Over the years of the Victoria Classics Book Club, our group has grown to encompass thousands of members connected by a love of reading. Below, find discussion questions for past volumes, which can be explored further on our Book Selections page. We also invite you to join the ongoing conversation on our Facebook page, where you will meet a delightful coterie of devoted readers.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A world of enchantment awaits in the pages of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll’s fanciful tale of a young girl’s journey down the rabbit hole into unforgettable realms of imagination. First published in 1865 as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this English novel has been beloved by generations of readers.
Consider planning a fanciful tea party with your book club as you begin your journey down the rabbit hole into Wonderland!
For many of us, our first introduction to our intrepid heroine was in the Walt Disney Animation Studio’s 1951 film Alice in Wonderland, though there have been dozens of theatrical and televised productions, dating back to a silent short movie in 1903 and including director Tim Burton’s creative version in 2010. How did you first meet Alice—through the book or on the screen? If you have seen several film adaptations, which was your favorite and why?
Alice in Wonderland was inspired by stories told to young Alice Pleasance Liddell by Lewis Carroll when the author was a close friend of her family. Who was the storyteller in your own family? What types of tales did he or she tell?
Our young protagonist’s adventures begin as she sits at the riverbank, bored and drowsy, while her sister reads a book. Suddenly, a rather peculiar-looking rabbit dressed in a waistcoat runs past her. He stops, takes a watch out of his pocket, and says, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” Intrigued by this bizarre event, Alice jumps up and follows the frantic creature—right down a rabbit hole, “never once considering how in the world she was to get out again,” Lewis Carroll writes. Can you share a time when curiosity got the better of you? What was the outcome?
We see that Alice finds herself in a world that is very far from her normal reality. The author uses “inversion” to portray a place where things seemed turned upside down or reversed. Though the style may have been purely for the amusement of the reader—as when he queried, “Do cats eat bats? Do bats eat cats?”—it underscores the illusion that Wonderland is one mixed-up place. Have you encountered this literary technique in other works of fiction? In your own life, can you relate a situation when it felt like you were totally out of your element?
Alice in Wonderland grew out of the stories that Lewis Carroll told to a little girl named Alice Liddell. Do you think that he intended these adventures as teaching tools or merely fanciful tales? Are there any lessons to be gleaned from this children’s classic?
The Cheshire Cat is seen as a sort of guiding spirit for Alice as she traverses the strange surroundings of Wonderland. Can you think of someone who helped you navigate a difficult or confusing time in your own life?
The Cheshire Cat has the amazing ability to disappear, at one point vanishing until the only thing that remains is his telltale grin. If you could have a “superpower,” what would it be and why?
Lewis Carroll makes a point of portraying Alice as more mature and calmer than one would think, considering her young age and the preposterous situation she finds herself in. Yet, she hasn’t a second thought about trying the “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” offerings, even though she has no idea what the consequences will be. When you are presented with options that are outside your comfort zone, is your first instinct to dive in or to step back?
The tea party scene is pure chaos, with all the characters, save Alice, behaving as madly as the Mad Hatter himself, with manners completely thrown out the door. When Alice has had enough of the rudeness, she gets up and walks off into the woods. What is the most surprising or unusual event you have ever attended? What made the gathering one that you will never forget?
Alice in Wonderland brims with puns, wordplay, and a favorite parlor game of the Victorian era: riddles. The Mad Hatter offers this poser to Alice: “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?” When pressed for the answer, the Mad Hatter admits he doesn’t know, which goes against the rules of riddling. The Spectator, a weekly British magazine, held a contest in 1991, where readers submitted their own inventive answers to the question, and among them was this brilliant reply: “Because a writing-desk is a rest for pens and a raven is a pest for wrens.” What is the cleverest riddle you’ve ever heard?
Our young heroine finally meets the Queen of Hearts, who immediately screams, “Off with her head!” Up until this time in the story, Alice has tolerated rudeness and injustice pointed at her, but when the monarch’s fury is directed at the three gardeners, the girl cuts off her rant with an exasperated “Nonsense!” Can you share a time when you stepped in to speak up for someone who was being treated unfairly?
Among the most notable quotes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland are “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” and “But it’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” Another passage that prompts contemplation is this observation: “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” As we near the end of our discussion for this title, what words from this tale linger in your thoughts?
As we close the book on Wonderland, have you embarked on an adventure as Alice, caused a stir as the Mad Hatter, or reigned supreme as Queen of Hearts? We invite you to share memories of costumes past with the Victoria Classics Book Club.
Find Victoria Classics Book Club resources—including discussion questions, companion materials, and a reader forum—at Victorimag.com!