7 Subliminal Messages in “Alice in Wonderland” That Weren’t Made for Kids

Lewis Carroll’s short story “Alice in Wonderland”, published in 1865, had a great influence on cinema, literature, and even psychology: films, books and ballets were based on it. The work had remakes and even continuity. Its importance in our culture is so great that it has even become a medical term, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, characterized, above all, by hallucinations. This children’s story was even the subject of discussions by Sigmund Freud. But, after all, is this a work intended for children or adults?

we, from awesome.clubwe read the book “Alice in Wonderland Decoded” and tried to find out what parts of the story can only be understood by adults.

When Alice ate a cake or drank some kind of drink, she grew and shrank and was afraid of disappearing completely. Even though there was no apparent reason for the changes in Alice’s body, scientists have 3 versions of what the underlying message behind this situation could be:

Alice’s body changes similarly to that of a teenager during puberty. Many people believe that Carroll showed, in this scene, the character’s puberty. However, from a chronological point of view, the scene makes no sense, as Alice is only 7 years old, that is, she is too young to be a teenager. Astronomers link the character with the expansion of the universe. According to one of the most famous theories in this field of study, the amount of mass in the universe is constantly decreasing and will eventually lead to its complete disappearance. Obviously, that was the character’s concern, that she would shrink until she was gone. Other people make an analogy of the foods shown in the story with hallucinogenic substances, which leave people completely disoriented. This is the case for Alice.

The tale is believed to be an allusion to the Wars of the Roses, which took place in England in the 15th century. This period was full of frame-ups, betrayal and beheadings, something that also occurs in the tale. Assuming this reading is correct, the baby who turned into a pig is a member of the White Rose (white rose🇧🇷 More specifically, Richard III, who carried the symbol of a white boar. Shakespeare even wrote a play about it, in which he casts Richard III as the villain. And the phrase “Off with his head!” may be a reference to the famous English writer.

From time to time the tale mentions that the Duchess’s house smelled strongly of pepper, because the maid was adding the spice to the soup. But perhaps this was an insinuation that the food was being too spicy to get rid of the rotten smell of the ingredients.

Alice’s adventures begin in a peaceful garden. It was pure, green and quiet, which is why some scholars of the tale associate it with the Garden of Eden. Only Alice doesn’t eat the apple; she goes down the rabbit hole and into a world that transforms her. The theory seems to be quite logical: children are innocent, but when she entered the den (she ate the apple), she entered the world of puberty, of adulthood, and became a sinner.

When Freud’s theories became popular, the tale began to have a reading associated with phallic and gynecological symbols. Adherents of Freudian theory saw female sex symbols in doors hidden behind the curtains and keys that open those doors. And in the eyes of these analysts, the image of Absolen, the giant caterpillar, is associated with…well, you can imagine. This theory doesn’t make much sense because, after all, when people want to, they can see this kind of symbol anywhere.

This is the name of the poem that the twin brothers Tweedledee and Tweedledum read to Alice. It tells the story of a Walrus and a Carpenter who walk on the beach and call for oysters to walk with them. The oysters go to shore and the two eat them. In the end, the Walrus cries.

There are several interpretations:

The Walrus is a caricature of the Buddha and the Carpenter of Jesus. For example, the character Loki, from the movie Dogma (1999), believes this. The logic is simple: the walrus is fat and happy, just like the Buddha or the elephant Ganesha, and the carpenter is a direct reference to the profession of Jesus’ father. J. Priestly is convinced that the poem is about the colonization of the United States (Carpenter) by England (Walrus). There is one more interpretation. Some people believe that the Walrus and the Carpenter are politicians who kill the citizens (the oysters).

Some researchers see the reference to the strange connection between Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell as inspiration for the main character. Here are the lines we are referring to:

He gave his word that it wasn’t me

(And we all know, that’s true)

If she really wanted to know

What would happen to you?

This is one of the most touching moments in the interpretation of the tale. Some people reckon that when the girl was the appropriate age, Carroll would marry her, but for some reason he had a falling out with Mrs. Liddell, Alice’s real mother, and has never seen a member of the family since.

Now that you know a little more about the tale, are you interested in finding out more about subliminal messages? Search the original manuscript, written by Carroll himself. And let us know if you have your own interpretations of this amazing masterpiece!