughout the novel, is a way of Carroll saturating the ideals of young girls in the Victorian era taking French lessons. The exploration of the value of women in the novel is reflective of the context in which it was written in, and this is seen from ultimate French references and puns interlaced into the story by Carroll. In the Victorian era, young girls growing up were pre-destined to live lives of obedience and purity. Besides Alice, the Queen of Hearts is the only other significant female character. The Queen of Hearts is portrayed with short, truncated sentences with high modality and no respect for others, and this portrayal is reflective of the Victorian era: A woman with too much power bringing about a chaotic dyspepsia. It is evident that through the exploration of themes involving power and gender trudges, that Carroll has taken a satirical point of view for the novel, and through this point of view, Carroll explores the values that underpin the context of this novel: the Victorian era. The film ‘Alice in Wonderland’ opens with a scene involving Lice’s father being criticized for his opinion, and then Alice walking into the room, interrupting the conversation, due to a nightmare. This opening scene sets the entire motion of the film, where the responder follows Lice’s Journey of acceptance, and her attempts to discover her identity, and find the courage to overcome such threats. The opening of the film actually follows the Journey of two females: Alice and her mother. They converse with other women who are all in pursuit of a man in possession of good fortune, as a result of society’s emphasis and pressure upon the importance of wealth. During 18th century England, socially profitable marriages were widely accepted as â€Å"normal†. This opening scene of the film is an example of Tim Burtons direct inter-textual references between the novel and the 21st century film. It is through this opening scene that Burton foreshadows the coming chase for identity ND acceptance as both a young adult, and as a woman. In the lead up to the climax of the film: Lice’s fight with the Jawbreakers, Alice in distress says, â€Å"From the day I fell down that hole, Eve been told what I have to do, and who I have to be. â€Å"†¦ â€Å"L made this place, this is MY dream†. Despite Alice directly referring to the world of Wonderland’ as a dream, Burton is providing a psychoanalytical perspective of Lice’s thoughts through the film as a whole. Alice is proclaiming that ever since she fell down that hole’ she’s been told what to do. This sentence directly matches with the coming agitated due to Alice not wanting to wear her corset or stockings. No corset? And your stockings†¦? † This insecurity as a woman is paired with Lice’s constant battle of identity. The battle Alice faces is to find a place in society as a woman, and this is portrayed by Burton through the use of cinematic techniques and makeup artistry. Alice is constantly portrayed fro m high angle oblique shots, which give the connotation of Alice being small, in comparison to her surroundings. Alice is also portrayed in the same blue dress, which quickly gets dirtied and blackened up until she fights the ‘Jawbreakers – a dragon-like creature, where she is suited in a suit of armor. The effect of having Lice’s dress stay the same, and only get blackened, is reflective of how much, like her dress, she wants to change who she is as a woman, but society doesn’t allow her. Within Wonderland, a projection of Lice’s subconscious, as opposed to being bound as to what to wear by her mother, there simply is no way to change except by force, when the Red Queen orders her a clean dress of a different kind, much like her mother does in the opening scene of the film. The theme of growing up as a young lady pressured by these social ideals, and instead rebelling in the real world and in Wonderland’, is a contrast to the original novel by Lewis Carroll, and this is very much reflective of the 21st century culture of acceptance. Equality amongst all people, man or woman, is an idea that has only emerged in the 20th-21st centuries, from a developing post-modern society. This emerging idea is representative in the character of Alice, and her struggles with being a woman, which is finally overcome with her final scene of slaying the Jawbreakers, where Alice has truly shown courage when faced with the largest threat of all: a fire-breathing monster. From the early 18th century until the current 21st century, the value of religion and spirituality has greatly transformed. In the late 18th century, a high amount of value was placed into the beliefs of Catholicism and Christianity. This was also the beginning of a time where society was starting to question religious ideas and teachings, and disorder and confusion was beginning to form. This confusion and exploration is discussed within ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and similarly, Lice’s exploration and wonder in the film adaptation is one of remembering her past self who visited Wonderland, and being presented with new ideas, and questioning values from the real world. The role of religion included providing education, spirituality and cultural acceptance in the Victorian era, and elements of Catholicism are seen throughout the novel. The first of such references is seen in Lice’s conversation with the Cheshire cat where she asks, â€Å"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? â€Å"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to†, said the Cat. L don’t much care where†, said Alice. â€Å"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,† said the Cat. This phrase with the Cheshire cat is reflective of Carol’s emotional state, as he was an Anglican all his life, but in the stage of his life where he began starting his own family, he began questioning the morals and ideals of the Anglican church, much like Alice, who is unsure where to go and is forgetting her past. â€Å"l knew who I was this morning, but Eve changed a few times since then. Opportunities to rebel against society and more importantly to rebel against ones century. It is as a result of society’s overall view that Carroll incorporates ambiguous ideas of religion and desperate hope to find order from chaos through the use of complex wordplay relating to core religious values. In contrast to the 18th century novel ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, the film adaptation by Tim Burton discusses religion/supernatural values and themes in a post-modern light, much like the context in which it was written. The idea of chaos being created from the fear of the unknown is an idea set by the fragmented ideas of religious values/imagery. The main example of magic/supernatural happenings is established when Alice falls down a seemingly small rabbit hole she barely fits into. The size of this large tunnel is then shown to be much larger than once thought, and Burton uses the technique of a long-shot camera angle, and computer generated imagery to give the illusion Alice is falling down a hole kilometers deep: a feat unachievable by a rabbit. The reader is then plunged into a world where gravity shifts upside down, where pianos play themselves, cakes cause Alice to grow meters taller, and to shrink to Just a few inches tall. The same themes that underpin the alee of religion are essentially there, with the figure of a morphing cat helping Alice on her way. The key difference is the context the film was created in: the 21st century. The film was created in a time where in a post-modern society, expressing religious values was Just as discriminatory as putting down another religion, so any references to a specific religion are eliminated from the film adaptation. This, however, does not stop Burton from exploring the idea of the supernatural world, and Lice’s world of Wonderland’ is reflective of the character of Alice pondering on the value she holds in the supernatural world. The responder is met with the harsh reality that Alice keeps convincing herself, â€Å"This is my dream, I can do what I want†¦ I’m going to wake up soon, and you’ll be gone†¦ â€Å". This idea of assurance in the supernatural world is twisted through the use of scarring from a creature in Wonderland’ carrying across to the real world, when Alice climbs out of the hole into the real-world, a prime example of post-modern techniques such as textual ambiguity changing the way in which a value is explored, but retaining the same moral value as the original text. It is through the change in textual form that Burton explores the same themes and values held in the original text ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ but with a change in context – a post-modern perspective of chaos in the area of religion: not knowing what the future may hold. The film adaptation ‘Alice in Wonderland’ cleverly depicts many themes and motifs that pertain towards the context of the original novel: 18th century England. The film achieves this through a similar plot line belonging to ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. In essence, it is the core values of religion, gender and identity that are transformed into the modern and cultures view on society, whilst retaining the original setting. Contextually, the texts are considerably different and although this is the case, the film adaptation is an effective appropriation of ‘Lice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. It is important to emphasis the target 21st century audience and the value of this film, when placed in this genre. Through stylistic features relevant to the religious/supernatural imagery that remain to be of importance in a modern day society. The high cultured language used by Carroll within his novels is lost in this modern appropriation, however this is done in favor of effectively depicting the struggles and successes of the 18th century woman. How to cite An analytical response to comparing the original novel, Papers