NAME : ALLIAH BANOOBHAJ
STUDENT NO. : 68428014
MODULE :
APPLIED ENGLISH LITERATURE FOR
INTERMEDIATE PHASE – HL
(ENG2614)
ASSIGNMENT NO. : 03
UNIQUE NO. :
LECTURER: DR. D STEYN
DUE DATE: 5 SEPTEMBER 2026
, QUESTION ONE
Is There a Moral in Wonderland? Rethinking the “Lesson” in Alice’s
Adventures
The function of morals in children’s literature has long been a subject of debate.
Martin Gardner remarks that, by omitting explicit morals, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland (1865) “opened up a new genre of fiction for children.” In
the passage under scrutiny, Alice’s encounter with the mysterious “Drink Me” bottle
seems at first to present an opportunity for moral instruction. However, closer
examination reveals a more ambiguous approach: Carroll both acknowledges and
subverts the didactic tradition. This essay argues that, rather than dispensing with
moral lessons altogether, the passage playfully complicates our expectations of what
such lessons are—and what children’s literature can be.
Fairy tales and folktales have traditionally served as vehicles for socialisation,
employing frightening consequences and clear morals to instruct children in proper
behaviour. Gardner notes that these were often “filled with episodes of horror and
usually containing a pious moral.” In the extract, Alice recalls “nice little stories about
children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant
things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had
taught them.” Here, the narrative directly references the cautionary tone of older
tales, cataloguing the sort of didactic warnings that are meant to keep children safe.
By citing these, Carroll signals his awareness of the genre’s traditional role in
education.
Yet Carroll immediately unsettles the norm by making Alice both curious and careful.
Before drinking from the bottle, Alice sensibly checks if it is labelled "poison,"
motivated by the lessons drilled into her through "nice little stories." Her logic is, “if
you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison,’ it is almost certain to disagree with
you, sooner or later.” This moment could be read as upholding a moral (“don’t be
reckless”), but Carroll ironically distances himself from the usual piety. Alice’s
reasoning is practical, not virtuous; she is not refraining from drinking out of abstract
goodness or obedience but from a combination of habit and the desire for self-
preservation. Moreover, when Alice finds no sign of danger, she proceeds anyway,
STUDENT NO. : 68428014
MODULE :
APPLIED ENGLISH LITERATURE FOR
INTERMEDIATE PHASE – HL
(ENG2614)
ASSIGNMENT NO. : 03
UNIQUE NO. :
LECTURER: DR. D STEYN
DUE DATE: 5 SEPTEMBER 2026
, QUESTION ONE
Is There a Moral in Wonderland? Rethinking the “Lesson” in Alice’s
Adventures
The function of morals in children’s literature has long been a subject of debate.
Martin Gardner remarks that, by omitting explicit morals, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland (1865) “opened up a new genre of fiction for children.” In
the passage under scrutiny, Alice’s encounter with the mysterious “Drink Me” bottle
seems at first to present an opportunity for moral instruction. However, closer
examination reveals a more ambiguous approach: Carroll both acknowledges and
subverts the didactic tradition. This essay argues that, rather than dispensing with
moral lessons altogether, the passage playfully complicates our expectations of what
such lessons are—and what children’s literature can be.
Fairy tales and folktales have traditionally served as vehicles for socialisation,
employing frightening consequences and clear morals to instruct children in proper
behaviour. Gardner notes that these were often “filled with episodes of horror and
usually containing a pious moral.” In the extract, Alice recalls “nice little stories about
children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant
things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had
taught them.” Here, the narrative directly references the cautionary tone of older
tales, cataloguing the sort of didactic warnings that are meant to keep children safe.
By citing these, Carroll signals his awareness of the genre’s traditional role in
education.
Yet Carroll immediately unsettles the norm by making Alice both curious and careful.
Before drinking from the bottle, Alice sensibly checks if it is labelled "poison,"
motivated by the lessons drilled into her through "nice little stories." Her logic is, “if
you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison,’ it is almost certain to disagree with
you, sooner or later.” This moment could be read as upholding a moral (“don’t be
reckless”), but Carroll ironically distances himself from the usual piety. Alice’s
reasoning is practical, not virtuous; she is not refraining from drinking out of abstract
goodness or obedience but from a combination of habit and the desire for self-
preservation. Moreover, when Alice finds no sign of danger, she proceeds anyway,
