Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (1865) - Function of the White Rabbit
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White Rabbit, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, Victorian literature, children's literature, fantasy, symbolism, character analysis, narrative device, story initiator, reality, anthropomorphism, rabbit symbolism, classic literature, character development, narrative structure, story progression, dreamlike structure, curiosity, adventure, iconic figure, fiction
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Abstract
The White Rabbit is an iconic figure in this book. He's a fictional character that appears at the beginning of the book in the first chapter. He wears a blue waistcoat and a pocket watch, muttering, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865). Alice encounters him and pursues him until she falls into the rabbit hole that takes her to Wonderland. Pointing the way, connecting the real world to that of the imaginary, the rabbit awakens the devouring curiosity of Alice.
Extract
[...] There's a great deal to come before that " (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865). Then, the rabbit tells the King what he must do: "Your Majesty must cross-examine this witness" (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865). To conclude, not only the White Rabbit is the initiator element of this tale, but his regular reappearance (he intervenes in half of the twelve paintings), gives him the role of common thread of the story. This rabbit thus makes it possible to connect the different chapters between them. [...]
[...] Indeed, the dream is one of the pillars of this tale. But the borrowing of daily elements becomes essential to make the dreamlike character of her work credible. What elements borrowed from reality allow the rabbit to make this link between reality and fiction, essential to Alice's dreamlike structure? The character of the rabbit is to be placed in a naturalistic context. Indeed, how not to think of the Arctic hare endowed with a white fur serving as a camouflage. [...]
[...] Is it this humanized rabbit that has aroused his curiosity or is it why he was late? Still, the rabbit takes the role of the initiator of the story without which Alice wouldn't have landed in Wonderland. However, despite our jump into fiction thanks to the rabbit, Lewis Carroll punctuates his text with many details that bring us back to the surface of the burrow. The rabbit plays the role of a common thread because he also connects the real world to the Wonderland. [...]
[...] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (1865) - Function of the White Rabbit Function of the White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland The White Rabbit is an iconic figure in this book. He's a fictional character that appears at the beginning of the book, in the first chapter. He wears a blue waistcoat and a pocket watch, muttering "Oh dear Oh dear I shall be too late " (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865). Alice encounters him and pursues him until she falls into the rabbit hole that takes her to Wonderland. [...]
[...] Thanks to the elements borrowed from reality, the rabbit makes the link between reality and fiction throughout the story. Finally, the rabbit reappears in many chapters of the book, especially in the chapter 11 where he appears with a trumpet and a parchment to play his role of herald during the trial of stolen pies ("near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other" (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865)). [...]
