Literary Theory: Post-colonialism & Alice in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:
Alice as Colonizer

Analyzing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland using a post-colonialism approach showcases Alice as a colonizer, perhaps representing the once vast and conquering British Empire of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With the British Empire once ruling almost one-quarter of the Earth’s land and population, the idea of colonization was prevalent throughout the world, and especially in Great Britain when Carroll wrote Alice (Parker 286). Whether Carroll intended to portray Alice as a representation of the British Empire conquering foreign lands as its leaders saw fit and without regard to the people of those lands is unknown; however, when applying the post-colonialism theory to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice exhibits traits that are considered typical of a colonizer: invading a foreign land, attempting to impose the colonizer’s cultural habits on the inhabitants of the colonized population, and exhibiting mimicry. Alice’s colonizer characteristics are made clear throughout the story, but one chapter in particular stands out as an exemplar: The Mad Tea-Party.

When Alice sits down to join the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse, she does so at her insistence and invades their tea party in much the same way the British Empire invaded foreign lands: forcefully (Parker 300). In fact, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare attempt to stop Alice from entering their dominion and sitting at their table with shouts of, “’No room! No room!’ they cried when they saw Alice coming” (Carroll 83). Alice, representative of the British Empire or, in fact, almost any type of colonizing power, ignores the pleas of the Mad Hatter and March Hare and states, “’There’s plenty of room!’ said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table” (Carroll 83). Not only does Alice invade the tea party against the will of the Mad Hatter and March Hare, but once there, she also commands a position of power by immediately taking a seat at the head of the table—a position in the Western world that is reserved for the head of a household, corporation, or country. Alice’s chair is also noteworthy in that Carroll describes it as “a large arm-chair,” which denotes a captain’s chair. Again, in Western culture, captain’s chairs are designated and reserved for the person in charge of a situation, further cementing Alice’s position of power at the tea party.

As the tea party begins to unfold, it quickly becomes clear that the Mad Hatter and the March Hare are representative of a colonized country’s population or group of people who see an approaching invasion and colonization from a foreign power and want to prevent any such colonization. Neither of the Wonderland inhabitants invites Alice to join their tea party, and although the Mad Hatter and the March Hare make an attempt to keep her (the colonizing power) at bay, they are ultimately powerless and ineffective. This inability to keep Alice from entering their domain is what allows Alice to invade their geographical area and assume a position of power. After Alice sits, the March Hare once again attempts to rid Alice from their tea party by admonishing her for imposing herself on their tea party by stating, “It wasn’t very civil of you to sit down without being invited” (Carroll 84). This statement of disapproval, however, is made passively and without the threat of consequence, which again allows Alice to remain in her position at the head of the table. Similar to the people in African nations and parts of India who were colonized by the British Empire, although they may have initially and even continually attempted to resist the colonizing powers in a fashion comparable to that of the March Hare, their resistance was not enough to force the British Empire to leave their countries, and they suffered the same colonized fate as the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.

Now a forced participant in the tea party, Alice wastes no time in asserting herself as the colonizer in this situation and attempting to impose her cultural habits on the March Hare and the Mad Hatter. As a Briton, Alice is presumably intimately familiar with British teatime rituals and etiquette. When the March Hare offers Alice wine, but then tells her there is none, Alice responds angrily, “Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it” (Carroll 84). Continuing her representation of a colonizer, Alice expects the March Hare and the Mad Hatter to abide by the typical high-society British teatime etiquette rules to which she is accustomed. Similar to the British Empire colonizing foreign lands, Alice imposes her rules without regard to any existing etiquette rules established by the Mad Hatter or the March Hare, and she shows no interest in learning if any such rules exist. She is determined to instill her cultural rules and extinguish any existing cultural etiquette or rules. When the Mad Hatter tells Alice that her hair needs to be cut, Alice snaps back at him, “’You should not make personal remarks,’ Alice said with some severity: ‘it’s very rude’” (Carroll 84). Again, Alice is immediately working to change the cultural behavior of Wonderland inhabitants, similar to a typical colonizing power. Further, when the Mad Hatter poses a riddle that has no answer to Alice, she “sighed wearily, ‘I think you might do something better with the time,’ she said, ‘than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers’” (Carroll 86). Not only is Alice annoyed that the Mad Hatter would engage in an activity with which she does not agree, but once again, Alice attempts to impose her cultural habits of how to live on the Mad Hatter. In this instance, she condescendingly dictates how he should not spend his time.

Colonized populations and colonizers often exhibit signs of mimicry as they each begin to adopt cultural habits of each other, and Alice’s behavior during the tea party is no exception (Parker 299). As the tea party wears on, Alice’s demanding, impatient, and forceful behavior softens, and she makes attempts to assimilate with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and even the mostly-dormant Dormouse. For instance, when the Dormouse tires of Alice constantly interrupting his story and suggests that she tell the story, Alice responds, “’No, please go on!’ Alice said very humbly. ‘I won’t interrupt you again’” (Carroll 90). Alice changes her tone from demanding to far more respectful, in an attempt to abide by the wishes of the Wonderland inhabitants. When the Mad Hatter wants everyone to change seats at the table, Alice “unwillingly” agrees to do so even though in her new position, she “was a good deal worse off than before” (Carroll 91). In agreeing to change seats, unwillingly as she may be and knowing her new position will put her in a far worse position, Alice is acquiescing to the cultural rules of the native Wonderland inhabitants and no longer consistently forcing her cultural habits on them. In fact, Alice’s habits change so much during the span of the tea party that by the end, she is conscious of her language and tone as she “did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began very cautiously” when she wanted to ask the Dormouse yet one more question during his story. At this point, Alice is mimicking the behavior of the March Hare and the Mad Hatter as it pertains to interrupting someone and following their cultural etiquette rules rather than her own.

Alice’s behavior throughout her adventures in Wonderland paints her as a colonizing force determined to change Wonderland to suit her cultural norms. Mirroring the actions of the British Empire during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Alice forcefully invades a foreign land with deliberateness, attempts to impose her cultural habits on the inhabitants, and eventually exhibits signs of mimicry. The Mad Tea Party plays a key role in Alice’s portrayal as colonizer, showcasing her behavior and progression through a few of the most important defining traits of a colonizer.

Works Cited

Carroll, Lewis, and Mark Burstein. The Annotated Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass). Edited by Martin Gardner, 150th ed., The Martin Gardner Literary Partnership, GP, 2015.

Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2015.