(Il)logic and (Non)sense

When reading Alice in Wonderland and The Importance of Being Earnest, I couldn't help but notice the authors differing uses of logic and sense. As in, they concocted their tales with the exact opposite: illogic and nonsense. Understandably, the Victorian audience was not expecting such convoloted uses of rhetoric, so for the vast majority of the audience, they failed to comprehend that the authors were in fact, making fun of their lifestyles. In Carroll's experience, even good old Queen Vic failed to grasp that he was challenging the monarchy and its indiscretion by making of light it, as exemplified by the Queen of Hearts. Wilde, however, chose to dissect society in general; this included the marriage market, gender, homosexuality, the education system, etc.

Carroll uses nonsense to enhance the reader's understanding of common sense, as opposed to what the government deems sensical (i.e., the trial scene in the novel). He uses Alice  to guide his reader's through the novel with their various prejudices while ever so slowly dismantling them. Wilde uses his characters (in all their exaggerations) as various archetypes for his audience to sympathize with. Their various turns of character and their snap decisions cause the audience to peer into a mirror of themselves. Whether they choose to recognize this, or not is completely up to their discretion.

Melodramatic Politics and Economics

One thing that stuck out to me as I was reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde was the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) digs that Wilde would make on the people of his society. In Act 2, there is a brief moment where Miss Prism and Cecily are talking about the Political Economic book and I remember Miss Prism’s quick commentary about how Cecily should just omit the chapter about the fall of the rupee (India’s currency) because “it is somewhat too sensational” and “even these metallic problems have their melodramatic side”. This comment made me somewhat uncomfortable and I decided to bring it up in our group discussion in class today. My group’s topic was politics and parliamentary reform, and although we had a tough time connecting the plays themes to this topic, I thought that this moment in the play could still somehow relate. Even though it wasn’t Wilde’s way of criticizing their own politics and reform at the time, this scene in the play did shine light on how people viewed foreign politics. India’s economic downfall was not important to them in the least bit. It didn’t affect their everyday life and comfort; therefore it was just a melodramatic chapter in a book to them. I believe that Wilde was saying a lot with this scene. It was a satire on the self-centered world that most people lived in, and he reflected that in this brief conversation between Miss Prism and Cecily. 

This is an intervention. Alice, put down the bottle.

    As I said in class, I firmly believe Alice is an entitled brat. She takes without consideration without regards for ownership and then demands that others solve the problems she creates. On further reflection though I can see this as a vehicle for criticism of the upper class, and possibly the monarchy. Being so well educated at such a young age Alice is clearly well off. If she is taken as a literal representation of the upper class, then even the fact that she is a child is a slight jab. That's how the court system behaves, like a bunch of children concerned with themeselves and not the task at hand. Alice's actions show little regard for the ownership of those less fortunate than her. ie the working class. For example any time she eats or drinks something that say "Eat Me" she follows the direction (societal expectations) even if it means stealing from the White Rabbit (subordinate to the Queen). I don't mean to say that Lewis Carroll is a communist advocating for the destruction of the upper class, simply that those with property simply take it from those with the means of production.

    The Duchess who should be another representation of authority also shows reform and is kinder to Alice when confronted with her own execution. Alice does show reform after she is confronted directly with elements of her personality that are innappropriate, as well. This is most notable after her interactions with the Duchess and the Queen. This argument becomes even more prominent if one has the opportunity to read Through the Looking Glass, where Alice actually becomes the queen herself and her age demonstrates she is possibly not the best queen. Through her own folly though, the child as queen does manage to pull herself together and improve.

Escapism

I found the role of escape and escapism to play a valuable role in both the Importance of being Ernest and Alice in wonderland. The idea of it is obvious in both, a little more so in Ernest. Howeve I find they each play a different role. In Alice in Wonderland, although it seems like an escape, she is still plauged by the goings on of the real world through the different encounters she has while in wonderland. Whereas Ernest is only pretending he is escaping, when in reality he is playing through an escape of the mind or Escapism. Although both play mind games Alice is a mental mind game and Ernest is a physical escape.

"It is awfully hard work doing nothing."

I thoroughly enjoyed the clever social satire and charming wit of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest".   Wilde subtly makes a mockery of the aristocratic conventions of the time using intricate wordplay and extremely misled but immediately likable characters.  Lady Bracknell, despite her pious obedience to England's rigid social structures, is possibly my favorite, her statements inspiring the most laughter from me:

Lady Bracknell, to Cecily:  "Pretty child! your dress is sadly simple, and your hair seems almost as Nature might have left it.  But we can soon alter all that."
To Algernon:  "Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon.  Only people who can't get into it do that."
To Jack:  "I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing.  Which do you know?"

Lies and Deceit

Double identities seem to be common throughout Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest. Jack's neighbors and relatives believe that he is a character of good morals. However, despite what may be on the surface, Jack has been living a lie. "... in order to get up to town [he has] always pretended to have a younger brother of the name Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes." (83) Jack believes that his job as a guardian is incredibly monotonous and boring, so as a result, he created his "younger brother" Ernest. In this passage, Jack reveals the reason behind his life of lies to Algernon. With Ernest, he can escape his dull life and move into a more fascinating and social world.

Riddle for the Ages.

The question of the Raven and the Writing Desk is a popular riddle and for all the times I've heard it, not once have I been given an answer. It's said that many authors have attempted a shot at answering the riddle, and Lewis Carroll (only after years of people asking) suggested of it, "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front" but there's really not quite a specific, correct answer. Why would it be that he would present the reader and Alice with a question missing an answer? The reason that comes to mind for me would be that he's inviting the reader to thinking outside the box. A child reading the story would be quick to give several reasons, some of them ridiculous or even quite mad while the adult would be frustrated and think, and think, and think until eventually in the face of such an absurd question, logic would not due to answer it and they would have to use their imagination. The absurdity of the statement and lack of a clear or answer draws the reader into the setting, letting go of conventional definitions for logic or reason and exploring the madness and creativity in the same way as Alice.

Nonsense Literature

So, one thing that I really enjoyed about reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was the concept of nonsense literature.  I've become increasingly fascinated by the how Carroll is able to make sense out of nonsense and how misdirection plays a big part in the whole thing.  I really saw it as a rebirth to literature because it’s stood out among different things that we've read this semester.  As I was researching it, I found that it was seen as a kind of homage to when every sound in reading a book was new and bizarre.  This really registered because as a fiction writer, coming up with strange new sounds and throwing all modern logic out the window is outside my programming.  It is a beautiful genre because it’s light and fun but also holds deeper meanings than meet the eye.  In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a lot of things are being said directly, but are disguised as something that doesn't make sense.  My favorite is still in the Queen’s court where the guinea pig is being stifled and Alice reports that it is much like what she reads in the papers about the real-life court system.  At a first glance, I thought the description was just crazy talk, but upon closer analysis found that it was just pure genius.

The Importance of Being Earnest

Finally something that is not dark themed and gloomy! (Excluding Alice and Wonderland of course).

I really like Oscar Wilde’s writing style, and enjoy reading his work. This was also not my first time to read The Importance of Being Earnest, and probably not the last. My favorite part is the muffin scene.  In general I find the play to be very lighthearted and funny (which was probably one goal for the play).  I think Oscar Wilde’s main goal, however, was to make a satire of Victorian society, even the title of the play serves a mocking paradox and joke. Both the name “Earnest” (which was popular and thought to be given to respectable men) and the act of being earnest (grim/humorless nowadays; jumping between social classes in Victorian days) are used to mock the traditions and customs, along with courtship and marriage. All of the characters are over the top in some way or another and represent some value of Victorian society as well. For example, Lady Bracknell embodies all rules and social rituals. She is very materialistic and locks onto even the smallest/ most unimportant details of Jack and his back ground. Gwendolen and Cecily also both represent the purist of love and marriage as different angles. The men both follow the customs of courtship too, but their actions are extremely ridiculous and over the top. Cecily’s medieval romance fantasies also further fuel and point out the fascination the Victorian society had with medieval poems, stories, and art. Victorian society is clearly being mocked, and I think that is what makes each character so funny and the story lighthearted.  This play is defiantly a hit for me. 

In Order to Get Anywhere, You Must First Know Where You Are Going

The discussion in class about looking at Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as a commentary really got me thinking since I had never looked at that story in such a way. Last night I had the epiphany that Carroll's critiques of the British government is just as relevant to today's society as it was then.

I primarily want to focus on the encounter between the Cheshire cat and Alice. When Alice asks which road she should take, the Cheshire cat responds by asking her where she is going. When she states that she doesn't know, he says "well if you don't know your destination, than any road will do."

This is a great example of how our society acts today. We tend not to actually think through what we are doing and just sort of go with the flow and take what our media tells us as fact. So much so that I think at some point, people forget what their original ambitions were. They have no idea of where they are going and therefore don't have an accurate plan of getting there. To many people forget to use their head when they're deciding what they are doing through life. That can be a dangerous thing and lead to some very bad things happening in society.

 “You just go where your high-top sneakers sneak, and don't forget to use your head.”

the nonsensical nonsense known as Alice

Alice in Wonderland is a part of many people's childhood. I know it was a big part of mine. I can still remember watching the film and reading the book and wanting to be Alice. In fact, I was even her for Halloween one year. She was my hero, my idol, etc, as I'm sure she was for other little girls. Honestly, Alice is still kind of my hero and the inspiration she gives me probably means that I will always be a kid at heart, which is 100% fine by me. Alice is an icon, I can get a mental image of her immediatly, although it's from the disney cartoon which I was more influenced by growing up (my family wasn't much for story time.) When watching the film or reading the book I always felt as if I was going on the journey with Alice. I got to be her shadow, and wanted too be the tweedle dee to her tweedle dum, best friends. Looking back I probably grew with her as she journey through Wondeland learning lessons. Methaphorically of course, I didn't flood anyone's house with my tears. I wanted to be with Alice and adventure through Wonderland and experience the magic, the vivid colors, the creatures, etc of a land I could only read about. That's what I find to be one of the best things about Victorian children's literature, which hit it's stride with Alice and brought about books such as Peter Pan. When reading these books you get to have that moment, even if it's brief, where you get to go to Wonderland, Neverland, or any other land and you get to be a kid again. As the book closes and Alice or Wendy decides that it might be time to grow up you are transported back to real life and into your big kid body. By experiencing the lands through these books you can also experience them on your own in your imagination. Hey, I've been to Wonderland once, why can't I go back on my own time? These lands help you remain a kid at heart, proving that you never have to grow up. You can always return to being a kid when you go back to the lands of your childhood.