Gender Separation In Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

In the final half of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the male author explores the gender separation in the Victorian Era. In the Victorian age, gender roles were distinctly defined. Women were considered weaker compared to men. Carroll explores this idea by portraying Alice as weaker and under the control of the male characters in the novel. In chapter 5, ‘Advice from a Caterpillar’, the caterpillar gives Alice the instruction, “one side will make you grow, and the other will make you grow shorter” (Carroll 68). Alice doesn't know what the food will do to her, but is told she must eat it. As a result, the caterpillars instruction completely denies her knowledge and therefore any control over what she consumes and how her body changes as a result of what she ate. Alice exemplifies the “passive” feminism and is completely controlled by the dominance over the male control encompassing her.
What strikes me is that, Alice is portrayed as a small girl which represents passive femininity. Further within in chapter 5, Alice

These are portrayed by Carroll as the most violent and crude characters in the book. In chapter 7, ‘A Mad Tea Party’ the Queen of Hearts aggressively states, “Off with his head!” (Carroll 104). In chapter 6, ‘A Pig and Pepper’, The Duchess says “You don’t know much, and that’s a fact.” (Carroll 84). This insulting comment towards Alice along with the Queen of Hearts comment further expresses that Carroll’s portrayal of women is violent, irrational, frightening. This portrayal is suggestive of what the consequences are like when a woman is given power outside of a domestic space. This bluntly builds an impression on the reader that female power is wrong and women need men to handle and control them. This sexist view implies that women should be kept domestic, otherwise they may be a