According to an article in New Scientist, the rewrite of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol is a satirical commentary on 19th century mathematics. Carroll was a pseudonym, used by Charles Dodgson, a mathematician at Christ Church College, Oxford.
"The 19th century was a turbulent time for mathematics, with many new and controversial concepts, like imaginary numbers, becoming widely accepted in the mathematical community. Putting Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in this context, it becomes clear that Dodgson, a stubbornly conservative mathematician, used some of the missing scenes to satirise these radical new ideas."
