A.in.W 1st Draft

Alice in Wonderland

& Regression

The famous children’s book, Alice in Wonderland has a deeper meaning than just imagination. It ties into psychology as well. The main character, Alice displays behavior related to psychology. The famous Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud, came up with forty-two Defense Mechanisms, but only eight are commonly used (Repression, Denial, Suppression, Displacement, Sublimation, Projection and Intellectualization). Alice’s personality displays an act of a defense mechanism, known as Regression.

In 1936, Anna Freud came up with Defense Mechanisms and published a book called “The Ego & Defense Mechanism," after being a child psychoanalysis for several years before. Anna believes that people, more specifically children, use defense mechanisms to cope with past traumas that happened in their lives. She also believed that children express their internal and external emotions in a creative way, if they were put under pressure. One of many mechanisms that Alice portrays is regression. Regression is when an individual is faced with stressful circumstances, avoids coping techniques and goes back to old habits from earlier in development.

In the book, Alice in Wonderland, the protagonist, Alice falls down a rabbit hole into this imaginary and bizarre world. With talking animals, card-people, and a Queen that’s obsessed with the phrase, "Off with their heads!”

Wonderland may be an exciting yet peculiar world; it leaves Alice to ponder a lot about it. She would ask numerous questions to the Dormouse and . But what was interesting about Alice, is throughout the book, she acted in a childish manner, in the beginning (Regression). Then towards the ending, Alice began to grow up; literally and mentally. She didn't have the little kid mind set she had once she entered Wonderland.

In chapter 1 of the story, Alice was very immature and anxious, the way any normal 7 year old would be. After Alice entered Wonderland, she found a curtain and went through it. Behind the curtain, she found a liquid in a bottle labeled DRINK ME. Alice hesitantly drank it and described the after taste as leaving her with a “curious feeling.” .After Alice drank the liquid, she began to shrink and realized she forgot the golden key on the table, sitting next to the bottle labeled DRINK ME. Being too small to reach it and being that the table’s legs were too slippery for her to climb up them; Alice began to cry. She shows Regression here because since Alice didn’t get what she wanted, she went back to child-like behavior.

In chapter 2, Alice ate the cake she found under the table and grew. She grew so tall her head hit the ceiling. Alice looked through the garden door and wished she could fit through it . Then she began crying again, But she told herself that she should be ashamed of herself and that she has no reason to cry. Here, Alice shows Regression again because she is faced with an unfortunate circumstance that she cannot seem to find the solution to.