Clara in Blunderland is a novel by Caroline Lewis (a pseudonym for Edward Harold Begbie, J. Stafford Ransome, and Michael Henry Temple), written in 1902 and published by William Heinemann of London.[1] It is a political parody of Lewis Carroll's two books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). The book was followed a year later by a sequel, Lost in Blunderland.
 First edition cover of Clara in Blunderland | |
| Author | Caroline Lewis (Edward Harold Begbie, J. Stafford Ransome, and Michael Henry Temple) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy novel, parody |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
Publication date | 1902 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | xvi, 150 |
| Followed by | Lost in Blunderland |
The book is critical of the British Government's engagement in the Second Boer War and its subsequent domestic and foreign policy choices.[2] Prime Minister Arthur Balfour is represented by Clara, the equivalent of Alice, who "can get in a hole when no one else would have found it possible."[3] A number of other prominent politicians are represented by other characters from the "Alice" books: the Red Queen is Joseph Chamberlain, the Duchess is Lord Salisbury, Crumpty-Bumpty is Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Walrus is William Vernon Harcourt, the Dalmeny Cat is Lord Rosebery, and the Caterpillar is Winston Churchill.[4][verification needed]
The book features 40 drawings by journalist J. Stafford Ransome (credited as "S.R.") after the originals by John Tenniel.
Clara in Blunderland ran to ten editions.[3] It and its sequel were among a number of satirical works drawing on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland published around the turn of the century; others included Saki's The Westminster Alice (1902) and Charles Geake and Francis Carruthers Gould's John Bull's Adventures in the Fiscal Wonderland (1904), which also featured representations of Balfour and Chamberlain.[5]
References
edit- ^ Room, Adrian (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (5th ed.). McFarland & Company. p. 286. ISBN 9780786457632.
- ^ Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert (2015). The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland. Harvard University Press. p. 228.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Emily (1998). The Reading Public and the Illustrated Novel, 1890–1914 (PhD thesis). Columbia University. p. 188. ProQuest 304446470.
- ^ Dickinson, Evelyn. 1902. "Literary Note and Books of the Month", in United Australia, Vol. II, No. 12, June 20, 1902
- ^ Scully, Richard (2013). "The Lion and the Unicorn—William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli through William Empson's Looking-Glass". International Journal of Comic Art. 15 (1): 331.
External links
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