Study Task 4

Semiotic Analysis

Alice in Wonderland, John Tenniel

This is a picture of a small girl turning away from playing cards flying through the air. From the way that the girl is dressed and her hair style, even in black and white, we can understand that she is the character Alice, from the Alice in Wonderland stories. Her dress, pinafore, white tights and black shoes are all easily recognisable in society today. Perhaps this is not only because of the original story books, but because of the many film adaptations, such as Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951). The blonde hair and blue dress suggest the story of the young girl who falls down a rabbit hole into a place known as Wonderland. In this place she meets a variety of strange characters who often don't take kindly to her appearance, experiences her body growing and shrinking in ways that make her uncomfortable and confused. These visual symbols might refer to the changes young people go through as they grow up - their body physically changing into ways they might not like or understand at first and the frustration of finding acceptance and figuring out the world around us. The facial expression and body language of the young girl clearly symbolises her discomfort of the situation because we recognise a frown is associated with certain feelings. 

The clothing that Alice is wearing in the picture refers to the time when it was originally drawn. The long dress and pinafore would look out of place on a child in 2013, whereas it was the usual attire for a young girl to wear in 1865, when it was first published. In 1865, young children, or anyone for that matter, would not be seen wearing jeans as they are today. This is due to the fact that the technology to make jeans had not been invented then. Girls and women especially would not usually be seen wearing trousers because society still viewed them differently to men. Between 1865 and 2013 the political views on women have changed vastly. For example, in the 1800's women would have commonly stayed at home to look after children and clean up after the men, who worked to earn the household income. Since around the 1940s, women made a breakthrough with equality. Nowadays women can vote, work and do whatever a man can do in the eyes of the law. With this in mind, the very concept of Alice in Wonderland being based around a young girl, may have seemed a little radical when it was first published. Girls were regarded as quiet, unquestioning beings that always did what they were told and so the very idea of this story being about a young girl going on an adventure and finding her voice in Wonderland may have seemed quite controversial at the time.