Ambiguity of Symbolism in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Discuss the ambiguity of symbolism in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In his book The Art of Fiction, David Lodge described poetic symbolism as being "characterised by a shimmering surface of suggested meanings without a denotative core." In this essay, Lodge's definition will be used to aid the discussion of Lewis Carroll's use of ambiguous symbolism in his 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Key images in the book such as the infamous Hookah smoking caterpillar on his mushroom and Wonderland itself will be discussed as well as the character of The Queen of Hearts and The Mad Hatter. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the eponymous setting is representative of many things - much like Lodge's hypothesis, there is no denotative core to the symbolism of Wonderland. One of the book's most iconic images is that of a "large blue caterpillar" sitting upon a mushroom "quietly smoking a long hookah". It is an image that since the 1960s has sparked controversy over the alleged motif of drug use in a children's book - despite the fact the mid nineteenth century was a period where opium, laudanum and other hallucinogenic drugs were widely available and were not considered dangerous. The mushroom has long been considered a symbol of such drug use, because Alice uses pieces of the mushroom to alter her physical state. This conjunction with the oddity of her surroundings in Wonderland, adds to the suggestion of a ‘drug trip'. However, Lewis Carroll arguably had other intentions for the symbolic meaning behind the mushroom; it is argued that rather than a symbol for prolonged drug use, the mushroom is actually a symbol of Alice's changing physicality and her transition through puberty. Upon first meeting the Caterpillar, Alice is asked who she is to which she replies: " I hardly know ... I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then." The use of the phrase "been changed" implies to the reader that Alice's transition is an unwilling one - much like that of a pubescent child, confused and unwilling to accept the changes to oneself. Alice uses the mushroom (a natural symbol of change in growth) in an attempt to regulate her size but fails to do so; fluctuating in size and never feeling quite right in her own body - common ‘symptoms' of changes in adolescence. Throughout the book we see Alice try to come to terms with her size and at the end of the book she abruptly ends her dreams of Wonderland as she grows to the size necessary to stand up to the King and Queen of Hearts - symbolising her acceptance of the physical changes taking place. The opposing symbolic meanings of the mushroom and caterpillar show the ambiguity of symbolism in the book as people have attached different meanings to the images because of social context and natural symbolism. The world of Wonderland is quite aptly described by Carroll as it is unlike any other world known to Alice - a product of stoic Victorian England. Carroll intends Wonderland to be an Edenic opposite to industrial England - only the Eden of Wonderland is, paradoxically that of a post-lapsarian world, the inhabitants are stuck in nonsensical rituals and none seem to be happy. Alice's falling down the rabbit hole has been described as an "awakening of consciousness" indeed, when Alice enters Wonderland she is faced with a world that she is entirely unfamiliar with. The customs and practices she once knew are no longer applicable and are looked upon as odd. During a procession in the Queen of Hearts' garden Alice is the only one to stand as the procession passes by. Alice is a product of a society that is heavily influenced by social practice and etiquette - almost as soon as Alice is met with the oddity that is Wonderland she finds herself never quite knowing what to do - reminiscent of a Victorian traveller in a foreign land. Carroll intended to show this by using the defamiliarisation of Alice to reemphasise her isolation in Wonderland and further depict her as the Victorian ideal. Carroll crafted Wonderland as a symbol of death; Alice literally falls into Wonderland, travelling deep underground - suggesting a traditional Christian burial - although her literal death is not met with there, it is symbolic of the death of her childhood. Death in this sense is met with Alice's conversation with the Caterpillar on his eventual metamorphosis. She is shocked that he is not perturbed by the idea and his acceptance of this transition is something Alice finds later in the book. Wonderland is also a symbol of political democracy, or rather a lack of it - Wonderland's "operative principal" is that of an anarchical, nonsensical chaos. Throughout the book, scenes with a blatant political undertone are seen; such as the trivial trial of the Knave of Hearts. Carroll writes such moments intending them to satirise contemporary government measures and the existence of too many societal laws. The Queen of Hearts is the most recognisable antagonist in Carroll's novel, yet for a woman who claims to be Queen of Hearts, she more recognisably rules using fear and tyranny. The Queen is often used as a symbol of absolute monarchical rule though as with most other motifs in his story Carroll satirizes this and undermines her - despite her fondness for beheading her opposition, very few people in wonderland actually die. The Queen is used as a symbol for the ancestral royal House of Lancaster, whose symbol was that of a red rose. The fact her gardeners are shown to be "painting the roses red" is a symbol of her distaste for her enemies. This coupled with her fondness for beheading people conjure up images of Henry VIII and his sense of victory for his Father's ‘War of the Roses'. The Queen of Hearts also acts as a symbol of royal apathy as shown by the irony of her being the ‘Queen of Hearts' yet not actually ruling through the hearts of her people. She chooses instead to rule indifferent to their needs and continue to exist in her bourgeoisie world where she seems to do nothing but play croquet and behead people. The second most iconic character in the novel is The Hatter - often referred to as the ‘Mad Hatter' (although Carroll never actually uses this name for him). The Hatter epitomises the absurdity of Wonderland and is often believed to represent the more human side of this bizarre world. The Hatter is described by the Cheshire Cat as "mad" and traditionally it was seen that hatters, often exposed to strong mercury fumes during the millenary process, would experience serious neurological side effects akin to madness. It is a little known fact that ‘Lewis Carroll' was actually a pseudonym for the Mathematician Charles Dodgson, and throughout his novel used complex mathematical ideas he disagreed with as symbols. The Hatter is representative of the concept of time - a fellow mathematician William Rowan Hamilton came up with an idea of Quaternions; "a coordinate system based on four terms, three that designate place and one that designated... time". The three permanent guests at the tea party of The Hatter are himself, the March Hare and the Dormouse - the fourth missing guest is Time. The absence of time means that the three are subject to a perpetual party; much like an incomplete Quaternion. In conjunction with his representation of time, The Hatter is also representative of stubbornness - he refuses to apologise to Time with whom he "quarrelled last march" and free not only himself but also the other guests from the sempiternal tea party. The antithesis of The Hatter's symbolic representations is evidence that Lodge's given definition of poetic symbolism is often ambiguous or has only a suggested meaning. Like many of the symbols in the book, The Hatter's intentions as a character and a symbol are ambiguous and can be interpreted in a multitude of ways in order to not only enhance the reading experience but also gives the novel a deeper level of understanding. Lodge's definition of poetic symbolism has been used in this essay to aid the discussion of Lewis Carroll's use of ambiguous symbolism in his novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The affixation of meaning has been discussed in relation to the society of the reader, specifically in the case of the Blue Caterpillar and his mushroom. The use of symbols to convey universally recognised themes such as those of death and adolescence have been used by Carroll to further his story and make it accessible to a wider audience. Overall, symbolism in Alice has a variety of meaning and a denotative core is not always found when discussing them.