Women, Girls and Rebellious Dreams: the Feminine Subject in Victorian Children’s Literature

Employing a historical framework on the cultural and social context of the Victorian Age (1837-1901), this dissertation aims to explore the reasons that brought women to doubt the patriarchal system which considered them as “the Angel in the House”, embodying the perfect submissive wife and the devoted mother, and came to the conclusion of a necessary emancipation in the social, political and economic sphere. This thesis will further pay particular attention to the diffusion of children’s literature, focusing on the moral and traditional educational aims, manners and discipline expected of girls in particular. The study will then focus on the work written by Lewis Carroll Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), and it will show how the figure of Alice breaks the nineteenth century ideals of femininity with her independence, curiosity and a spirit of rebellion. Through an analysis of the text, this dissertation will have a closer look at the dynamics of gender hierarchy and identity during the Victorian Era.