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Anne Berg

Dr. Riley

Research in English Studies

3 May 2017

A Dream of Alice

When Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland, he introduced the world to Alice, a

character with a wild imagination and a childish bravery that allowed her to explore it, as well as

Wonderland, a world ruled by imagination in which no rules apply. Alice and Wonderland both

captured the attention of an assortment of people who have decided to recreate both the character

and the place, in a series of different ways. But, with each adaptation that enters the world, one

aspect is repeated over all the rest. The reason that these stories are so widely copied, is the vast

imagination that is portrayed throughout Alice in Wonderland. Alice imagines Wonderland in a

dream, and it is a dream that people will never stop exploring. Imagination is a concept that

everyone is familiar with. Imagination not only provides entertainment as children, but it also

made the world what it is today. Without imagination there would not be technology, cuisine,

language, art, or anything that makes the world, and the people living in it, thrive. Imagination is

creation, and it changes the world. As a result of the status that imagination holds in the world,

the stories of Alice in Wonderland have been widely revered and copied for many years.

While looking at Alice in Wonderland and all of its adaptations it is also important to

look at why exactly imagination is so intriguing to the world. Imagination is a persons ability to

create something new with his or her mind, whether it is out of nothing, or from an actual

experience. It can help to solve problems, create easier ways to do any activity, and it can help

people through tough situations. However, imagination can also make peoples lives harder. It is
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easy to become too focused on the way that imagination can make life seem better, and therefore

one becomes focused on imagination, rather than actually living in the real world. Alice created a

whole other world with her imagination, and she could have stayed there if she wanted to. But,

over time she slowly started to become annoyed with the way this world worked in comparison

to the way that the real world worked, and as a result she was thrust back into the real world.

This is evident when she gets annoyed with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare at the Tea Party:

Its the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life (Carroll, 58). She is starting to become

annoyed with the way things work in Wonderland. Imagination is part of day-to-day life, but it

can be the freest when it is in the form of a dream, much like Alices dream of Wonderland. In a

dream there are no real life distractions that can take away from a persons imagination. This can

sometimes mean that dreams show both the hopes and fears that affect a person in every day life.

Therefore, imagination is available both in real life and the dream world, and as a result, it has

the ability to create and destroy a world.

If it were not for imagination the world would not have the wonderful work of art that is

Alice in Wonderland. For one, Lewis Carroll had the fantastic imagination to create the story in

the first place. But, on top of that, the audience is able to truly get a close look at imagination,

and the inner workings of it, because of the characters within the story. Lewis Carroll gives Alice

the ability to dream up such a wide variety of characters and places. He is truly able to capture

the essence of childish imagination through Alice. Alice is able to create a world that is quite

unlike the one that she lives in, and in which nothing seems to go the way she has been taught its

supposed to. In this world she takes the things that she has been taught, and turns them into

something different. And even though they no longer make sense, she almost prefers the

nonsensical workings of Wonderland to the sensibility of the real world. This is noticeable when
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she drinks from the bottle, knowing that no matter what, something will happen: I know

something interesting is sure to happen (Carroll, 27). In the real world everything is basically

boring, but in Wonderland everything is exciting, no matter how trivial. Maybe this is the way

she first saw the world before she learned more about it, or maybe this is simply the way she

wishes it were. The adults in Alices life do not seem to share the same imaginative powers that

she has. In the real world it is a unique power, whereas in Wonderland it is something that is run

of the mill. This may be the difference between a world ruled by adults and a world in which

everyone acts like children. Imagination sometimes has the purpose of answering questions that

do not have answers. And one can wonder if that is the use of imagination in this case. This is the

reason that Alice in Wonderland is so often copied, because the use of imagination draws people

in, and they all have their own ideas of its purpose in the story.

There are many adaptations of Alice today, and they all have a different play on the

characters and the use of imagination. One adaptation in particular that takes a different stance

on imagination is Frank Beddors The Looking Glass Wars. In this novel imagination is truly a

source of power and a weapon that can be used for good or evil. The main character especially,

Alyss Heart, is able to use her imagination to regain control of her home and Queendom with the

power of her imagination. Yet, she does not have full control of this power throughout the entire

novel. At a young age Alyss has an extremely vibrant and strong imagination but she does not

fully know how to use it. And then when she is taken from Wonderland and forced to live in the

real world she starts to lose her imaginative powers. This is showcased when Alyss is using her

powers to earn money in the real world: But every new day seemed to weaken her ability with

the flower and her performances became less frequent. The more time Alyss spent in this wet

dreary city, the less she believed in her imagination (Beddor, 210). It is only once she is back in
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Wonderland, and older, that she is able to achieve the full power of her imagination. The power

of imagination seems to be situational and based on a series of different factors. As a result

people explore imagination in different Alice adaptations, making it a large or small part, with a

lot or a little power. In each case, the use of imagination has a huge impact on the way the story

plays out. Adaptations also play with imagination and whether or not it is portrayed in a dream or

in real life. In Alice in Wonderland everything is part of a dream, but in The Looking Glass Wars

imagination happens in day-to-day life.

Alice herself is a character that many adaptations grab a hold of, without also using

Wonderland. Alice is quite an imaginative little girl that braves a seriously strange world. As a

result of this, adaptations often take Alice and put her in different time periods, situations, and

even change her age. All of these examples are found in Beware The Little White Rabbit in

which Alice is normally a teenage girl, but set in all different time periods and situations

(Bennardo et al.). Adaptations do this in order to see just how fantastic Alices imagination can

be. However, a lot of adaptations do not actually use a little girl as Alice. This could be for a

multitude of reasons, but one reason that stands out is that Alices imagination in the original

stories could be too realistic for a child of her age. And one of the major pulls of Alice in

Wonderland is that it is so out there. Because of this adaptations strive to make the story of Alice

even more fantastical by making her older and less realistically imaginative. However, even

though Alices imagination is realistic for her age, this does not mean that it was generally

accepted. One article states that medical doctors during this time period believed that

imagination in childhood led to a mentally unstable adult life. However, Lewis Carroll strove to

discredit this with his book about Alice. Lewis Carroll believed that children should have strong

imaginations, and Alice is a prime example of this (Schatz, 93-95). Children at this time did have
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strong imaginations, just as children do today. However, Alice is a rarity because at the time it

was believed that imagination could only lead to negative things. As a result of this imagination

was not encouraged as it was in Alice in Wonderland. Therefore, Alices imagination is both

realistic and unrealistic for her age and time period. Because of this, it becomes pretty obvious

that other adaptations use both the original aspects of Alices imagination, as well as new

aspects, in order to constantly create an environment that is both creative and realistic.

In order to really take a close look at Alices imagination, the reader needs to understand

how imagination comes into play in daily life. Imagination is the minds way of creating

different situations that can solve problems or, like in Alices case, can make life less boring and

more interesting. In the original story, Alices imagination actually has the ability to change her

memories. This is evident many times throughout the story, but especially when she is trying to

recite things she learned in her lessons, and she cannot seem to remember the way they go. The

first time this comes about is when Alice attempts to say her multiplication tables: Ill try if I

know all the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is

thirteen, and four times seven is oh dear! (Carroll, 15). But, different adaptations showcase

imagination in different ways. In some adaptations, Alice sees the people and animals from

Wonderland before she falls asleep. In these cases Alices imagination is affected by her

memories. This is especially evident in the first film version of Alice in Wonderland made in

1903, where Alice sees a cat, a rabbit, and a pig, etc. before she falls asleep and dreams of them

in Wonderland. This is this adaptations way of making Alices imagination less powerful. The

real question is whether or not it is plausible for Alices imagination to be affected by her

memories. In one article, it is discovered that memories can both affect and be affected by ones

imagination. The things that are encountered in everyday life do fuel the imagination. However,
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at the same time it is also evident that memories can be changed with ones imagination (Otgaar

et al. 270-271). It is as simple as dreaming something, and then not remembering if it was a

dream or if it actually happened in real life. This can also come into effect when the past is

concerned. It is easy to shine either a bright or harsh light on the past. This is because

imagination can change it for the better or the worse, depending on ones current situation. So

not only is imagination fueled by the things that people see and experience, but imagination also

gives people new memories. This comes into play in the Alice stories because of Wonderland.

Many readers and admirers wonder if she is simply completely reimagining the world or if all of

the things in Wonderland are from her memories. Some adaptations try to make Alice less

imaginative, and instead just make her remember people and animals from real life in a dream

like state. The truth is that whether Alice sees things in the real world that she later dreams of in

Wonderland, or whether she is simply creating these characters completely out of the blue, her

brain and her imagination are doing the work. It does not truly matter what fuels ones

imagination because the outcome, as in Wonderland, is always interesting.

After research and some thought it is obvious that Alice is imaginative just like other

children her age, but readers wonder if imagination is something that is mostly reserved to

certain groups of people. In the original story the reader finds that Alice seems to be more

imaginative than the others that surround her. Although the reader is not introduced to many

characters in the real world, he or she is introduced to Alices older sister. The reader gets a

glance into her thoughts at the end of Alices Adventures in Wonderland after Alice awakens

from her dream. Alices sister does have an imagination, though not as powerful as Alices. This

is evident when she thinks about Wonderland: she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed

herself in Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and all would change to
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dull reality (Carroll, 96). Alices sisters imagination exists only in the dream world. She is not

able to imagine amazing places like Wonderland without closing her eyes and going almost into

a trance. Alice, on the other hand, has the sort of childish imagination that allows her to turn

everyday objects into something new and exciting. This dynamic is something that many

adaptations play off of. These adaptations turn Alices imagination into something extremely

special, rather than something that is relatively normal. This is evident in The Looking Glass

Wars, where only Alyss Hearts imagination can save Wonderland (Beddor). Obviously there are

some people who have a bigger imagination than others, noted by the amounts of artists, authors,

etc. in comparison to other types of jobs, and this leads one to believe that different factors have

an effect on ones imagination. According to one article, both personality and environment can

affect ones imagination. Some people are pre-disposed to wild imaginations, whereas others

imaginations can be cultivated through their environment (Chaoyun et al. 237-238). This can

also go the opposite way, in that people who have strong imaginations to begin with can lose

their imagination over time because of their environment. This is evident in the adaptation, The

Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor. Alyss Hearts imagination is extremely strong growing

up in Wonderland, but with a change in environment she loses her imagination, and it is not until

she returns to Wonderland that she has complete control over her imagination once again.

Therefore, there are definitely some groups of people who are more imaginative than others.

Some are born with bigger imaginations because of their personality, but this does not mean they

keep their imagination, or that they are the only ones who are imaginative. Environment plays a

big role in deciding whether or not a person continues to grow with a large imagination, whether

they lose it, or whether they gain an imagination they never had before. This is evident in After

Alice, when Ada discovers that Wonderland has actually made her more imaginative: Ada noted
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that lately her thinking had gone colorful (Maguire, 247). An environment has the ability to

change ones imagination, even if he or she was never imaginative in the first place. It is because

of this that adaptations change environments and personalities of characters to show how Alices

imagination, and therefore Wonderland, might change.

It would seem that Alices imagination is portrayed as a gift, because of the extreme

success of Alice in Wonderland. However, a gift is not usually necessary, as only some people

have it. If Alices imagination is truly a gift than it is not at all important for her to have. This

makes a believable case that imagination itself is not important for anyone to have. Yet, without

imagination the world would be a very different place than it is today. So, this can only mean

that imagination is a necessity, therefore not a gift at all, putting Alice in the unfortunate

predicament of being completely ordinary. The truth is, imagination is important, but many

people do not see it this way, therefore making it uncommon. As a result of this, those who do

showcase imagination, especially large amounts of it, are special. Imagination really is

important, even if the power of imagination changes from person to person. According to one

article, imagination can actually be more necessary than knowledge. It allows people to fill in

gaps when their knowledge of different situations is not sufficient (Hunter, 113). The article

states: Our knowledge and personal goals are embedded within our imagination which is at the

heart of our existence, a cognitive quality that we would not be human without (113).

Imagination is literally one of the things that makes us human. Imagination is very important

because it gives people the ability to understand situations that they have no actual experience

with, and allows them to understand others who experience things that they have not. There are

also many different types of imagination and each one has a different purpose in ones life. The

eight types of imagination are: effectuative imagination, intellectual imagination, imaginative


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fantasy, empathy, strategic imagination, emotional imagination, dreams, and memory

reconstruction (113). All of these different types of imagination apply to different aspects of life.

This really shows why imagination is so important. Imagination, in all its different forms, allows

people to think in new ways, experience new situations, understand different emotions, and

create new solutions for problems. This is exactly what Alice is able to do in Wonderland.

Therefore, it is as a result of the importance of imagination that Alice in Wonderland is so

revered. Alice has an amazing imagination that people both connect to and envy, which results in

people experimenting with this imagination with new characters and places.

Since imagination is important, it is something that should be supported and cultivated.

During Alices time, imagination was not something that was revered, and it was actually seen as

something negative. But Lewis Carroll changed this idea with his portrayal of Alice (Schatz, 93-

95). He showcased how powerful a persons imagination can be, while at the same time showing

that it can affect ones actual life in a positive way. Many people today do not have active

imaginations, and this can be due to the lack of support their creativity and imagination received

during their childhood. It is extremely important to cultivate ones imagination in his or her

childhood, in order for it to last during adulthood. Without creativity in the beginning, the world

would not have artists, authors, inventors, etc. But this also explains why many people are not

creative in their adult life. Not to mention, although imagination is not seen as negatively as it

was in Lewis Carrolls time, it is definitely not portrayed as something important today. More

than anything it is seen as a unique characteristic, and therefore it is not always supported during

childhood. In one article, Neelima Chopra talks about how everyday activities can affect

creativity. The author also states that all aspects of the environment are important in developing

creativity in children (1-3). Not only is the home environment important, but schools should also
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work to support creativity in students. The importance of the environment on ones creativity and

imagination is showcased in Wonderland. Wonderland is a completely different type of place

from the world most people are used to, and because of this everyone there is much more

imaginative, and as a result different. Imagination gives one the ability to be someone different,

and this is what happens to all of the characters in Wonderland. The environments affect on

ones imagination is also evident in The Looking Glass Wars. Alyss Heart has an extremely

powerful imagination in Wonderland when she is growing up. However, once she is transported

through the Looking Glass into the human world she slowly loses her powerful imagination

because people there refuse to believe in her powers. It is not until she returns to Wonderland

that her imagination gains power once again (Beddor). Because imagination is not always

supported in real life, it is exciting to see it supported in a book like Alice in Wonderland, and

that is why many people take this story and turn it into something new, using imagination as the

main focus.

Although Alice and her imagination are strongly focused on in many adaptations, her

dream of Wonderland is also a main focus. Dreams themselves are a place where imagination

has complete control, rather than allowing knowledge and logic to take over. Imagination has the

ability to change memories and create new situations in dreams that can sometimes help a person

once he or she wakes up. Gianfranco Giordo comes to the conclusion that dreams share

information about oneself that one might not have even known before the dream (281-282).

Therefore, dreams are not a collection of nonsensical elements that have no meaning, instead

they show important aspects of life that are either hidden or just unknown during the day. Alices

dream of Wonderland does not create just a nonsensical world where nothing makes sense; it

creates a world that tells the reader something important about Alice in waking life. In
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Wonderland Alice finds herself confused about many of the things she used to know (Carroll,

15). The reader could take this to mean that in real life Alice knows what she is supposed to do

and think, but she does not understand why. She believes that everything she learns is nonsense.

Therefore, in her dream, everything she used to know comes out as nonsense. In Wonderland

Alice also changes sizes very often, growing either very large or very small. This causes her to

lose her identity even more rapidly: But its no use now to pretend to be two people! Why,

theres hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person! (12). And at each size she is

mistaken for something else. Alice is growing up in real life and adults surround her. This means

that she must sometimes act like an adult, while other times she is treated like a child. She does

not understand why she cannot just be one size or age and this comes out in her dream. Dreams

are important because of the things they say, but also because of the things they show. Alices

dream of Wonderland is focused on and copied because of its ability to share the thoughts and

feelings of Alice in a way that she herself cannot just show the reader.

Alice is only a child and therefore her dreams are different than the dreams that adults

might have. It is easier for her to dream, and therefore her dreams say more about who she is and

what she goes through. This does not mean that her dreams are easier to figure out. Alices

dreams actually masque her true thoughts very easily because of her powerful imagination.

Wonderland at first glance seems like a bunch of nonsense, and readers might not realize that it

actually says something about Alice and the life she lives. When it comes to a dream that a lot of

people have had, like forgetting to do homework in high school, or showing up to work in ones

underwear, it is pretty easy to figure out the insecurities and stress behind these dreams. But,

Wonderland is not like this at all, and the reader has to actually think about it as it relates to

Alice and her life in order to figure anything out. Stephen J. Catalano talks a lot about the way
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that dreams occur in children. The way things happen in a childs dream can actually explain a

lot about the child in question (280-281). As was previously mentioned, Alice forgets a lot of the

things she used to know when she reaches Wonderland (Carroll, 15). This is one of the first

things to happen and this shows the reader that Alices loss of identity is one of the most

important issues facing her in real life. She knows who she is supposed to be, but she does not

think that is who she really is. A childs dream can say a lot about what is going on in that childs

life and how it is affecting them psychologically (Catalano, 280-281). Because adults constantly

surround Alice, she feels like she is constantly being ordered around and like she does not have a

say in anything she does. This is why she goes against authority in Wonderland: Nonsense!

said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent (Carroll, 62). In her own dream

she has the confidence to stand up for herself that she does not normally feel. The reader sees

that Alice is affected by the control that most authority figures have over her. Her only way to

get relief from this is to strike out against them in a dream. Dreams are a result of real life

experiences, and this is why they showcase a childs subconscious thoughts (Catalano, 280-281).

Because Alices dream of Wonderland is so realistic, while at the same time being so out of this

world, many readers and authors are drawn to Wonderland and want to recreate it in a new and

just as wonderful way.

A lot of adults are drawn to Alice in Wonderland because of the amazing creativity and

imagination shown in Alices dream world. Many young adults and adults have lost their sense

of childish imagination and can only have it again through books like Alice in Wonderland. This

may be why a lot of adaptations actually portray Alice as a young adult, rather than a child. This

is specifically found in all the stories from Beware The White Rabbit (Bennardo et al.).

Wonderland is known for its unique and crazy characters. By making Alice older, her fantastic
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imagination actually becomes more unique, therefore making the story more like the original

Wonderland. However, the truth is that adults can be just as imaginative as children are, and their

imagination comes out in dreams too. Many adults use dreams to sort through the things that

they experience in everyday life. As an adult, it is easy push thoughts and emotions to the back

of ones mind, and eventually this happens so often that people do not even realize that they are

feeling these emotions at the time. It is not until they are sleeping that these thoughts and

emotions come out in their dreams. Their dreams show them how to handle these emotions, as

well as what happens when these emotions are not handled correctly. After a build up of these

emotions dreams like Alices dream of Wonderland can actually occur. Imagination in dreams is

important when it comes to working things out that are experienced in everyday life. Just like

with children, dreams tell adults things about themselves that they might never have figured out

on their own. This is evident in an article that states that throughout the different age groups

there are recurring dreams, and by looking at a persons real life it becomes much easier to

interpret his or her dreams (Maggiolini et al. 221-222). The dreams that adults have are normally

easier to interpret, because it is easier to see how they react to things in real life, and their dreams

are also not usually as out there as a childs dream might be. It is for this reason that many

adaptations use older Alices for stories. Adaptations also make Wonderland part of the real

world, instead of a dream world. This can also be a way to make the story of Wonderland even

more fantastic. The real world can be a dull place when imagination is not necessarily a part of

everyday life. Therefore, making the real world into Wonderland makes an even more fantastic

story for readers.

Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland is a story that many people cling to and long to

recreate. It is filled with the wonderful imagination of a child that allows her to create a
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fantastical world of dreams. This imagination is based off her real life experiences and allows the

reader to notice all of the thoughts and emotions that plague her during her waking hours. In real

life imagination is not always evident or thought of as important and this is why it is refreshing

to read a book like Alice in Wonderland that is filled to the brim, and bursting, with imagination.

Different people have different levels of imagination and this is due to both personality and

environment. Even though imagination is an important part of everyday life it is not always

cultivated like it should be and as a result many people lack imagination later in life. Those that

crave this lacking imagination turn to books like Alice in Wonderland for inspiration for their

own imaginations. Of course this book also draws those who already have strong imaginations

and who long to create a new story that is just as fantastic as the original. Buy looking at many

different adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, and by researching everything that concerns

imagination, it is easy to see that it is the strong imagination that is present throughout this novel

that makes writers want to make their own stories that are just as filled with imagination.
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Works Cited

Alice in Wonderland. Directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, performances by May Clark,

Cecil M. Hepworth, Mrs. Cecil Hepworth, and Norman Whitten, American Mutoscope

and Biograph Company, 1903.

Beddor, Frank. The Looking Glass Wars. Penguin, 2006.

Bennardo, Charlotte, et al. Beware the Little White Rabbit. Leap Books, 2015.

Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.

Catalano, Stephen J. Childrens Dreams: Their Meaning and Use in Clinical Practice. Child &

Adolescent Social Work Journal, 1984, pp. 280-289.

Chaoyun, Liang, et al. Differential Effects of Personality Traits and Environmental Predictors

on Reproductive and Creative Imagination. Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol. 48, No.

4, 2013, pp. 237-253.

Chopra, Neelima. Supporting Creativity and Imagination in Early Years. International Journal

of Early Years Education, 2016, pp. 1-3.

Giordo, Gianfranco. The Sense of the Body in the Dream: Diagnostic Capacity in the Meanings

of Dreams. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 97, 2016, pp. 281-304.

Hunter, Murray. Imagination May Be More Important Than Knowledge: The Eight Types of

Imagination We Use. Review of Cotemporary Philosophy, Vol. 12, 2013, pp. 113-120.

Maggiolini, Alfio, et al. Dream Contents of Early Adolescents, Adolescents, and Young Adults:

A Cluster Analysis with T-LAB. Dreaming, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2016, pp. 221-237.

Maguire, Gregory. After Alice. Harper Collins Publishers, 2015.

Otgaar, Henry, et al. Challenging Memories in Children and Adults Using an Imagination
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Inflation Procedure. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol.

3, No. 3, 2016, pp. 270-283.

Schatz, Stephanie, L. Lewis Carrolls Dream-Child and Victorian Child Psychopathology.

Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 76, No. 1, 2015, pp. 93-114.

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