ETIQUETTE (in Alice in Wonderland)

par · 7 janvier 2022

Answers

1) Read the website article: identify the main points about 

The Victorian Society

  • The importance of good manners and propriety = Alice can’t bear when the creatures of Wonderland are badly-mannered = “Alice constantly attempts to correct their crude behavior.” For example, the table manners while having tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.
  • Coming from a middle-class or upper-class family, good manners are at the centre of education. Alice who doesn’t question her own education, is shocked by the rudeness of the absurd creatures in Wonderland, therefore she tries to teach them good manners.

Lewis Carroll’s ideas about education

  • he makes a mockery of morality/ Social conventions of the Victorian society that he considers absurd.
  •  he denounces the “darker side” of convention and etiquette, through the character of the mean hypocritical and authoritarian Red Queen (who behaves like a wild animal). He criticizes the elite and authority figures of his time and “reduces them to automatons.”

2) Read the extract from Alice in Wonderland, and explain why it illustrates the points mentioned in the website article

  • TEA PARTIES AND TEA TIMES were largely regarded by the ladies and gentlemen of Victorian society as a tradition central to the social culture of the era.
  • We can see that Alice is particularly bothered by the conduct of the March Hare and the Hatter at the tea party. We can see that the little girl expects the March Hare and Mad Hatter to behave according to her own “knowledge that she holds to be true” (l.2) = good manners and propriety.
  • The tea party brings a lot of confusion to Alice who “constantly attempts to correct their crude behaviour.” = “Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,” (l.5); “You should learn not to make personal remarks,” Alice said with some severity: “it’s very rude.” (l.10).
  • uncivil = impolite = rude = badly-behaved
    • the March Hare who offers wine and then tea but there is any!
    • the Mad Hatter who says to Alice that she needs a new haircut (“Your hair wants cutting,” said the Hatter, l .8) and Alice is offended by this “personal remark”
    • Alice who sits at the table without being invited.

👩🏼‍🏫 To conclude, Alice wants to impose “good manners” on this wild tea party, and constantly takes it upon herself to point out the flaws in the behaviours of the creatures she meets and she becomes offended when the March Hare calls her uncivil.

3. Observe the book covers and then, develop the link between them and the texts.

  • “The Manners of Polite Society”
  • “The Ladies’ book of etiquette and manual politeness”
  • “Correct social usage” = a man bends over to do the hand kiss > a greeting gesture that indicates courtesy, politeness, respect, admiration or even devotion by one person toward another, which is the custom for a gentleman.

👩🏼‍🏫 In the Victorian era, good manners were an essential aspect of every young lady’s path to adulthood.
These books are sort of small manuals or guides to behave well in society (in the 19th century). They deal with topics such as formal and informal invitations, acceptances and regrets, courtship, weddings, anniversaries, table etiquette, dress, conversation, giving dinners and parties, balls, breakfast, luncheons, teas, lawn parties, etc. These practices were essential in order to be part of the good society and be accepted by it.

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