Student’s Name
Applying feminist theory to film “Alice in Wonderland”
Introduction
Feminism is a term used to describe certain movements like cultural, political or economic
movements to obtain equal legal rights and protection for women. The feminist theory is a
theoretical extension of feminism and understanding the nature of gender imbalance. The theory
tries to examine the social roles, interests, chores of men and women in various fields. The main
focus of the feminism theory is comprehending gender inequality and its nature. There are various
themes that this theme explores, and they include; oppression, discrimination, sexual
objectification, and stereotyping. The film Alice in Wonderland is a good example of a film that
can be used to examine feminism. Therefore, the main discussion in this essay will be on how the
feminism theory has been applied in the film Alice in Wonderland.
Summary of the film
Alice in wonderland is a 2010 American animated film. The film is a story of a young girl of
nineteen years called Alice who is the main character in the film. Alice unfortunately loses her
father at the age of nineteen years. She although decides to attend a garden party which was at
Lord Ascot’s estate. The son of Lord Ascot confronts her with a marriage proposal. She returns to
a magical world where she gets together with her old friends and ends up learning about her true
destiny. In the end she learns that she was destined to end the reign of the Red Queen which was
full of terror. Alice is characterized as a humble, gentle and loving young girl. She is also
considered as trustful but curious girl too. She is portrayed as a clever, skeptical and well-mannered
throughout the film.
Feminism in Alice in Wonderland
Alice is introduced in the film as an innocent, pure and simple child. She is seen as a child that
enjoys simple things in life. Alice is a curious young girl and this is seen in the beginning of the
film when she gets bored sitting next to her sister and decides to peep into the book that she was
reading. Her curiosity although leads her to problems in the beginning whereby she falls into a
rabbit hole which leads her to the Wonderland world. From the film Alice is just not seen as an
ordinary young lady who is similar to other women from other fairy tales.
Women were required to behave in a certain manner during the Victorian Era. In the film Alice in
Wonderland, Alice is seen to go against the role of young women during the Victorian Era by
saving herself and Wonderland. She therefore tends to change the feminism theory because she
goes against her social role as a damsel or a young unmarried woman in distress. An unmarried
young woman in distress is usually used in literature to represent a young decent lady or woman
waiting to be saved by someone and in most cases a man. This is although not the case for Alice
as she is not in need of a hero because she is seen to be a hero. She saves herself and frees everyone
in Wonderland.
Rebellious character of Alice
Alice continues to challenge the feminist theory one by portraying as a hero. Second, regardless
of what the society expects women to do, Alice goes against that and does whatever she feels like
doing. She refuses to wear corsets and stockings during her engagement party and when she was
questioned by her mother about her outfit, she refuses to be given orders by the society on what
she supposed to be or not be. She therefore tries to create her own future rather than wait for
someone to create it for her by choosing her own destiny and path. Alice is seen to grow to have a
problem solving character and goes ahead to go against normal stereotype portrayed in various
fairy tales who are mostly seen to be saved by a prince and in the end live happily. This character
in her is portrayed when she confronts the queen and tells her that she is she is not logic. She
therefore does not wait for a man to come and save her from her problems but rather wants to be
her own hero and solve her problems in her own way.
Passion to seek knowledge
Alice portrays the character of seeking knowledge. The character is portrayed in the beginning of
the film where Alice is seen to love to learn new things and everything. She loves exploring new
things. She is also a curious young lady who want to know almost everything. This is seen when
she became curious to want to know what her sister was reading. She is seen to be attracted to
things that she has no knowledge about or has little understanding of. She tends to spend most of
her time seeking for new knowledge as a way of exploring. In the first parts of the film is where
this is portrayed. Alice is seen to be exhausted sitting next to her sister yet doing nothing. From
the above seen the feminine instinct of lazing around and doing nothing is reviled. She curious
nature is what leads her to seek and explore new environments around her. The image of feminism
curiosity is well revealed though Alice. She does not get satisfied with what she saw in her sister’s
book because it does not contain any pictures.
Feminine independence as search for freedom
Alice reveals the character of young female ladies who are seeking for freedom and independence.
In the beginning of the film we see how she easily gets bored and says that she will go and find
ways to entertain herself. Alice loves exploring hidden parts of the world and dislikes sitting
around doing nothing. She hates being confided in one place and being restricted and wants to be
free. Her feminine spirit of independence is greatly portrayed in her journeys in and out of trouble
and how she dealt with those problems.
Alice rejects the stereotypical traits posed by the society and frees herself from it. she does not
confide herself in the roles and responsibilities that the society requires her to do. she even rejects
her sister’s world. When she goes through her journey in wonderland, she questions herself on the
role of a mother and fortunately she gets to stand before powerful women within her society. One
of these powerful women were the queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, Cheshire cat and the Caterpillar.
Going against the normal
The film Alice and Wonderland is set in the period of the Victorian age. The Victorian age was a
period when the roles of women and men were clearly set and were based on natural characteristics
of both male and females. Women were to handle domestic household chores such as taking care
of the children, their husbands, the house and cooking. These were considered as light chores
which they could handle as they were considered to be weaker than men. men on the other hand
were to work outside home and earn a living and provide for their families. In the film Alice and
Wonderland, this is the opposite when it comes to Alice. Despite her being a young girl, she is
able to speak out her mind and fight her own battles without the assistance of any man and she is
also out going. Alice does the opposite of what the society expects her to do.
Heroism
In the film Alice is seen as a hero in various ways. she fights her own battles to the extent she
confronts the queen when she felt oppressed by her actions. She does not wait for man to come
and help her solve her problems as in the case of other fairy tales where men are put in picture to
help a woman and in the end marry each other and live happily ever after. From the character of
Alice, it is evident that women can achieve victory without being married and without any
assistance from a man. The end of the film is where this is seen when Alice travels on an adventure
by herself without the company of a man besides her.
Alice as a unique character
Alice is portrayed as unique female character when compared to other female characters in
Carroll’s stories. Carroll portrays Alice as a prime female advocate. Carroll begins the story by
showing how Alice rejects the female reality that her sister tries to instill in her and terms those
roles as traditional roles for females. Rather than sitting at home and doing nothing or read a book
like her sister, she decides to make daisy chains although she contemplates and wonders whether
going through the trouble of collecting daisies will be worth it. In the end after being in
Wonderland, she realizes that she has power within her and hence she can do anything by herself
without the help of anybody or any man.
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