The Victorian Education through the Eyes of Charles Kingsley and Lewis Carroll in The Water Babies and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Abstract

Ever since the appearance of The Water Babies (1963) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) children’s fantasy books started to be praised for their ability to distance themselves from reality. England’s youngest generation was soon captivated by entertaining storylines in which the most bizarre happenings clashed with the strictness of the Victorian society they were brought up in. However, even if at first they were regarded as such, magic lands were often not able to be in complete isolation from the real world. Charles Kingsley and Lewis Carroll, the writers of the aforementioned books, knew that, for the most part, their stories would be transmitted from parents to offspring, reaching both children and adults alike. Taking advantage of those circumstances, fantasy served two major functions: while it proposed entertainment to the younger audience it could also hide a lesson for elder readers. On this basis, the aim of this dissertation is to analyze how both authors by denouncing the educational practices that were being conducted around the country found in their works the key to raising awareness on the necessity of protecting future generations. In order to grasp the meaning behind their words, it will first be necessary to understand their socio-historical context regarding education which would be closely linked to the reasons that may have prompted the creation of children’s fantasy literature. By doing so, after analysing their works, I will illustrate how, even if they shared different views, the origin of their stories was conditioned by the same concern.