The Transition from Childhood to Adolescence in Contemporary Adaptations of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

This thesis will provide an analysis of the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the animated movie Alice in Wonderland (1951) by Walt Disney Productions and the movie Alice in Wonderland (2010) by Tim Burton. The analysis will center on Alice’s transition from childhood to adolescence, focusing on the depiction of Wonderland as the symbol for the process of growth and maturation. The thesis will firstly offer a reading of the book through the method of close reading, with focus on the depiction of Wonderland. It will then proceed to compare the two movie adaptations explaining how they engage with the theme of growing up. The main issues that shall be discussed are the ways in which the book and the adaptations tackle the concept of identity and Alice’s development over the course of her time spent in Wonderland