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Fun Fact:
Horticulture was popular hobby amongst Victorians and a good deal of money and time was spent manicuring and arranging elaborate gardens, trying to find the perfect marriage of nature and order.

 

 

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The Garden

“She walked down the little passage: and then--she found herself at last in the beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and cool fountains.”

Botanical Garden

Introduction

 Alice first discovers the garden in the first chapter of Wonderland in the hall of doors behind the small door hidden behind the curtain.  In fact, it is her fervent desire to get into that garden that prompts her to drink from the “Drink Me” bottle in the first place, which begins all of her size-changing adventures. Then, throughout the ensuing encounters, Alice sticks to her “plan” :

'The first thing I've got to do,' said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, 'is to grow to my right size again; and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan.'

Getting to the garden remains her only motivation until after the Pig and Pepper episode. Then when the Cheshire Cat asks her where she wants to go she replies, “I don't much care where…so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” seemingly forgetting her goal.  She then decides to temporarily abandon her plan and visit the March Hare. Of course she does eventually get into the garden, only to find that, like everything else in Wonderland, it is not the happy and peaceful place she expects.

 

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