Through the Looking Glass as an Example of Popular Fiction

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Through the looking glass as an example of Popular Fiction

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Award of Degree of

                            Bachelors of Arts (Hons.) in English

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Submitted By:                                                             Supervised By:

Kajol Saxena                                                                     Mrs.Smita Mishra

A0706113137                                                              Assistant Professor                

Amity Institute of English Studies and Research

AMITY UNIVERSITY UTTAR PRADESH

India

Introduction

Popular Fiction is a plot driven fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. This research paper will make us aware of the characteristics of popular fiction and then investigate the characteristics of popular fiction in the novel Through the looking glass by Lewis Caroll with textual references.

Main Section

In Popular fiction, popular stands for the best sellers and is relative whereas fiction stands for long unrealistic narrative story which is different from prose and has got a flexible story line which can get extended from any point. As per critics, popular fiction is not the part of serious fiction which is criticized a lot. According to the critics, popular fiction is not worthy to gym criticize as it is not that deep. It is simple and easy to understand.

It may sound like deceptive phrase which comes up with a content that has a common place value. Ur is frequently thought of everyone reads, usually imagined all a long list of best sellers how aggregate number dramatic and impressive to reach across to social or cultural divisions with remarkable commercial success. Late 19th century as the era, when popular fiction emerged but we recognize that the worldly acceptance is in a state of continuous evaluation.

It is primarily based on a limited number of forms of narrative pressure such as suspense, horror, romantic complication, children's fantasy and futuristic speculation. Critics identify this type pleasure seeking as the type of addiction that characteristically begins in adolescents. It would be misleading the term popular in popular fiction is purity the matter of sale. Intact, the concept of popular fiction wrong is popular fiction and history. In this fictional novel, we can see and learn many non-fictional lessons from the novel which will be ever be relative. Firstly, the importance of education is one’s life. In the Humpy Dumpty episode we see that calculation is needed everywhere world is either. It is real world or some inverse world it's equally needed and every day is important as birthday, it's just needed a vision to see it. Secondly, never underestimate the power and knowledge of some that are smaller than you like the Tiger lily episode in the novel. We further discover the very common and relative urge of Alice to be the queen of her own world.
Moreover, it's easy for readers to relate the most of the characters without even seeing their image, which means no intense interpretation as most of us are already aware of the nursery rhymes i.e. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty and lion and unicorn and of course the popularity of the character Alice, which was popular before the publishing of this novel.

        Furthermore, the non-realistic events proves it to the fictional story like the motif of Inverse reflection like many of the basic assumptions that Alice makes about her environment are reversed in Looking-Glass World. Outcomes precede events, cakes are passed out before being cut, destinations are reached by walking in the opposite direction, and characters remember the future and think best while standing on their heads. These strange phenomena challenge the way Alice thinks and in some cases expose the arbitrary nature of her understanding of her own world. Many of Alice’s experiences exist as meaningless parodies of aspects of her own familiar world back home. Alice becomes aware of a new, inverted perspective on life as she travels forward and backward through Looking-Glass World. Moreover, Alice falls asleep at the beginning of Through the Looking-Glass, just as she did at the outset of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, so that the resulting fantastical adventures occur in her dreams. The story follows Alice through the various episodes of Looking-Glass World so that we experience her adventures through her impressions of Looking-Glass House, the chess game, and her quest to become a queen. The characters and scenes that she encounters exist as a combination of her memories and impressions of the waking world and the random, illogical inventions of her dreaming mind. Carroll emphasizes the dream motif by basing some of the denizens of Looking-Glass World on individuals from the life of his real-life muse, Alice Liddell. For example, the Red Queen is based on Alice’s governess Miss Prickett, while the White Knight is closely based upon Lewis Carroll himself.

It has simple plot story which is starting with an  introductory chapter so that anyone can understand the part then as it further shows the eight squares to win the chess game in eight chapters.