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Conflict and resolution, protagonists and antagonists in the ‘Alice’ stories

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice is the protagonist of the story. She is the main character and everything evolves around her. We follow her during her trip through Wonderland and know what she is thinking.

The antagonists are all characters who Alice encounters during her trip through Wonderland. They try to baffle her, confuse her, order her about and even behead her. Even the ones who are not directly mean to her are antagonists, as their strange behaviour confuses Alice.

Conflict is happening every time Alice meets a new character and is being confronted with its strange rules and behaviour. The main conflict occurs in the last chapter, during the trial, when Alice is called to give evidence. She calls the creatures by their name: ‘nothing but a pack of cards’ and they all come flying down on her in rage.

The resolution of this conflict occurs when Alice wakes up and finds she no longer is in Wonderland. She realizes it was just a dream. When Alice tells her dream to her sister, she understands that Alice is growing up.

Through the Looking-Glass

Like in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice is the protagonist of the story and the antagonists are the characters who Alice encounters during her trip through Looking-Glass world.

Conflict and resolution are also very similar to the first book. Conflict happens when Alice meets a new character and is being confronted with its strange rules and behaviour. The main conflict occurs during Alice’s dinner-party, when strange things start to happen and the guest are metamorphosing into other beings.

Resolution comes when poor frustrated Alice seizes the table-cloth and crashes everything onto the floor. She then picks up the Red Queen and starts shaking her. This shaking makes Alice wake up and realise that it is only one of the kittens that she is holding.