psychiatry during his lifetime, and his ‘fascination with mental derangement’ (13) was sculpted by the work of his uncle and close friend, Skefrington Lutwidge – an inspector of asylums across Victorian England. Lutwidge himself was very involved in psychology, (being the secretary of the Lunacy Commission for a near ten years), as well as a member of the Board of Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy. He was regarded as “One of England’s experts on problems associated with insanity” (14), yet his accidental murder in 1873 - by an asylum inmate - arguably dramatically changed Carroll’s perceptions of insanity. A year later, Carroll began writing ‘The Hunting of the Snark’, a poem whose meaning has eluded Carroll enthusiasts ever since; the poem describes a Lunacy commission team and is thought to reflect Carroll’s personal understanding of, and reaction to, the killing of his uncle by a person with a serious mental illness.The prominence of psychotic thinking in Wonderland can be seen as a reflection of Carroll’s relationship with his uncle; for example, it has been hypothesised that Carroll based the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party on events he witnessed whilst visiting the asylum with his uncle. Undoubtedly, each character at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party displays signs of psychological abnormalities.The Mad Hatter is a multidimensional character who shows both Bipolar tendencies and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the March Hare’s gibberish language and incoherent state of mind may be seen as playful in the eyes of children – but at a deeper analysis he shows symptoms of Tourette’s Disorder, and finally the Dormouse is constantly tired and on the verge of falling asleep, noting ‘I sleep when I breathe’ (2) and ‘I breathe when I sleep’ (2) – a sleep disorder now diagnosed as Sleep Apnea. Whether or not Carroll knew of these psychiatric conditions, the manic episodes and difficulty with impulse-control shown by all the guests at the Tea Party would have been recognised as madness in the Victorian era, and the ‘Mad Tea Party’ is first and foremost a gathering of lunatics. On a deeper level, the characters of Wonderland reflect the people Carroll may have encountered on his visits to the mental asylum, and a more violent and dangerous portrayal of the mentally ill emerges through his characterisation of The Queen of Hearts – possibly a result of his uncle’s murder by a “violently mad” person.The Queen of Hearts is an inherently murderous ruler; her catchphrase “Off with their heads!” (2) is used primarily as a humorous device, but signifies the murder of innocent people without second thought – and works as a larger metaphor for the destruction and danger that the mentally ill could inflict on society. It is important to note Carroll’s descriptions of the Queen throughout the book. She is nearly always ‘roaring’ (2), ‘screaming’ (2),‘stamping’ (2) or depicted as a
‘wild beast’ (2), reducing her to a character driven more by animalistic and primitive force than rational thought.
“Off with their heads!”
Conclusion David Robson has suggested that Carroll’s masterpiece combines fantasy and imagination with a clever depiction of madness that is ‘still inspiring to neuroscientists to this day’ (15). Long before scientists had begun to map the brain, Carroll had already started ‘charting its contours’ (15) with his playful stories and original characters. Nearly a century and a half has passed since Alice first made the famous journey down the rabbit hole, and Carroll’s modest tale has evolved into the fount of wisdom we recognise today; countless films, plays, paintings and even ballet performances have been inspired by Wonderland’s subverted reality and boundless imagination.Through this imagination, a clear criticism of Victorian asylum culture emerges, as well as a political message on the repression and constraint of a nation. I would argue the contribution of social factors to the Alice books is of the utmost importance to understanding the portrayal of psychiatric conditions within Wonderland. Although the madness presented in Wonderland works primarily as a humorous device to amuse the Victorian reader, the parallels between Carroll’s mad world and the strictly repressed social world of Victorian society resonates as more of a bitter criticism to the contemporary reader. Similarly, while it is clear the historical basis of Victorian psychiatry is woven into the Alice stories, I would argue the significance of Freudian psychology is less relevant to analysing Wonderland.The scope of Carroll’s understanding of mental illnesses would have been limited, reducing his portrayal of psychiatric conditions in each of his characters to mere coincidence, rather than deliberate intention. Finally, the personal attachment Carroll clearly made between his own life and Wonderland reflects the importance of biographical factors on influencing the author. Some would argue that only by picking apart the life experiences and personality of the author can we begin to understand the importance of their work, yet in my opinion the biographical elements in Wonderland speak less of mental illness depicted in the characters, and more of a yearning in Carroll to understand and condone the murder of his uncle by a sufferer of psychiatric illness.
21
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software