Alice in Wonderland Turns 150!
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has officially turned 150 years old! For generations, this beloved classic has captured the hearts of readers around the world. Characters like the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter have long become unforgettable icons in our shared imagination.
As the book celebrates its 150th anniversary, exhibitions, art shows, and commemorative events are being held across the globe. From exclusive merchandise releases to literary retrospectives, people everywhere are finding new ways to honor the magic of Wonderland.
But did you know? There are still many fascinating little secrets hidden within the pages of Alice in Wonderland—details that even many lifelong fans have never discovered. The whimsical world Lewis Carroll created continues to surprise and delight us, even a century and a half later.
The Book That Wasn't Written
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was not a book deliberately written and planned from the start. It was never the product of a single author sitting down to craft a story for publication. Its true beginning dates back to 1862, when three young girls were out rowing on a lazy afternoon.
Out of boredom, they began chatting and playfully weaving stories to pass the time. From those whimsical conversations emerged the earliest fragments of a tale that would, much later, evolve into one of the world's most beloved literary classics. Through countless additions, revisions, and retellings by the storyteller—Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll—the story gradually took shape.
After several years of refinement, the book was finally published in 1865, transforming a simple riverside amusement into a timeless masterpiece that continues to fascinate readers today.
Not a Fairy Tale: The Origins of Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland was not originally written as a fairy tale. When the book first appeared, it was classified under absurdist literature rather than children's fantasy.
The story's anthropomorphic animals, exaggerated interactions, and wildly imaginative logic made it stand out from mainstream works of its time. Its style broke conventional boundaries, weaving nonsense into philosophical reflection and playful fantasy.
However, as the book gained immense popularity, readers and critics began to recognize the unique literary value of this whimsical approach. What once seemed strange and nonsensical grew into a celebrated genre of its own, inspiring generations of writers and artists to explore the beauty of the absurd.
The White Rabbit's Hurry: A Symbol of Changing Time
When Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865, the way humans measured and experienced time was undergoing a major transformation. Clocks, once stationary objects mounted on walls or towers, were giving way to portable watches that people could carry wherever they went. Pocket watches, in particular, were becoming increasingly common, bringing time closer to the individual and, in a sense, making people chase after it.
In this context, the White Rabbit's anxious glances at his watch and his constant rushing take on a deeper meaning. His obsession with being late vividly captures the social shift of the age—a new relationship between humans and time itself. The rabbit's nervous haste reflects not only his own anxiety but also a society adjusting to the relentless, ticking rhythm that began to govern modern life.
The Idea of Animal Equality in Literature
Embedded within the concept of animal equality is a deep awareness of how perspectives differ between species. In this book, one memorable scene depicts Alice speaking to a mouse, reminiscing fondly about her family cat. This moment encapsulates a clash of viewpoints — what is "your pet" from one perspective may be seen as "my enemy" from another.
Similar interspecies dialogues appear throughout the story, each revealing subtle differences in perception and emotion. These encounters not only challenge readers to reconsider familiar relationships between humans and animals, but also invite reflection on empathy, identity, and coexistence across natural boundaries.
Queen Victoria's Almost Deadly Book Mishap
Queen Victoria once had an amusing yet nearly disastrous encounter with literature. After finishing a particular book, she was utterly delighted and eager to read more works by the same author. In her enthusiasm, she issued an order for her ministers to collect every book that the writer had ever published.
However, when the gathered volumes arrived, the Queen was shocked to find that they were all dry academic textbooks and scholarly journals — the author, as it turned out, was a professor at Oxford University. Disappointed and irritated, Victoria's temper flared so much that she nearly went full "Queen of Hearts" and ordered the unlucky minister's head off!
Thankfully, the situation ended in laughter rather than execution, becoming one of the more humorous legends from the royal library.
Super Mario and Alice: A Curious Connection
It's often said that one of the most iconic features of the Super Mario video game — Mario growing larger after eating a mushroom — was actually inspired by a famous scene in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In Lewis Carroll's story, Alice eats a mushroom that causes her to shrink and grow in size, a fantastical idea that later found its way into the gaming world.
According to an interview with the game's creator published in Business Weekly in 2005, this connection wasn't a coincidence. He mentioned that the mushroom power-up and the size-changing mechanic drew direct inspiration from Alice's whimsical transformation.
Even the design of the princess in the original 8-bit version of the game — with her distinctive white apron — is said to have been modeled after Alice herself, blending fairy-tale charm with early video game visuals.
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome
In the medical field, there is a rare condition known as Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. This disorder is often associated with infection by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Patients experience visual distortions or hallucinations that make objects appear to rapidly shrink or enlarge — as if the world itself were shifting in scale.
Some scholars believe that one of the three oral storytellers who inspired Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland may have suffered from this condition. The vivid descriptions of changing sizes and dreamlike perceptions in the story could, therefore, have been inspired by such visual distortions.
Alice Has a Sequel: Through the Looking-Glass
Did you know that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland actually has a sequel? While Lewis Carroll's first novel is world-famous, many readers are unaware that the story continues in a second book titled Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.
This lesser-known sequel follows Alice as she steps through a mirror into a fantastical world where everything is reversed—chess pieces move on their own, animals speak, and logic bends in unexpected ways. The story continues Carroll's hallmark blend of whimsy, wit, and imagination, creating another timeless adventure full of clever wordplay and surreal charm.
If you enjoyed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it's well worth taking the journey into the looking-glass world to see where Alice's curiosity leads her next.
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