I was surprised to see how modern these inclinations appeared, and to see the shift in popular culture towards pure entertainment. When paired with the explosion of scientific inquiry in the nineteenth century, it seems ironic that children’s literature veered so sharply away from its earlier didactic nature, as Victorians “…sought to humanize their readers by, first, recognizing their bizarrely liminal inhumanity…”(23). In fact, it is suspected that many of the scientific allusions, such as to evolution, that were included in children’s texts, were intended as “knowing winks,” (Straley 22) to the parents. This allowance for children to be children seems to me like a giant step towards modernity as we know it. It is also an interesting example of the increasingly blurred lines between genres. According to Sikorska, the defining difference between children’s and adult fiction is merely the use of multiple mediums in order to add layers to a narrative that would otherwise be lost. In Alice, Carroll not only anticipates, but expects an adult audience, as he continually references material his younger audience would not understand. In this manner, popular culture no longer seems defined by audiences, but acknowledges how family life allows for the interchangeable nature of material culture.