5 THEORIES ABOUT ALICE’S PSYCHE FROM ‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’

“We’re all mad here…” – The Cheshire Cat

1. Alice has schizophrenia (specifically Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland)
   Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterised by experiences one has that seem to occur outside of reality. Schizophrenics also tend to have disorganised speech or behaviour. The symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, delusions, amnesia and mental confusion. Throughout this film, Alice is shown to think that Underland is all just a dream – until she realises it isn’t… Even the other characters from Underland hint to it not being a real place. But at the same time, say that it’s still real… What if the reason for this confusion is because  Alice has schizophrenia? Which would mean that Underland could all just be a delusion of her mind – though she cannot distinguish if it is reality or not
   (Theoriser: The Theorizer)
2. The book was many drug references – and these drugs affect Alice’s brain functioning
   Alice changes size by drinking striking potions or growing by eating mushrooms (magic mushrooms anyone?). The caterpillar smokes a pipe and as the whole story is constructed outside of a normal reality, Alice could just be enjoying the effects of the drugs she’s taken
   (Theoriser: Literally everyone)
3. Alice has ‘female hysteria’
   In Tim Burton’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, Alice is placed in a mental asylum where the doctor calls her a textbook case of ‘female hysteria.’ During the Victorian era ‘female hysteria’ was a very real medical condition. It was (not surprisingly) something only females manage to contract and the symptoms could be anything from being faint, nervous, having abdomen pain, being restless, irritable, having a loss of appetite, having sexual fantasies and desires or just having general fantasies. So, during the Victoria era, it would have been completely acceptable to diagnose Alice with this illness, put her in a mental asylum and have everyone move on with life. It’s a perfect explanation as to why Alice seems to be mad. And what a shocker it is to know that surprisingly, female hysteria could be treated by hydrotherapy, vibrators and a pelvic massage over a bit of time. What another surprise it must have been to the medical community when they realised that female hysteria was the second most common illness – only falling behind fevers
   (Theoriser: The Theorizer)
4. Alice is having a mental breakdown (specifically Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland)
   As we can see at the start of Alice in Wonderland, Alice is being pressured to do some things that she’d rather not do – like marry a man she doesn’t even like and become his caring, doting wife for the rest of her life. She also finds her brother-in-law cheating on her sister, is pretty much being told that the worst thing possible is to end up unmarried and so, yeah, Alice isn’t exactly loving her position at the moment. So, to cope with everything that’s happening she returns to the world in she visited during her dreams when she was younger. There she can learn lessons mandatory for her to move forward in her life and go on a journey through Underland to really just help her cope with everything going on
   (Theoriser: The Theorizer)
5. Alice is ‘mad’
   With the amount of references to madness throughout this story, it’s no surprise that some people have just deduced that Alice is ‘mad.’ Insanity is a mental illness of a troubling nature where one cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy – often leading to things like one acting upon impulses. Yep, that pretty much sounds like Alice in Wonderland
   (Theoriser: Do we even need one?)

Author: thespookyredhead

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