Alice in Wonderland is a children’s book by Lewis Carroll, published in 1865. It is about a girl named Alice who follows a white rabbit down a hole and enters a strange world full of talking animals and magical creatures. She has many adventures and meets many characters, such as the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, and the Caterpillar. She also changes her size many times by eating or drinking different things. The book is full of nonsense and humour, and is one of the most popular and influential works of English literature.
The story of Alice in Wonderland is divided into 12 chapters:
• Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole. Alice sees a white rabbit with a pocket watch and follows him down a hole. She falls for a long time and lands in a hall with many doors. She finds a small key and a bottle that says “Drink me”. She drinks from the bottle and shrinks to fit through a small door. She sees a beautiful garden beyond the door, but she cannot reach the key. She finds a cake that says “Eat me” and eats it. She grows very large and cries a pool of tears.
• Chapter 2: The Pool of Tears. Alice sees the white rabbit again and tries to ask him for help, but he runs away. Alice shrinks again and falls into the pool of tears. She meets a mouse and other animals who have fallen into the pool. They swim to the shore and try to dry themselves by listening to a dry story from the mouse. Alice scares them away by talking about her cat Dinah.
• Chapter 3: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale. Alice joins a race with the mouse and other animals to get dry. The race has no rules or winner, and everyone gets a prize. Alice gives them comfits from her pocket, and the mouse gives them a long and boring tale. Alice offends the mouse again by talking about her dog.
• Chapter 4: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill. Alice sees the white rabbit again and he mistakes her for his maid Mary Ann. He orders her to fetch his gloves and fan from his house. Alice goes to his house and finds the gloves and fan, but she also finds another bottle that says “Drink me”. She drinks from it and grows very large again. She gets stuck in the house and the rabbit and other animals try to get her out. Alice finds a cake that says “Eat me” and eats it. She shrinks again and escapes from the house. She meets a puppy and plays with it, but then runs away from it.
• Chapter 5: Advice from a Caterpillar. Alice sees a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. The caterpillar asks her who she is and they have a conversation about identity and size. The caterpillar tells her that one side of the mushroom will make her grow and the other side will make her shrink. He then crawls away. Alice breaks off pieces of the mushroom and tries them. She changes her size several times and meets a pigeon who thinks she is a serpent.
• Chapter 6: Pig and Pepper. Alice sees a house with a fish-footman and a frog-footman. They deliver invitations from the Queen to a Duchess for a croquet game. Alice enters the house and finds the Duchess, a baby, a cook, and a cat. The cook is throwing dishes and pepper around, and the cat is grinning. The Duchess gives Alice the baby and then leaves for the croquet game. Alice takes the baby outside and discovers that it is a pig. She lets it go and sees the cat again. The cat tells her about the March Hare and the Mad Hatter, who are having a tea party. Alice decides to go there.
• Chapter 7: A Mad Tea-Party. Alice arrives at the tea party and sees the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse. They are sitting at a large table with many empty seats, but they tell Alice that there is no room for her. Alice sits down anyway and joins their conversation, which is full of riddles and nonsense. They also tell her that it is always six o’clock and that they have quarreled with Time. Alice gets tired of their rudeness and leaves.
• Chapter 8: The Queen’s Croquet-Ground. Alice sees a large rose tree with white roses painted red. She meets the gardeners who are painting the roses, and they tell her that they made a mistake and that the Queen will cut off their heads. The Queen arrives with a large procession of cards. She is a violent and temperamental woman who orders executions for trivial reasons. She invites Alice to play croquet with her, and Alice accepts. The croquet game is very chaotic and unfair, as the balls are live hedgehogs, the mallets are live flamingos, and the hoops are soldiers. The Queen argues with everyone and accuses them of cheating. She also meets the Duchess again, who is more friendly and less violent than before. She tells Alice some moral lessons and some nonsense.
• Chapter 9: The Mock Turtle’s Story. Alice leaves the croquet game and meets the Gryphon, a creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. He takes her to meet the Mock Turtle, a creature with the head and feet of a turtle and the body of a calf. He tells her his story of how he used to be a real turtle and how he went to school under the sea. He also teaches her some nonsense songs and dances.
• Chapter 10: The Lobster Quadrille. The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon invite Alice to join them in a dance called the Lobster Quadrille, which involves throwing lobsters into the sea and swimming after them. Alice says that she does not know how to dance, and they offer to show her. They also ask her to recite some poems, but she mixes them up with other poems. They then hear a cry from the Queen and run away, leaving Alice alone.
• Chapter 11: Who Stole the Tarts? Alice sees a large crowd of animals and cards going to a court. She joins them and finds that the King and the Queen are the judges, and the Knave of Hearts is the prisoner. He is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. The King reads the evidence, which is a nonsense poem written by the White Rabbit. The Queen calls for the verdict, but the King says that they need to call the witnesses first. He calls Alice as the first witness.
• Chapter 12: Alice’s Evidence. Alice goes to the witness stand and realizes that she has grown very large again. She accidentally knocks over the jury box and the animals inside. The King asks her to give her evidence, but she says that she knows nothing about the tarts. The King and the Queen ask her some irrelevant questions and threaten to execute her. Alice argues with them and refuses to obey them. She then notices that the cards are only a pack of cards, and she says so. The cards fly up in the air and attack her. Alice wakes up and finds that she has been dreaming. She tells her sister about her dream, and then runs off to have tea. Her sister stays behind and imagines what Alice saw in Wonderland.
