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Alice Online: The Works and World of Lewis Carroll

Victorian Era and Childhood

One the defining features of the Victorian Era was a movement away from viewing children as inherently corrupt as a result of the original sin and toward viewing children as inherently innocent (Aurerbach). Nevertheless, these competing conceptualizations led to great conflict during the Victorian Era, ultimately resulting in distinctions between how male and female children were represented in popular culture. Typically, young girls would be portrayed as angelic and innocent, always upholding Victorian morality (Auerbach). Young boys were often portrayed as being corrupt and mischievous, falling in line with the original sin conceptualization of children (Auerbach). In analyzing how Carroll develops Alice’s character, she does indeed fall in line with this pattern, as she constantly obsesses over her etiquette and becomes frustrated when she cannot remember a lesson or perceives that she is acting rudely. In analyzing slide ten of the Alice in Wonderland: coloured lantern slides from 1910, we see that while the Duchess and cook are illustrated to appear stern, Alice is shown running to the pig’s aid in a rather delicate fashion, a pattern that holds true for the entire slide collection. While Alice is quite adventurous and maintains a great deal of freedom throughout her tale, the way she is illustrated still serves to reinforce etiquette of the time for young children who would be viewing the slides. In comparison, the other set of Victorian magic lantern slides which feature both a young boy and girl more clearly illustrate the divide between male and female characterization. We see in the left picture that the young boy is falling from a tree that he should not have climbed while the young girl innocently watches. In the right slide, we again see the little boy presumably being punished for his misdeeds while the young girl again innocently watches. While conceptions of childhood innocence could greatly rely on gender, this movement toward innocence was rooted in the rise of industrialization and child labor (Arscott).

Class distinctions during the Victorian era greatly influenced the type of childhood one would have, but one theme influenced every class: preparation for adulthood and maintaining a busy schedule (Fass et al.). With the rise of industrialization came child labor, typically reserved for the lower class families. While some of these children attended school for basic education, most of that education revolved around learning to work in an industry or trade (Jordan). Meanwhile, children in upper and middle class families could send their children to school or hire a governess and still be able to survive financially. The increasing popularity of photography was used to expose the experiences of child laborers, as can be seen in the image of young male factory workers. These images sparked continued support against child labor in England, but at the end of the Vitorian Era, children were still only required to attend school until the age of twelve. As a result, many children were forced to mature rapidly, leading to the prevalence of the idea that children should aspire to grow up quickly in children’s literature of the Victorian Era. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, while being focused on Alice’s innocence is also a tale of gaining experience in the world, and readers see Alice grow a great deal throughout the story and especially in Through the Looking Glass. While Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a snapshot of a childhood innocence, it is nevertheless still influenced by Victorian cultural norms and the perceived importance of growing up.

The transition in England from an agrarian to an industrial economy created a great deal of leisure time for the middle and upper classes. Children who were once expected to help with the harvest or do farm work now had time to not only attend school in greater numbers but also engage more frequently in childhood play. As mass production led to toys and games becoming less costly to produce, more children were given access to a greater array of toys and games (Fass et al.). The magic lantern was one such invention. Upper and upper middle class children who had access to a magic lantern were often encouraged to engage in the entrepreneurial spirit of the time by creating magic lantern shows and charging neighborhood children an admission fee (Fletcher). Magic lantern shows were used for both education and entertainment, as this new method of projecting images created a visual spectacle which was eye-catching to young children. As a result, magic lantern shows, supplemented with a story or tale, were used as a visual narrative, illustrating key lessons for children in an entertaining way.

Figure four illustrates this concept well, as the illustration shows children learning the alphabet through the use of a magic lantern. In comparison, figure five illustrates a magic lantern show presented at a large theatre, a precursor to modern day movie theatres. These large theatres, just like small shows, would have been an important educational opportunity for Victorian children by exposing them to stories and lessons before they were able to read those tales independently..

Victorian Era and Childhood

Further Reading

Sources Cited

Auerbach, Nina. "Alice and Wonderland: A Curious Child." Victorian Studies 17, no. 1 (1973): 31-47. Accessed November 4, 2020.

Arscott, Caroline. “Childhood in Victorian Art.” Journal of Victorian Culture, Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2004, Pages 96–107.

Fass, Paula S., ed. 2012. The Routledge History of Childhood in the Western World. London: Taylor & Francis Group. Accessed November 3, 2020. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Fletcher, Susan A. 2020. Exploring the History of Childhood and Play Through 50 Historic Treasures. AASLH Exploring America’s Historic Treasures. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Jordan, Thomas Edward. 1987. Victorian Childhood: Themes and Variations. Google Books. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Books

Robson, Catherine. 2003. Men in Wonderland: the Lost Girlhood of the Victorian Gentleman. Google Books. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Robson discusses Victorian “obsessions” with both the new invention of photography as a visual spectacle and new conceptualizations of childhood.

Journal Articles

Cosslett, Tess. "Child's Place in Nature: Talking Animals in Victorian Children's Fiction." Nineteenth Century Contexts 23, no. 4 (2002): 475-495. Cosslett discusses the Victorian children’s literature genre of talking animal fiction, which Carroll parodies in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

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