談《愛麗絲漫游奇境記》中對(duì)權(quán)威的批判

[摘要]在《愛麗絲漫游奇境記》這本小說中，作者路易斯·卡羅爾一直對(duì)于奇境中的權(quán)威人士加以諷刺批判，而褒揚(yáng)小說的主角小女孩愛麗絲。本文將會(huì)分析所批判的權(quán)威在文中的具體表現(xiàn)。然后聯(lián)系作者生活的年代和環(huán)境，找出諷刺對(duì)象的具體所指。本文的最后一部分，將聯(lián)系尼采的精神之三變理論以及道家“復(fù)歸于嬰兒”的思想，闡明作品的主題，即童真是自由和希望之源，最終必將戰(zhàn)勝權(quán)威。

[關(guān)鍵詞]權(quán)威；童真；批判

【Abstract】Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland， written by Lewis Carroll， had a satiric tone to describe the figures of authority， in contrast to the description of the protagonist， Alice. This paper analyses different types of the figures of authority， and then associates them with the author’s social background to find the originals. The last part of this paper clarifies the novel’s theme that innocence child could overthrow authority and create freedom and hope with the principle of three metamorphoses of the spirit and Taoism.

【Key Words】Authority； Innocence； Criticism

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland， written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson， better known by his pen name， Lewis Carroll， was very popular among children as well as adults globally.

However， a number of people have a deep impression that it is a fairy tale only for children to make their imagination to take flight， so as I did when I first read it in Chinese simplified version. Actually， the original one with logical narrations and genius conversations is a fantastic work worth studying in the terms of logics， linguistics and so on. That is not astonishing because its author， Dodgson， had played roles in multiple fields， such as literature， mathematics， and logistics. He also became a photographer of children at an elderly age. Therefore， it is so simplified and even crude to define the main idea of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as to amuse children.

The irony tone could be found among the words and between the lines， together with a lot of comparisons showing authors attitudes. All of the characters in wonderland have their own social identities， as King， Queen， then Duchess， minister， and ordinary others， but most of their have something in common that they have a feeling of superiority faced with Alice， a little girl and having a more important identity， a foreigner. Alice， however， has ignored their superiority and is curious about problems they try to avoid to face and the unreasonable rules they made to maintain their social status. From the perspective of Alice， a pure but courageous little girl， various characters with apparent features in the book have responded to Alice in weird ways， but when thought over， these behaviors are also very familiar in reality. With comparisons between Alice and characters in wonderland， the authors expressed a positive attitude towards purity and simplicity， while uncovered the authority’s ugliness and weakness. The following will be divided into several parts to explain about this idea in details.

1.The Analysis of Ironical Plots

It is exalted to summarize laws in this book like finding answers to riddles set by the author. Some have dug out the settings of characters numbers and the outcomes of their behaviors are references and metaphors in the field of geometry， algebra and many other mathematical studies. Apart from the specific fields， the logic of language and coherence of story are notable. In the story， the order of characters’ appearances is accordant with their social status， from low to high. The level of their haughtiness also rise with story proceeding.

1.1Ordinaries of Authority——the Tyranny of the Majority

The Mouse in Chapter Two and the Dodo in the Capture Three are considered as the representatives of haughty ordinaries in wonderland. The French Mouse， meeting with Alice after her shrinking down and swimming through her own tears， considered himself as the leader of the little animals and gave a very dry lecture on William the Conquer. He had power to control others for he seemed to come up with solution to solve their difficulties： how to dry themselves. But the power was deprived by Dodo because the Mouse’s proposal did not work. In other words， animals selected Dodo as their lead for his more feasible suggestion， which is somewhat like Democracy. It may hold water that the Caucus-Race can help water to evaporate， but Dodo was not a good organizer and judge. The race consisting of everyone running in a circle had no clear winner， so he ordered Alice to provide prizes which was obviously unfair. What was more ridiculous was that Dodo thought Alice her own should also have a prize， and presented a thimble which belonged to Alice to herself. This is a typical case of Tyranny of the Majority， known as the cause of the Death of Socrates. In democracy system， the decision that the most agree with would not be right. Running in circle with no winner indicates the disorder and nonsense of democratic society. Then， when all animals only think about their own interest， it seems to be natural for them to deem that they deserve their prize because it is “earned” by their hard working （running in the race）， but as for Alice， these series of accidents are very absurd and unfair. Alice finally became the victim of other animal’s tyranny. This plot shows ordinary people without power and property can also form a collective and found their authority to force others’ wills， and since everyone is not adequate， the shortcomings of democracy and majority rules will be exposed.

1.2Information of Authority——Paradox

The Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar is introduced in Chapter Four. Alice did not like the Caterpillar when they first met， because he did not immediately talk to her and when he did. It was usually in short， rather rude sentences， or difficult questions. He pretended to be profound making Alice puzzled. It was unsure that he can have fun through doing it， because he just had no expression and seemed to feel nothing of others’ reaction to him. But when Alice believed three inches to be a wretched height， he suddenly said angrily rearing himself upright， \"It is a very good height indeed！\" He was exactly three inches high. Then， when Alice asked him the way to return her size， the Caterpillar became too impatient to answer her. The Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar represents the one who show off his information to have a feeling of superiority. His authority comes from the more information than others， so he never wants to help others with his information. In another term， even though showing that he knows a lot， he does not know the integral or exact information. But in order to maintain his state， he does not acknowledge his shortcomings and give obscure and self-contradictory information to puzzle others.

1.3Nobel of Authority——EgoismFoul-tempered Monarch

The Duchess was a figure showed up in Capture Six. She was selfish and paid no attention to her baby. When Alice asked her why her cat can smile， she didn’t answer Alice clearly and when asked twice， she only said， “You don't know much， and that's a fact.” Her words sound reasonable， but actually mean nothing. When first meeting Alice， she said， “If everybody minded their own business， the world would go round a deal faster than it does.” But when Alice helped her， she regarded love as the motivation of the world. She was so arrogant to Alice but lost her haughtiness when she gets along with the Queen， who is more powerful than her. And her relentlessness led to her baby’s alienation of becoming a pig. The Duchess， who believed in Egoism and only minded her own business， finally lost everything except herself.

The Queen of Hearts was a famous character from this book appearing in Capture Eight. She was a foul-tempered monarch and was quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offense. Her most famous line， which she repeats often， was “Off with their heads”. When Alice met her the first time， she wondered，” If people had all to lie down upon their faces， so that they couldn't see it？” Similar to The Emperor's New Clothes， the authority whitewashed themselves with labor and money， but their weaknesses are always easily seen through by pure eyes. When retorted， they had nothing to explain but “Off with their heads”， which was obviously “nonsense”. The author himself pictured the Queen of Hearts as a sort of embodiment of ungovernable passion——a blind and aimless fury. All creatures in Wonderland fear the Queen. In the final chapters， the Queen sentences Alice again， and she offers a bizarre approach towards justice： sentence before verdict. When Alice totally could not bear the Queen’s behaviors and was having a tense argument with her， the dream came to the end in a sudden. It is so difficult to remove the prejudice and presumption of the Queen of Hearts. The monarch had no threat of losing her power for eating her own words or putting out an unwise proposal. In fact， she had done every improper thing the former levels did， but no one doubted her authority， except a foreigner， Alice.

2.Originals of these authorities

It is said that all characters in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have their allusions. Alice is Alice Liddell， a daughter of Carroll’s friend， while Carroll is caricatured as the Dodo， because Dodgson stuttered when he spoke， he sometimes pronounced his last name as Dodo-Dodgson. However， this work has more profound meanings.

2.1Authority in Mathematics

Since Carroll was a mathematician， it has been suggested that there are many references and mathematical concepts in this story. Therefore， the mockery may refer to authority in the field of mathematics. In middle of the 19th century， the subject of mathematics had developed a series of language to describe the conceptual relationship. Carroll deemed the new development was not logical and accurate， so he used stories in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as metaphors for the new concepts in math. For example， the Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar is a metaphor for， who had played an active and significant role in the study of mathematics in 19th century considered as a mathematician of authority. But Carroll was enraged by De Morgan’s thought of geometry that if the inherent logic is right， all the solutions are valid， so that a negative number will also have a square root. De Morgan’s thought is just like the smoke from hookah， illusory and puzzling， misleading Alice to make a detour. Many such irresponsible guesses of authority appeared in Carroll’s time. Within the academic discipline of mathematics， Carroll was entirely averse to groundless guesses without checking.

2.2Authority of Noblemen

A number of evidences in this book have indicated the royal events and figures in Britain. The Queen is believed to be a caricature of Queen Margaret of the House of Lancaster. In the eighth chapter， three cards were painting the roses on a rose tree red， because they had accidentally planted a white-rose tree that the Queen of Hearts hated. Red roses symbolized the English House of Lancaster， while white roses were the symbol for their rival House of York. This scene is an allusion to the Wars of the Roses. The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England lasting for more than 30 years， resulting in great suffering of ordinary people. The Queen may also be a reference to Queen Victoria， with elements of reality that Carroll felt correctly would make her at once instantly recognizable to parents reading the story to children， and also fantastical enough to make her unrecognizable to children. The reference was explicit in Jonathan Miller's 1966 television version where she and the King of Hearts were portrayed without any attempt at fantasy， or disguised as to their true natures or personality. Another possible inspiration is that the Duchess is Queen Victoria's mother， the Duchess of Kent， whose pre-coronation machinations and attempts to control her daughter led to her exclusion from her adult daughter's life and near exile. This would explain the antagonism between the two fictional characters as reflections of their models' lives at and around Court. All those images showed the haughty and arrogance of loyal class， and ruthlessness when striving for power. The satire which exposed noblemen’s meaningless behaviors also challenged the authority of aristocracy with the thought of equality ideology.

2.3Authority of Democratic Countries

In 19th century， with the widespread of democracy thought， many democratic republic countries have been established. Britain also established constitutional monarchy after Glorious Revolution. The Caucus-Race was the author’s allusion of his thinking about democracy. Running in circle implies returning back to origin， which is nonsense and inefficiency. Carroll considers democratic institution as such a meaningless and chaotic political system. Democracy would easily result in the Tyranny of the Majority， referring the invalid votes of ignorant ordinary people. In the name of equality and freedom， the majority persecute the minority in an unreasonable way. Here， the author questioned the validity of democracy.

3.Purpose of Author

Given to all the figures and their reference， it was not difficult to find there was an obvious comparison between protagonist and other characters. The point that why the author chose a little girl to be the central character did worth thinking about. A little girl， knowing an obscure concept of politics and economics， entered a world which she had never seen but always reminding her of her life in reality. The world， strange but familiar， full of authority and wiseacre， was exactly the adults’ world. It was clear that the author had a positive tone about Alice and criticized the authority which had economical， political and psychological superiority.

It could not be denied that Lewis Carroll loved children very much. He wrote about children and took photograph of children. There were also arguments about his sexuality and many assumed that Carroll was a pedophile. Cohen， in particular， claims Carroll's \"sexual energies sought unconventional outlets\"， and further writes， “We cannot know to what extent sexual urges lay behind Charles's preference for drawing and photographing children in the nude. He contended the preference was entirely aesthetic. But given his emotional attachment to children as well as his aesthetic appreciation of their forms， his assertion that his interest was strictly artistic is na?ve. He probably felt more than he dared acknowledge， even to himself.” It was hard to judge whether Carroll was a pedophile， but the formal part of Cohen was appropriable. His preference was entirely in aesthetics， and associated with his idealism. He preferred a world full of children’s innocence and simplicity， rather than adults’ artificial world， full of prejudice as well as political or economical issues. As a mathematician， Carroll explained his approval of children reasonably by describing Alice’s language and her reactions to others. And talking about authority in Wonderland， he borrowed Alice’s mouth to show his attitude， which was all “nonsense”.

What Lewis Carroll wanted to advocate was returning to one’s nature and recovering one’s original simplicity without the pollution of power and lust. Similar thoughts could be found domestic and overseas.

Friedrich Nietzsche talked about the three metamorphoses of the spirit in Thus Spake Zarathustra. The three metamorphoses of the spirit were camel， lion and child. The spirit first became a camel， and then camel became a lion， and at last the lion became a child. The first class was camel that was hard-working and submissive， governed by lion， like the Lizard and other small animals in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The second class was lion that represented the powerful authority and deprived others of their labor and freedom， like the Queen of Hearts. The highest class was innocent child， who was a new beginning and a holy Yea， just like Alice. Though camel meant selfless contribution， and lion meant braveness， they could not compare to child for one had lose the freedom and the other capture freedom from the former one. But the child meant love and hope， creating freedom and restarting the world. In ancient China， Lao Dan， the founder of Taoism， also emphasized the freedom， indicating that one who gain the greatest deeds was most close to child or infant. The deed of child called “Pun” closely means nature and honesty would create the universe. The implication that innocence of child was the greatest world， and would overthrow the authority in Friedrich Nietzsche’s and Lao Dan’s works is also embodied in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice was the creator of the dream and terminator， and she questioned the people of authority rendering them speechless and dropping their masks. Finally， she had a great quarrel with the Queen of Heart， the lion and the representative of highest authority and terminated the world by waking up. Falsification was easily beaten by pure.

At the end of this novel， Lewis Carroll described a peaceful image that grown woman as Alice became， she gathered her children and remembered her own child-life as well as the happy summer days. From her children’s bright eyes， the freedom and hope would be delivered continuously.

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