Quoting allusions and slang is a major feature of Alice in Wonderland. Only by helping children understand these allusions and their sources can they understand the behavior of animals when reading and find out why some words make people angry and others make everyone laugh.
For example, in the third chapter of the book, the mouse has always been called "William the Conqueror", and Alice also mentioned that probably the French mouse followed William the Conqueror. So what is the historical allusion of "William the Conqueror"? He is a historical figure who has a great influence on British history.
William's father is the Duke of Normandy in France and the cousin of King Edward of England. William once saved Edward. Edward, who had no children, promised that William would inherit the British throne after his death, but Edward broke his word before his death and passed the throne on to his wife's younger brother. So William led the French army to attack the island of England and compete for the "throne."
After the victory, William made a drastic rectification of Britain, including language, etiquette and culture, law, architecture, commerce, religion, monarchy and so on, which made great changes in Britain in many aspects. It is estimated that William the Conqueror should represent a brand-new beginning of a country in the eyes of the British as Washington does in the eyes of the Americans.
The role of "Duchess" once appeared in the book. "Duke" is the highest rank of British nobility, and the title is determined according to the amount of land occupied. There are marquis, earl, viscount and baron under the duke, who is the highest nobleman after the king or prince. Now Britain still retains the title system, but now the title is granted to people who have made outstanding contributions.
In the Duchess's cabin, Alice also saw a grinning cat. It was Cheshire cat. It is said that the author created Cheshire cat from an English slang-"Laughing like Cheshire cat". Cheshire is a place in England where there is a kind of cheese that will be made into the shape of Cheshire cat. It is also said that there is a nobleman in Cheshire, and the lion painted on his clothes wants to grin at a cat too much. In short, because of the influence of Alice in Wonderland, westerners will call people who grin and giggle Cheshire cat, which doesn't sound like a good name.
In the chapter "Crazy Tea Party", why did the author choose the Mad Hatter, the March Rabbit and the Dormouse as lunatics?
In the era when the author lived, hats were indispensable decorations, and hat makers became a very mainstream profession at that time. The main material for making hats is rabbit skin, but people couldn't peel it off completely at that time. Therefore, rabbits can only be separated in mercury. Mercury is toxic. Being in such an environment for a long time has done great harm to the hatter's brain and made him crazy. At that time, people will form an understanding that people who make hats will eventually become crazy, so the image of a mad hatter was born.
The setting of March rabbit comes from an English proverb to the effect that rabbits in March will be particularly manic when they are in estrus, just like crazy. Dormouse is the prototype of mountain rat. It moves at night and sleeps during the day, so the Dormouse in the book always sleeps.
As for the question mentioned by the mad hat, "Why do you say crows are like desks?" The author didn't give an answer, but the most respected answer is "edgar allan poe created it" because edgar allan poe created the crow on his desk.
Today, my daughter asked me the meaning of the poem with Tan Sitong's The Wall of Prison. The first two sentences in the poem also use the allusion-"I miss James Zhang when I am desperate, and I will endure death for a while." Tan Sitong, who is interested in reform, hopes that Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao can be protected by people like James Zhang in their escape. On the one hand, I hope my comrades can stand by and accomplish the great cause of political reform like Dugan.
With the help of allusions and proverbs, literary works can help authors create new characters and stories, and also reflect the thoughts and behaviors of characters. In the process of children's reading, we need to help them understand the stories behind these allusions, slang and proverbs, so that they can really understand the true meaning of the author's use of these allusions and proverbs.