Blurb:
Alice follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit-hole and into a series of extraordinary adventures in Wonderland, a country of crazy logic where the absurd and surreal are the norm. Riddles have no answers, songs turn into nonsense and everything is punctuated with dreadful puns.
The animals who live there can not only speak but are positively argumentative; however, the self-possessed Alice is well able to cope with everything she meets.
Which is just as well, as these include a hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Mock Turtle and a baby who turns into a piglet. Alice runs in the Caucus Race, attends the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and plays croquet with flamingoes and hedgehogs. Even the Queen of Hearts with her threats of execution all round can hold no real fears for Alice…
WARNING: SPOILERS
CAUTION: THE PROPER FORMAT OF INCLUDED POEMS AREN’T ACCURATE
Synopsis:
One warm afternoon, Alice falls asleep and begins to dream of Wonderland. She encounters creatures, human, and different events that test her identity. Each section can be simplified to:
- The rabbit-hole
- The ‘DRINK ME’ liquid and ‘EAT ME’ cake
- The caucus race
- The White Rabbit’s house
- The Caterpillar
- The Duchess’s home
- The Cheshire Cat
- The tea party
- The Queen’s game of croquet
- The Mock Turtle
- Court
- Alice’s sister dreaming about Alice
Major Themes and Motifs:
- Imagination
- Justice
- Time and Space
- Curiosity
- Identity
- Abandonment
- Childhood
- Death
- Nonsense
- Nature and Nurture
Characters:
(in order of appearance)
Alice-
Alice is a child who has an older sister, older brother, and a cat called Dinah. She falls asleep and in her dream, she chases the White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole because she is curious. She makes her way through wonderland. Alice has a problem identifying herself and this is a matter that reoccurs; such as when they try to get Alice to tell a story, they order her around, or even how she lectures herself on who she ought to be. Her character transforms and by the end, she has gained so much confidence that she has an argument with the Queen of Hearts. When she wakes up, she appears to have returned to her childish ways.
(This is a detailed list of most of the comments Carroll made about Alice in the order that he makes them).
Alice doesn’t see the point of a book without pictures or conversation. She feels stupid and sleepy on hot days. Her hot and lazy afternoon is interrupted with a White Rabbit. Alice’s curiosity is captured when the White Rabbit talks, she chases after him. Later, when Alice has thought it over, she realises that the moment felt natural. Alice chases the White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole. She likes orange marmalade. Alice shows concern for others, such as putting the orange marmalade in another cupboard because she didn’t want to drop it in case it could hurt or kill someone. She is shown to be stubborn, like thinking she would never tell her family, “even if I fell off the top of the house!” (Carroll, 10). Alice likes to flaunt her knowledge, “though this was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her” (Carroll, 10). She keeps what she learns close to her heart in situations, as when she thought of stories while she checked the ‘DRINK ME’ bottle for poison. “She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it)” (Carroll, 16). She sometimes thinks of herself as two people, even though there is barely enough in her to make one respectable perseon. She loves her cat, Dinah, and wishes that her cat is with her even though there isn’t any mice for her to catch. She continues to chase the White Rabbit after she falls to the floor. Alice has a childish fanciful solutions to problems, as when she couldn’t fit through the small door, “Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope!” (Carroll, 14). She occasionally forgets how to speak good english. Alice has identity issues, as when wondering who she is and starting to cry because she’s just like Mabel! Alice has only been to the sea once in her life and assumes that all English coasts look the same. She knows some phrases in French. Alice has a powerful imagination, as when she imagines the Mouse’s story as a poem. She dearly loves her cat, Dinah. The White Rabbit calls her Mary Ann. She plays a game with the enormous dog when she encountered him. The Pigeon calls her a serpent. She gets easily frustrated at creatures in Wonderland because they are so argumentative. Alice is pleased with her conversation with the Duchess about grinning cats, but she doesn’t like the Duchess’s tone. When Alice is given the baby, she takes it away believing that it would have been murder to have left him with the Duchess and the Cook. The Cheshire Cat labels her mad because she is in wonderland. She has met hatters before and she chose to venture to the March Hare’s house. She feels quite giddy from the Cheshire Cat vanishing and reappearing. According to the Hatter, her hair wants cutting. Alice likes riddles. She thinks that riddles with no answers are a waste of time. Alice beats time with music. Alice is excited to meet the Queen of Hearts and wonders if she should lie down like the gardeners; if that was the case then there will be little use of procession if nobody could see it. She’s polite to the Queen while thinking that they are nothing but a pack of cards. Alice interrupts her when she threatens to have her head cut off. She knows how to play croquet. Alice is shown to be concerned with some people she had met in wonderland, such as the Duchess. Alice has trouble playing wonderland’s version of croquet and has little control over her flamingo. She quickly feels uneasy while the Queen is calling for executions. From meeting the Duchess, Alice decides that if she ever became a Duchess that she’ll never have pepper in her kitchen. Alice doesn’t like to be rude. She doesn’t like the look of the Gryphon but prefers him over the savage Queen. Alice goes to a day-school where she learns French and music. The Gryphon repetitively calls her dumb. Alice has never been to a court of justice before Wonderland but has read about it in books. Occasionally, Alice will think of a word and spend a moment feeling proud for using it. She’s shown to be childish when she steals Bill’s pencil because it is squeeky. She acts boldly in the courtroom, even arguing with both the King and Queen of Hearts. When she wakes up, she tells her sister all she could remember. Alice ran to tea after her sister’s urges. In Alice’s sister’s dream of Alice, she sees, “the tiny hands were clasped upon her knee, and the bright eager eyes were looking up into hers—she could hear the very tones of her voices, and see that queer little toss of her head to keep back the wandering hair that WOULD always get into her eyes” (Carroll, 170).
Alice’s Sister-
She reads books that don’t contain pictures or conversation, much to her sister’s disappointment. She wakes Alice up and tells her to go run to tea. She begins to fall asleep and dreams of all the creatures Alice met. Alice’s sister thinks about the joys of childhood while the book comes to a close.
What Rabbit-
A white rabbit with pink eyes suddenly runs by Alice one hot afternoon. He talks and says in front of Alice, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (Carroll, 8). He wears a waistcoat that has a watch in its pocket, he looks at the watch in front of Alice. Alice chases him down a rabbit-hole. She continues to chase him when Alice reaches the ground. The next time he appears, he is carrying a fan and white kid gloves while muttering about the Duchess. He drops these items and runs away when Alice tries to get his attention. When he finally acknowledges Alice, he calls her Mary Ann, his housemaid. His house is in wonderland. He decides that the best solution to get Alice out of his house is to send Bill down the chimney and then to burn the house down. The White Rabbit re-appeared with the Queen of Hearts. He tells Alice to hush and explained the “delicate” topic of the Duchess’s execution. The White Rabbit attends the court as a herald. He has enough confidence to stop the King so they follow court procedure. After a while he brings in a letter that isn’t addressed to anyone and is, presumably, from the prisoner.
Dinah-
Alice’s cat who Alice often thinks about at the beginning of her adventure. At tea-time she has a saucer of milk. Alice wishes for Dinah would have fallen in the hole with her even though there isn’t any mice for her to catch, perhaps a bat. Dinah likes to sit by the fire and lick her paws. She really likes catching mice and birds.
The Duchess-
She is first mentioned by the White Rabbit who says, “Oh! the duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won’t she be savage if I’ve kept her waiting!” (Carroll, 20). The Queen invites her to play croquet. First physically seen in, “ a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from one end to the other: the Duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was leaning over the fire, sitting a large cauldron which seemed to be full of soup” (Carroll, 73). She sneezes occasionally in her home. She’s quite factual towards Alice and remarks that she doesn’t know much. The cook throws around cooking equipment that sometimes hit her, she doesn’t appear to notice. She violently handles the baby and sings violent songs to him. The Duchess leaves to get ready to meet the Queen and flings the baby at Alice. When Alice asks about her at the croquet party, the Rabbit reveals that she’s to be executed. Her execution gets postponed while the royals argue over the Cheshire Cat, they bring her out to settle the matter. She’s glad when she next sees Alice. Alice thinks the pepper makes her savage. “Alice did not much like keeping so close to her: first, because the Duchess was VERY ugly; and secondly, because she was exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice’s shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin” (Carroll, 117). She is fond of finding morals in things. The Duchess compliments Alice’s knowledge. She cowers in front of the Queen and minds her words.
Ada-
A child who Alice knows is the same age. She has ringlets.
Mabel-
A child who Alice knows is the same age. She doesn’t know a lot. According to Alice, she lives in a small house with no toys and a lot of lessons.
Mouse-
He is first spotted by Alice in her pool of tears. He doesn’t like cats or dogs, neither does his family. The Mouse wants to explain to Alice why he doesn’t like cats and dogs, but he gets frustrated when she doesn’t pay attention. Among other animals, he seems to have some degree of authority. He is easily offended. The Mouse explains why he hates cats and dogs, but Alice imagines the tale as a poem:
(It’s a concrete poem that’s in the shape of mouse tail that didn’t translate to wordpress)
“Fury said to
a mouse, That
he met in the
house, ‘Let
us both go
to law: I
will prose-
cute you.—
Come, I’ll
take no de-
nial: We
must have
the trial;
For really
This morn-
ing I’ve
nothing
to do.’
Said the
mouse to
the cur,
‘Such a
trial, dear
sir, With
no jury
or judge,
would
be wast-
ing our
breath.’
‘I’ll be
judge,
I’ll be
jury.’
said
cun-
ning
old
Fury:
‘I’ll
try
the
whole
cause,
and
con-
demn
you to
death.’
Alice’s brother-
Alice learned some Latin grammar from her brother’s book.
Lory-
A washed up bird. He tells Alice that he knows more than her because he is older. The Lory refuses to tell Alice his age.
Duck-
A washed up bird that interrupts the mouse.
Dodo-
A washed up bird. He proposes that they should do something active so they can dry.
Eaglet-
A washed up bird who doesn’t know a lot of long words.
Magpie-
An old washed up bird.
Canary-
A washed up bird. She has children.
Old and Young Crab-
Crustaceans that are washed up. They argue about controlling your temper.
Pat-
A goose who is introduced by the White Rabbit. He helps the Rabbit handle his problem with his home and addresses him as “yer honour”.
Bill-
A lizard that is forced to go down the chimney by Pat and the White Rabbit. He gets kicked out of the chimney by Alice. His voice is feeble and squeaky. “The poor little Lizard, Bill, was in the middle, being held up by two guinea-pigs, who were giving it something out of a bottle” (Carroll, 50). At the court, he is one of the members of the jury. Alice takes away his pencil. When Alice tips the jury, she places Bill head downwards until she corrects herself. Afterwards, he is the only member of the Jury to not immediately recover. Later the Queen threw an inkstand at Bill, he uses the ink running down his head to write on his slate.
An enormous puppy-
“An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes, and feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her” (Carroll, 51). He and Alice play a game together before she sneaks away.
Caterpillar-
A caterpillar, who is sitting on a mushroom smoking a hookah, is found by Alice deep in the woods. The first thing he says to Alice is, “Who are YOU?” (Carroll, 56). His voice is languid and sleepy. The caterpillar lectures Alice, similar to how she lectures herself, and asks her why she was thinking these things. He points out her own uncertainty about her own identity while the two of them recite stories and poems.
Pigeon-
She lives right above the Caterpillar. Alice scares her, causing her to proclaim her as a serpent. She tells Alice about how she is protecting her eggs, and that she has been trying to stop serpents from reaching them.
Fish-Footman-
A fish that delivers a letter from the Queen to the Duchess.
Frog-Footman-
An employee of the Duchess who accepts the letter from the Queen . He later sits outside of the house saying that if Alice had knocked and he was inside then he could let her in. While he wonders out loud, he gets hit by a plate but acts like it didn’t happened. Frog-Footman remarks that he will sit in that spot on and off. Alice thinks he’s stupid.
The Queen of Hearts-
First mentioned when she sends a letter to the Duchess to play croquet. She has threatened to cut of the Hatter’s head. She has a garden full of white roses that have been painted red by her gardeners. A bountiful people adorned with decorations, like cards, surround her; gardeners, soldiers, and the royal children. She is verbally abusive to the Knave of Hearts when he doesn’t know the answers to her questions. The Queen can’t identify people at her castle, whether staff or her own children. Her husband can comfort and calm her even though she acts angrily to her, such as when he comforted his wife when Alice interrupted her. She likes croquet. All of her executions become pardoned by her husband. The Queen is next seen on her throne at court. She watches the first witness through spectacles before reading a list of singers while the Hatter is at the witness stand. After the King excuses the Hatter, she passes an execution order but the Hatter is already out of sight. She throws the Dormouse out of court. Her husband asks her to cross-examine the third witness. In her opinion, she never throws fits. The Queen of Hearts gets into an argument with Alice over which should come first: sentencing or verdict.
Pig-
A baby that is held by the Duchess, where he sneezes and howls. He is in an abuseful environment with the Duchess. When Alice gets to hold the baby, she describes it like a starfish with its limbs all over the place. Alice takes the baby away from his home. After holding him for a while: “Alice looked very anxiously into its face to see what was the matter with it. There could be no doubt that it had a VERY turn-up nose, much more like a snout than a real nose; also its eyes were getting extremely small for a baby” ( Carroll, 78). The baby turns into a pig. Alice lets the pig go and he bounds for the woods. She thinks the he is an ugly child but a handsome pig. The Cheshire Cat has shown some interest in him.
The cook-
The cook stays at the Duchess’s house and she uses a lot of pepper. She is one of the of the few characters who doesn’t sneeze because of pepper. She throws around cooking equipment while Alice is there, that hits both the Duchess and the baby, but it wasn’t clear of either of them acknowledged the impacts. The cook is the second witness to be called to the stand, she comes in with a pepper-box. She disappeared when the Dormouse distracted the court.
Cheshire Cat-
He is the Duchess’s cat. The Cheshire Cat is first seen in her house: “a large cat which was sitting on the hearth and grinning from ear to ear” (Carroll, ). The Cheshire Cat doesn’t sneeze from smelling pepper. He reappears on a branch in the woods: “It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had VERY long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect” (Carroll, 80). He sees himself as mad because he growls when he is pleased and wags his tail when he is angry. The Cat plans to meet Alice at the Queen’s croquet party before vanishing. He shows some interest towards the Duchess’s baby. The Cheshire Cat catches up with Alice at the Queen’s party where the King of Hearts doesn’t like the look of him. He causes chaos with everyone trying to determine if they could cut off cat’s head when there is only a head.
Hatter-
He is introduced by the Cheshire Cat who describes him as mad and lives in THAT direction. He has a tea party with the March Hare and the Dormouse where they use the latter as a cushion. He observes Alice, “for some time with great curiosity” (Carroll, 86). He asks a lot of questions. The Hatter has a pocket watch that has been “repaired” with butter. He was close friends with Time before he quarrelled with time; ever since it’s always six o’clock. It is his rude remark that caused Alice to leave the tea party. At court, he is the first witness and the first thing he does is apologise for not finishing his tea, that he started on the fourteenth of March. He enters with both the March Hare and the Dormouse. The Hatter doesn’t see himself as owning any of his hats because of his profession. He rambles at the witness stand, pulling both the March Hare and the Dormouse into his explanations. He repeats “I’m a poor man, your Majesty” at the trial. The King thinks that the Hatter is a poor speaker. The Queen calls for his head to be cut off outside but he scampered off without his shoes before they could arrest him.
March Hare-
First introduced by the Cheshire Cat who described him as mad and lives in THAT direction (a different one to the Hatter). Alice decides to visit his house for multiple reasons: mostly because it would be more interesting and that since it was May, he may not be that mad. His house has chimneys shaped like ears and the roof is thatched with fur. The Hatter and Dormouse have a tea party at his house where they use the Dormouse as a cushion. He thinks that the best butter can fix a watch. He goes with the Hatter to the courtroom.
Dormouse-
Alice finds him sleeping at the March Hare and Hatter’s tea party where they use him as a cushion. He talks in his sleep which can contribute to the conversation or be off topic. According to the Hatter, he quarreled with the Hatter in March and he went mad at a concert given by the Queen of Hearts. The Dormouse is one of the characters who tells Alice stories. After being brought into the courtroom by the Hatter, he gets thrown out by the Queen because he interrupted.
Time-
A former friend of the Hatter. Alice beats him, but according to the Hatter, he won’t stand for this for long. After almost being murdered by the Hatter, he slows the time around him to a stop.
Five-
A gardener of the Queen of Hearts who paints to the white roses red. He is ornamented with a spade.
Seven-
A gardener of the Queen of Hearts who paints to the white roses red. He is ornamented with a spade. Yesterday, the Queen threatened to cut of his head because he had brought the cook tulip-roots instead of onions.
Two-
A gardener of the Queen of Hearts who paints to the white roses red. He is ornamented with a spade.
Knave of Hearts-
He comes into the garden with a cushion that has the King’s crown. The Queen is insultive to him but he continues to smile at her even though he doesn’t know the answers to her questions. He is next seen on trial, being accused of stealing some tarts. At trial, a letter comes and the Knave swears to not have written it. He can’t swim. Since Alice wakes up before the trial conclude, his verdict isn’t revealed but is most likely found guilty considering the judge and jury.
King of Hearts-
The husband of the Queen of Hearts, who can comfort his wife and calm her down. He doesn’t like the look of the Cheshire Cat and he’s eager for his execution. He turns to his wife to have people removed. The King pardons people for execution when his wife isn’t around. The King of Hearts is next seen on his throne and at court, he is the judge with an uncomfortable wig. He doesn’t follow normal procedure for court, he finds trivial things important and makes up rules as court goes on. He thinks the Hatter is a poor speaker. The King and his people see him as clever for deciphering the meaning in meaningless works.
Mock Turtle-
A creature first mentioned by the Queen. She wants him to tell Alice his history. Alice first sees the: “Mock Turtle in the distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and, as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break” (Carroll, 123). He talks with tears in his eyes and was once a real turtle. The Mock Turtle gets angry from interruptions. At his school, that he’s proud of, he learned French, music, reeling, writhing, mystery (both modern and ancient), seaography, drawing, stretching, fainting in coils and the different branches of arithmetic: ambition, distraction, uglification, and derision. Unlike Gryphon and more like Alice, he likes to have things explained.
Gryphon-
He is first found sleeping in the sun. He obeys the Queen and takes Alice to see the Mock Turtle. The Gryphon frequently says: Come on! He doesn’t like simple questions and gets irritated quickly. The Gryphon learned from a classics master, where he learned laughing and grief. He prefers stories rather than having explanation and the Gryphon takes Alice to court when it begins.
Guinea-pig-
He cheered when the King comments that the Hatter is a poor speaker. The Guinea-pig is silenced, “they had a large canvas bag, which tied up at the mouth with strings: into this they slipped the guinea-pig, head first, and then sat on it” (Carroll, 152).
Detailed Description of the Events Within the Novel:
Chapter I. Down the Rabbit Hole
- Alice is tired and bored sitting by the bank, occasionally looking at her sister who is reading.
- Alice isn’t interested in the book her sister is reading because it doesn’t have pictures or conversation.
- She considers making a daisy-chain but debates whether or not it’s worth the trouble.
- Alice suddenly sees, “a White rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her” (Carroll, 8).
- The White Rabbit isn’t remarkable until he talks.
- He proclaims he’s late.
- For some reason, and upon later reflection by Alice, the encounter feels natural.
- After looking at a watch from his waistcoat-pocket, the White Rabbit hurries on.
- Alice chases after him with burning curiosity.
- The White Rabbit jumps down “a large rabbit-hole under the hedge” (Carroll, 9).
- Alice goes after him, “never once considering how in the world she was to get out again” (Carroll, 9).
- She couldn’t stop herself from falling down the hole.
- The hole is either deep or time is slow, Alice falls for what seems like a long time.
- At first it is too dark to see anything, then she begins to see cupboards, bookshelves, etc.
- While falling she picks up a jar of ‘ORANGE MARMALADE’ but it is empty. She puts it in another passing cupboard.
- Alice thinks to herself that her family would have thought her brave for falling for so long, but she also thinks that she would never tell them.
- She tries to judge how far she’s fallen, and prepares for her arrival in New Zealand or Australia.
- Alice begins to feel tired and began talking to herself about her evenings with her family and her cat, Dinah.
- Suddenly, Alice falls on some leaves and sticks.
- Alice sees the White Rabbit hurrying down a long passage.
- She chases after him but then finds herself alone in a long hall.
- There are doors along the hall, but they are all locked.
- Alice comes across a table which has a “tiny golden key” (Carroll, 13).
- She tries the key on the doors, but it didn’t work on any of them.
- She finally notices a small door, and the key managed to unlock it.
- Through the door, she could see a lovely garden.
- “How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and the cool fountains” (Carroll, 13).
- But, alas, she couldn’t fit her head through the door.
- Alice goes back and hopes for a solution, she finds a small bottle on the table with the label ‘DRINK ME’.
- Alice hesitates as she checks the bottle for a sign to indicate that it is poisonous.
- “She has read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they WOULD not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them” (Carroll, 14).
- Alice drinks the liquid in the bottle.
- “It had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast” (Carroll, 15).
(A re-creation of the liquid)
- Alice shrinks to ten inches in height.
- She waits a moment to see if she shrinks further and ends up being snuffed out like a candle.
- She goes back to the door, but found that she had left the key on the table.
- After discovering that she couldn’t reach it, Alice started to cry.
- She lectures herself but it couldn’t stop herself crying.
- Alice envisions herself as two people, although she wouldn’t make one respectable person.
- Alice spots a cake under the table
- Marked on the cake, in currents, is ‘EAT ME’.
- She deduces that if she gets bigger, she’ll get the key. If she gets smaller, she’ll fit under the door.
- Alice eats the whole cake.
Chapter II. Pool of Tears
- “‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice” (Carroll, 18).
- Alice begins to grow.
- She thinks about how she will never see her feet again.
- She grows until she is nine feet high and her head is stuck against the roof.
- She grabs the key and hurries back to the door which separated her from the garden.
- All Alice could do was look through the door with one eye; she begins to cry.
- She tries to lecture herself so she’ll stop crying.
- Soon there was a small pool around her.
- Alice hears someone moving through her pool of tears.
- It’s the White Rabbit! This time he’s holding gloves and a white fan.
- He mutters about the Duchess.
- Alice tries to get his attention, startling the White Rabbit who drops what he’s carrying before running off.
- Alice picks up the fan, and she fans herself while talking to herself about time and place.
- “But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT’S the great puzzle!” (Carroll, 20-21).
- She begins to wonder if she could replace other children, of her age, in her life.
- “Besides, SHE’S she, and I’m I, and – oh dear, how puzzling it all is!” (Carroll, 21)
- Alice recites facts she knows to prove that she is smarter than Mabel.
- She recites a poem:
‘How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale
‘How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spread his claws,
And welcome little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!’ (Carroll, 22)
- Since she can’t remember the right words, she decides that she is Mabel and begins to cry.
- Alice decides to stay where she is, but she’s also tired of being alone.
- Alice finds herself wearing one of the white gloves.
- The fan is making Alice smaller, but she drops it before she shrinks away.
- With optimism, she runs back to the door but finds it closed, and the key is still on the table.
- Alice slips in the salty water.
- At first she thinks that she is at the sea before realising that it is made of her own tears.
- “I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day” (Carroll, 24).
- Hearing splashes, Alice looks for a walrus or hippopotamus but finds a mouse.
- Alice calls out to the mouse.
- “O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired of swimming about here, O Mouse!” (Carroll, 25).
- The Mouse stops to look at her.
- She tries talking to the mouse in french: Ou est ma chatte (Translation: Where is my cat?).
- The Mouse leaps out of the water and shivers.
- Alice apologises.
- The Mouse snaps that he hates cats and that is evident because he’s a mouse.
- Alice begins to talk about her cat, Dinah, and how she’s wonderful but also catches mice… She stops talking about Dinah.
- The mouse retorts that he and his whole family hates cats.
- Alice changes the subject to dogs, she talks about a little dog near her house. This dog also kills mice.
- She calls out that she won’t talk about cats or dogs.
- Alice offer to let the mouse talk about himself and explain why he hates them so much.
- Alice declares that it’s time to go ashore.
- Other animals appear, “there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures” (Carroll, 28).
- All of them swim to shore.
Chapter III. A Caucus-Race and a Long Time
- The animals and birds gather on the bank, all of them dripping wet.
- They consulted amongst each other, including Alice, on how they should get dry.
- Alice gets into a discussion with a Lory about knowledge and age.
- The mouse, who appears to be in charge, tells everyone to sit down.
- The mouse begins to talk about William the Conqueror.
- The Lory briefly interrupts with disgust.
- The Duck then interrupts with curiosity.
- Alice interrupts as the story doesn’t seem to be drying them.
- The Dodo proposes that they should do something that requires energy.
- They all run in a Caucus-race.
- The Dodo asks who won before deciding that everyone wins.
- They ask Alice to give everyone prizes. She has a box of comfits and gives everyone a piece.
- They demand that there must be a prize for Alice, but she only has a thimble.
- The animals and bird crowd around her, and they give her the thimble.
- Alice asks the Mouse to explain why he hates C and D, while he talks, Alice thinks of the story as a poem.
- The Mouse calls her out on being distracted.
- Alice and the Mousse get caught up a misunderstanding about not and knot.
- The mouse starts to walk away, offended.
- They others try to call him back.
- The Crabs get into a fight.
- Alice says Dinah could have brought the Mouse back.
- The Lory asks about her cat. She explains and mentions that Dinah eats birds.
- All the birds walk away in fear and disgust.
- Alice is left alone.
- She wishes she never mentioned Dinah and begins to cry.
- Footsteps are sounded in the distance, Alice looks up in hope that the Mouse has returned.
Chapter IV. The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill
- The White Rabbit comes along; he is talking about the Duchess and looking for something.
- Alice suspects that he’s looking for the gloves and the fan. She decides to help him.
- The hallway appears to have changed with the door and glass table missing.
- The White Rabbit sees Alice and calls, “Why, Mary Ann, what ARE you doing out here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan! Quick, now!” (Carroll, 41).
- Alice gets frightened and runs away.
- She realises that the White Rabbit had mistaken her for his housemaid.
- She runs straight to the Rabbit’s house looking and goes inside looking for the gloves and fan.
- While searching, Alice imagines Dinah ordering her around.
- Alice goes into a little room where she finds gloves and a fan.
- She, “was just going to leave the room, when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking-glass” (Carroll, 43).
- Alice decides to drink the ‘DRINK ME’ potion, knowing that something interesting will happen.
- Alice grows until she is laying down with her elbows out of the door, the other out of the window, and a foot up the chimney.
- Thinking about the comforts of home, she regrets going down the rabbit-hole but wonders about how curious life can be.
- She thinks about how she will never grow up if she stays here.
- The two-sided Alice continued to argue with herself.
- The White Rabbit returns to his house, calling for Mary Ann.
- In fear, Alice blocks the door with her elbow.
- The White Rabbit declares that he’ll go out and come in through the window.
- Trying to climb up to the window, the White Rabbit falls when Alice spreads her hand.
- He falls onto something that sounded like a cucumber-frome.
- The Rabbit asks Pat for help.
- The Rabbit asks him to get rid of the thing in his house.
- They discuss the thing, Alice’s arm, that is coming out of his window.
- Alice can hear them plotting but she can’t make out what they’re saying.
- She then hears them moving things around, looking for ladders, and searching for Bill.
- The White Rabbit and Pat force Bill to go down the chimney.
- Alice decides to give the chimney a kick because she wouldn’t have liked to be in Bill’s place.
- Bill goes flying out of the chimney, and Pat and the Rabbit attended to him.
- The White Rabbit decides to burn down the house.
- Alice threatens to release Dinah on them.
- There is a moment of silence, then they began throwing pebbles at the window and hit Alice in the face.
- The pebbles turns out to be cakes and she eats one.
- Alice shrinks and runs out of the house, momentarily chased by people, before escaping to the woods.
- She makes her way through the woods with two plans: to grow to her right size and to make her way out of the lovely garden.
- Alice runs across an enormous puppy.
- She thinks it’s cute, but at the same time, she’s terrified of it.
- She uses a stick to play with a dog.
- Exhausted, Alice escapes.
- She wants to return to her own size so she could train the dog.
- She looks for something to eat or drink.
- “She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of her or of anything else” (Carroll, 54).
Chapter V. Advice from a Caterpillar
- The Caterpillar and Alice stare at each other until he asks, “Who are YOU?” (Carroll, 56).
- Alice replies that she knew who she was earlier that day, but because so much happened since then, she’s not sure.
- He asks her to explain.
- She can’t, “‘I can’t explain MYSELF, I’m afraid, sir’ said Alice, ‘because I’m not myself, you see’”(Carroll, 56).
- The Caterpillar doesn’t understand.
- Alice can’t explain it better because she finds it confusing.
- He replies that it isn’t.
- She tries to explain that it would be like the caterpillar turning into the butterfly. He still doesn’t understand. Alice remarks that she thought it would feel queer.
- Frustrated, Alice asks, “I think, you ought to tell me who YOU are, first” (Carroll, 57).
- Unable to think of an answer, Alice walks away.
- The Caterpillar calls her back.
- She returns to the mushroom.
- He tells her to keep her temper and asks if she has really changed.
- Alice tells him about not being able to remember: ‘HOW DOTH THE LITTLE BUSY BEE’
- The Caterpillar asks her to recite: ‘YOU ARE OLD, FATHER WILLIAM’
- The Caterpillar tells her that she has done it all wrong.
- They discuss Alice’s size.
- Alice is currently three inches shorter than she would like to be.
- The Caterpillar tells her that one side of the mushroom makes her grow big and the other small.
- Not knowing which side does which, Alice begins to experiment.
- First she grows small then her neck grows so tall that Alice is in the trees.
- A Pigeon in the trees calls Alice a serpent.
- Alice tries to explain that she’s a little girl.
- The Pigeon doesn’t believe her.
- She asks if Alice has eaten eggs.
- She explains that she has but little girls do eat eggs.
- The Pigeon asks why does it matter if she’s a serpent or a little girl.
- Alice says that it matters to her.
- Alice returns to the mushroom and begins nibbling at it until she is finally the right height.
- She then decides to visit a little house that is about four feet height.
- Alice eats some more mushroom until she is only nine inches in height.
Chapter VI. Pig and Pepper
- Hesitant, Alice stares at the house.
- A footman, who is a fish, knocks at the door and another footman, who is a frog, opened the door.
- The Fish-Footman produces a letter, the Queen has invited the Duchess to play croquet.
- The two footmen bow and get their curls entangled.
- Alice laughs and runs back into the woods incase they heard her.
- When Alice returns, the Frog-Footman is sitting on the ground near the door.
- Alice knocks on the door.
- The Frog-Footman tells her there’s no use knocking; he’s on the same side of the door as her and they couldn’t possibly hear.
- “And certainly there was a most extraordinary noise going on within- a constant howling and sneezing, and every now and then a great crash, as if a dish or kettle had been broken to pieces” (Carroll, 71).
- A plate comes out of the door and hits the Frog-Footman, he acts like nothing happened.
- Alice keeps trying to ask how to get in, and he isn’t being helpful.
- “‘It’s really dreadful,’ she muttered to herself, ‘the way all the creatures argue. It’s enough to drive one crazy!’” (Carroll, 73).
- Alice opens the door and ventures inside.
- “The door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from one end to the other: the Duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool in the middle, nursing a baby; the cook was leaning over the fire, sitting a large cauldron which seemed to be full of soup” (Carroll, 73).
- Alice remarks that there’s too much pepper in the soup.
- In the Duchess’s house is: the Duchess, Pig (who is a baby), the cook, and a grinning cat.
- Alice asks about the cat grinning.
- The Duchess replies that he’s a Cheshire Cat.
- “I didn’t know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn’t know that cats COULD grin” (Carroll, 74).
- The cook begins throwing cooking equipment, hitting the Duchess and the baby.
- Alice tries to stop her.
- The Duchess tells Alice to mind her own business.
- Alice remarks that there wouldn’t be an advantage to that and begins to flaunt her knowledge.
- The Duchess demands for someone to chop off her head.
- Alice looks at the Cook, who is unconcerned, Alice begins talking again.
- The Duchess interrupts Alice and sings to the baby.
‘Speak roughly to your little boy
And beat him when he sneezes:
He only does it to annoy,
Because he knows it teases.’
‘Wow! Wow! Wow!’ the cook and the baby say.
‘I speak severely to my boy,
I beat him when he sneezes;
For he can thoroughly enjoy
The pepper when he pleases!’
‘Wow! Wow! Wow!’ (Carroll, 76-77).
- The Duchess flings the baby to Alice, telling her that she could nurse him if she liked, and that she, the Duchess, must to get ready to meet the Queen.
- Alice has difficulty holding the baby.
- Alice leaves the house with the pig.
- The creatures grunts, Alice tells him off.
- The baby turns into a pig.
- Alice lets the pig go and he waddles off into the wood.
- Alice thinks about the people she knew who are practically pigs before seeing the Cheshire Cat in one of the trees.
- He grins when he sees her.
- Alice asks where she should go.
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where–’ said Alice.
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat (Carroll, 80).
- Alice decides to change the question to what sort of people live around here.
- The Cheshire Cat introducers her to the Hatter and the March Hare, who are both Mad.
- She doesn’t want to go among mad people.
- “‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’” (Carroll, 81).
- Alice asks him how he knows she is mad.
- He replies that she has to be in order to be here.
- She asks how he knows he is mad.
- The Cheshire Cat explains that a dog is a sane creature that growls when angry and wags his tail when he’s happy; the Cheshire Cat growls when happy and wags his tail when he is angry.
- The Cat changes the topic to the Queen and asks Alice if she is going to play croquet.
- Alice says that she hasn’t been invited.
- The Cheshire Cat tells her that she’ll see him there before vanishing.
- The Cat re-appears to ask about the baby.
- Alice tells him.
- He reveals that he thought so.
- The Cheshire Cat vanishes.
- Alice decides to go to the March Hare because she has seen hatters before and that since it is May, the March Hare might not be mad.
- The Cheshire Cat returns to clarify if she said pig or fig.
- Alice replies pig and asks him to stop appearing and disappearing.
- “‘All right,’ said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone.
‘Well! I’ve often see a cat without a grin,’ thought Alice; ‘but a grin without a cat! It’s the most
curious thing I ever saw in my life!’” (Carroll, 84).
- Alice arrives at the March Hare’s house.
- She readjusts her height with a bit of mushroom.
- She then wonders if it would have been better to have gone to the Hatter.
Chapter VII. A Mad Tea-Party
- “There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head” (Carroll, 85).
- Alice thinks that it must have been uncomfortable for the Dormouse.
- The three of them are crowded at the corner of the long table.
- When Alice approaches they yell: no room!
- She remarks that there is plenty of room.
- Alice sits at the table.
- March Hare tells her to have some wine.
- Alice couldn’t see any wine, only tea.
- That’s because there isn’t any wine.
- Alice remarks that it was rude to offer when there isn’t any.
- The March Hare retorts that it was rude for her to sit down without an invitation.
- Hatter informs Alice that her hair wants cutting.
- She remarks that personal comments are rude.
- “The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he SAID was, ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?” (Carroll, 86).
- Alice gets excited as she tries to think of an answer.
- The March Hare asks if she intends to find an answer.
- She wants to find an answer.
- “‘Then you should say what you mean,’ the March Hare went on.
“‘I do,’ Alice hastily replied; ‘at least–at least I mean what I say–that’s the same thing, you know.’”
(Carroll, 87).
- Hatter says that it isn’t the same thing.
- March Hare agrees with the Hatter.
- The Dormouse agrees with the example that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe.”
- Hatter concludes while Alice continues to think about the answer to the riddle.
- The Hatter breaks the silence by asking which day of the month it is and takes out a watch, holding it to his ear.
- Alice tells him it’s the fourth of May.
- The Hatter exclaims two days wrong and tells the March Hare they shouldn’t have put butter in the watch.
- The March Hare replies that it was the best butter.
- March Hare and Hatter discuss what could have gone wrong and dunk the watch in tea.
- Alice notices the watch is strange, it tells the date rather than o’clock.
- Hatter gets defensive.
- Alice explains that it’s funny that it would track a year because it takes so long to change.
- Hatter explains that’s what is wrong with his watch.
- She is puzzled and tells the Hatter that she’s confused.
- The Hatter points out that the Dormouse is asleep.
- The Dormouse talks in his sleep and makes an off topic remark.
- The Hatter asks if Alice has figured out the riddle.
- She doesn’t know.
- Neither does the Hatter or the March Hare.
- “‘If you knew Time as well as I do,’ said the Hatter, ‘you wouldn’t talk about wasting IT. It’s HIM’” (Carroll, 89).
- Alice says that she doesn’t understand and the Hatter says that she wouldn’t.
- She responds saying that she beats time with music.
- The Hatter says Time won’t stand for that.
- Hatter exclaims that it is half-past one, time for Dinner!
- March Hare wishes it was.
- Alice isn’t hungry.
- He says that you can keep time for as long as you like.
- Hatter doesn’t keep Time because he had an arguement with him before He went mad, he describes it was at the concert given by the Queen of Hearts and sings:
- Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you’re at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle- (Carroll, 92)
- The Dormouse sings a sleepy twinkle, twinkle…
- The Hatter continues his story in that the Queen threatened to cut of his head because he was murdering time.
- Since then it is always six o’clock.
- Alice puts it together and then asks if there is so much tea because it is always tea-time.
- Hatter says she is right.
- They keep moving around the table as things get used up.
- Alice asks what happens when they go back to the beginning.
- March Hare changes the subject, he wants Alice to tell a story.
- They wake up the Dormouse and encourage him to tell a story.
- The Dormouse begins telling a story about three sisters.
- Alice keeps interrupting the Dormouse with questions, such as “Why did they live at the bottom of a well?” (Carroll, 94)
- March Hare invites Alice to have more tea.
- She replies she hasn’t had any so she can’t have more.
- “‘You mean you can’t take LESS,’ said the Hatter: ‘it’s very easy to take MORE than nothing’” (Carroll, 94).
- Alice makes a snide remark.
- Hatter asks, “who’s making personal remarks now?” (Carroll, 94).
- Alice doesn’t know what to say.
- She tries to ask the Dormouse more questions about the story.
- The Dormouse, Hatter and March Hare tell Alice to be civil.
- Alice promises to behave.
- The Dormouse begins again and so did Alice’s questions.
- Hatter wants a clean cup.
- “He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the March Hare moved into the Dormouse’s place, and Alice rather unwillingly took the place of the March Hare,” (Carroll, 96).
- Alice notices that the only one to get an advantage is the Hatter.
- Alice began to press the Dormouse for more information and to explain things.
- Both Hatter and the Dormouse give explanations but it only makes Alice more confused.
- The Dormouse begins to drift off when the Hatter pinches him awake.
- The Dormouse sings: “—that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory and muchness—you know you say things are “much of a muchness”—did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?” (Carroll, 97).
- Alice interrupts, but the Hatter tells her to be silent.
- Alice can’t bear the rudeness and gets up; leaving the tea party, and occasionally looking back at them.
- The Dormouse falls asleep again and the others try to put him in a teapot.
- She swears that she’ll never return.
- Alice comes across a tree with a door in it.
- The door leads to a long hallway, she is back in the room with the glass table, key, cake, and the door that leads to the garden.
- She successfully opens the door then, “she found herself at last in the beautiful garden, among the bright flower-beds and the cool fountains” (Carroll, 98).
Chapter VIII. The Queen’s Croquet-Ground
- “A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red” (Carroll, 99).
- Alice comes closer, curious.
- She overhears a conversation between three gardeners; Two, Five, and Seven.
- They finally notices Alice and they bow to her.
- Alice asks them why they are painting the roses.
- They reveal that they had accidently planted white roses instead of red ones, so they decided to paint them otherwise the Queen will cut of their heads.
- The Queen is coming!
- Alice waits eagerly for her and the gardeners throw themselves flat on the floor.
- Soldiers come in, they are cards with the diamond pattern.
- Then ten royal children enter they are ornamented with hearts.
- Kings and Queens enter with the White Rabbit.
- The White Rabbit is acting nervous but smiling.
- The Knave of Hearts finally arrives with the King’s crown on a cushions.
- There is a grand procession.
- Alice decides to stand when she encounters the Queen.
- The Queen of Hearts ask who she, Alice, is to the Knave of Hearts.
- Alice answers politely.
- She then asks who the gardeners are, not knowing if they are her children.
- Alice says she doesn’t know.
- The Queen screams, “Off with her head! Off-” (Carroll, 103).
- Alice interrupts her and the Queen is silent.
- The King comforts the Queen; saying Alice is a child.
- The Queen turns her attention to the gardeners.
- The Knave of Hearts turns them after being commanded.
- The gardeners try to pay respects to royalty.
- The Queen yells at them to stop and demands to know what they’ve been doing.
- She figures it out and demands for their heads to be cut off.
- The parade moves on with three guards staying behind to execute them.
- The gardeners run to Alice who saves them by putting them in a large flower-pot.
- The Queen asks if their heads are off.
- The Queen asks if Alice can play croquet.
- Alice tries to talk when she’s next to the White Rabbit, she asks about the Duchess.
- The Rabbit tells her to hush and that she is to be executed.
- Alice tries to ask why.
- The Rabbit explains that she has boxed the Queen’s ears and tries to stop Alice after she starts laughing.
- The Queen demands that people should prepare for the game.
- The game begins.
- “Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-guard in her life; it was all ridges and furrows; the balls were live hedgehogs, and had to double themselves up and to stand on their hands and feet, to make the arches” (Carroll, 108).
- Alice has difficulty controlling her flamingo.
- The game is chaos without people taking turns.
- The Queen shouts for people to have their heads cut off.
- Alice becomes uneasy.
- As Alice thinks of escaping, she sees the Cheshire Cat.
- He asks how she’s doing.
- She puts down her flamingo down and waits for at least one of the cat’s ears to appear.
- Alice complains that the game is confusing, people are yelling at each other, and the Queen’s hedgehog moves.
- The Cheshire Cat asks how Alice likes the Queen of Hearts.
- She begins to talk but notices that the Queen is listening, “she’s so extremely—… likely to in, that it’s hardly worth while finishing the game” (Carroll, 1110).
- The King asks who Alice is talking to.
- Alice begins to introduce the two.
- The King doesn’t like the look of him but will allow the Cat to kiss his hand.
- The Cat doesn’t want to and the King calls him impertinent.
- Alice recalls a book.
- The King calls for the Cat to be removed, he turns to his wife.
- The Queen demands for the Cat’s head to be removed.
- Alice decides to turn back to the game.
- She’s still confused with the chaos and decides to search for her hedgehog.
- Seeing an opportunity with her hedgehog, she searches for a flamingo but returns to see the chance was gone.
- Alice ventures back to the Cheshire Cat: “she was surprised to find quite a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute going on between the executioner, the King, and the Queen, who were all talking at one, while all the rest were quite silent, and looked very uncomfortable” (Carroll, 113).
- They are arguing because only the head of the Cat appears smiling over them.
- Executioner: You need a body in order to cut off a head.
- King: Anything with a head can be beheaded.
- Queen: If someone didn’t do something then they will all be executed.
- Alice raises the point that the Cat belongs to the Duchess.
- They fetch the Duchess, and by the time they return, the Cheshire Cat is gone.
Chapter IX. The Mock Turtle’s Story
- The Duchess is glad to see Alice.
- Alice is pleased to see that the Duchess is calm, perhaps the pepper made her into a savage.
- Alice declares to herself that she wouldn’t eat pepper if she ever became a Duchess and rambles on about how seasoning can affect behaviour.
- The Duchess brings back Alice’s mind, “Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it” (Carroll, 117).
- The Duchess gets close to Alice tucking her arm round hers, much to Alice’s dislike.
- They talk about the game.
- Duchess says: “And the moral of this is—’Oh, ‘tis love, ‘tis love, that makes the world go round!” (Carroll, 118).
- Alice whispers that someone says it is done everybody minding their business.
- The Duchess thinks it means the same thing.
- The Duchess explains that she doesn’t wrap around her waist because of Alice’s flamingo.
- Alice warns that he might bite.
- “Flamingoes and mustard both bite. And the moral of that is—‘Birds of a feather flock together’” (Carroll, 118).
- Alice points out that mustard isn’t a bird.
- The Duchess compliments Alice.
- Alice reveals her suspicion that mustard is a mineral, the Duchess agrees.
- Alice is sure it’s a vegetable, the Duchess agrees.
- “Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise” (Carroll, 119).
- Alice doesn’t understand and thinks that she needs to write it down.
- The Duchess and Alice discuss the trouble of it.
- The Duchess offers a present of everything she has said
- Alice says that’s a cheap present.
- Duchess asks if she’s thinking again.
- They discuss their right to think until the Duchess suddenly stops in front of the Queen.
- The Queen threatens that either her head or herself must go; the Duchess leaves.
- The Queen and Alice continue their game.
- The other guests are taking a break in the shade, but they return to the game after they see the Queen.
- The chaos continues until the only people left who haven’t been taken away to be executed is the King, the Queen and Alice.
- The Queen asks Alice if she has met the Mock Turtle.
- Alice says she doesn’t know what a Mock Turtle is.
- She explains that it’s what makes Mock Turtle soup; Alice still doesn’t know.
- The Queen leads Alice away.
- The King pardons everyone.
- The Queen takes Alice to a Gryphon.
- He is to take Alice to hear the Mock Turtle’s history.
- The Gryphon wakes up from sleeping in the sun and calls the Queen fun after she leaves.
- He clarifies that they never actually execute anyone.
- Alice complains that everyone is ordering her about.
- “They had not gone far before they saw the Mock Turtle in the distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and, as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break” (Carroll, 123).
- Alice asks what happened to him.
- Gryphon says that he hasn’t got any sorrow.
- The Mock Turtle says that he will tell his story and for them to sit down. They must be silent while he talks.
- After several moments, the Mock Turtle begins with how he was a real turtle once.
- After a while, he takes a long pause and Alice thanks him while thinking that there must be more.
- He continues to talk about when he was a school boy, there was a master Turtle that they called Tortoise.
- Alice asks why.
- He angrily explains in a nonsensical way.
- The Gryphon adds that Alice should be ashamed for asking a simple question.
- “They both sat silent and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth” (Carroll, 126).
- The Mock Turtle continues.
- Alice interrupts and the others tell her to hold her tongue.
- The Mock Turtle talks about his days at school.
- Alice interrupts, she’s been to school so he doesn’t need to be that proud.
- They argue over subjects and which went to a better school.
- Alice has never heard of one of Mock Turtle’s subject: uglification.
- The Gryphon is surprised and asks if Alice knows about what to beautiful is.
- Alice says she does.
- The Gryphon repeats that Alice is simple.
- Alice changes the subject and asks the Mock Turtle about his other subjects.
- She asks him to show her fainting in coils, one of his subjects.
- The Mock Turtle is too stiff and the Gryphon never learned.
- They talk about what the Gryphon learned.
- They discuss the how many hours of lessons they did each day.
- Mock Turtle explains he had ten on the first day and nine on the next because “they lessen from day to day” (Carroll, 129).
- The eleventh day is a break so Alice asks about the twelfth day.
- The Gryphon changes the subject and tells Mock Turtle inform her about games.
Chapter X. The Lobster Quadrille
- The Mock Turtle begins to weep again so he couldn’t speak.
- The Mock Turtle asks Alice questions about sea-life and concludes that she hasn’t seen a Lobster Quadrille.
- The Mock Turtle and Gryphon argue as they try to explain the dance.
- The dance is the same but with lobsters next to the seashore.
- Alice says the dance must be pretty.
- They offer to demonstrate the dance.
- The Gryphon and Mock Turtle dance around Alice and the Mock Turtle sings.
“Will you walk a little faster?” said a
whiting to a snail.
“There’s a porpoise close behind us. and
he’s treading on my tail.
See how eagerly the lobsters and the tur-
tles all advance!
They are waiting on the shingle—will you
come and join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t
you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t
you, won’t you join the dance?
“You can really have no notion how
delightful it will be
When they take us and throw us, with
the lobsters out to sea!”
But the snail replied “Too far, too far!” and
gave a look askance—
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he
would not join the dance.
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t
you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t
you, won’t you join the dance?
“What matters it how far we go?” his scaly
friend replied.
“There is another shore, you know, upon
the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is
to France—
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come
and join the dance.
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t
you, will you join the dance?
Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t
you, won’t you join the dance?” (Carroll, 135)
- Alice compliments the dance and song.
- The Mock Turtles asks if she has seen lobsters before.
- Alice almost accidently said that she has eaten them for dinner.
- They talk about the appearance of lobsters and the Mock Turtle mentions that lobsters put their tail in their mouths.
- The Gryphon explains: “They WOULD go with the lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So they had to fall a long way. So they got their tails fast in their mouths. So they couldn’t get them out again” (Carroll, 136).
- They talk about whiting and how is called that because it “does” the boots and shoes.
- The Gryphon further explains that it makes shoes shiney.
- Alice replies that she blackens her shoes.
- The Gryphon explains that boots and shoes under the sea are done with a whiting.
- Whiting is made of soles and eels.
- Alice thinks back to the song and would have said, if she were the whiting, “Keep back, please: we don’t want YOU with us!”(Carroll, 137).
- The Mock Turtle corrects her as whiting are obligated and that fish wouldn’t go anywhere without a purpoise.
- Alice tries to correct him as purpose.
- The Mock Turtle gets offended.
- Alice is asked to tell a story.
- She decides to tell her adventure, “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then” (Carroll, 138).
- Mock Turtle wants her to explain.
- The Gryphon wants the adventures first.
- Alice recants her wonders in Wonderland.
- Both the Gryphon and Mock Turtle find the story curious.
- The Mock Turtle wants Alice to repeat something.
- The Gryphon tries to make Alice repeat: TIS THE VOICE OF THE SLUGGARD.
- Alice angrily thinks to herself how they’re so bosy and how it’s like school.
- She gets up and began to repeat but started to mix it up with the Lobster Quadrille.
“Tis the voice of the Lobster;
I heard him declare,
“You have baked me too brown, I must
sugar my hair.”
As a duck with its eyelids, so he with is
nose
Trims his belt and his buttons, and
turns out his toes.
When the sand are all dry, he is gay as a
lark,
And will talk in contemptuous tones of
the Shark,
But, when the tide rises and sharks are
around,
His voice has a timid and tremulous
sound. (Carroll, 140)
- The Gryphon notices that it is different from what he said as a child.
- The Mock Turtle hasn’t heard it before but “it sounds uncommon nonsense” (Carroll, 140).
- Alice sits with her face in her hands, wondering if things will ever return to normal.
- Mock Turtle wants her to explain.
- Gryphon says she can’t and encourages her to continue.
- The Mock turtle asks about the Lobster’s toes.
- Alice explains that it’s the first position in dancing.
- The Gryphon encourages her to continue again.
- Alice timidly continues.
‘I passed by his garden, and marked, with
one eye,
How the Owl and the Panther were
sharing a pie—’
The Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and
meat,
While the Owl had the dish as its
share of the treat.
When the pie was all finished, the Owl, as
a boon,
Was kindly permitted to pocket the
spoon:
While the Panther received knife and fork
with a growl,
And concluded the banquet— (Carroll, 142)
- The Mock turtle interrupts saying that there’s no use in repeating, she needs to explain.
- The Gryphon suggests a change of subject.
- They all agree that the Mock Turtle should sing “Turtle Soup.”
‘Beautiful Soup, so rich and green,
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!
Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup
Beau—ootiful Soo—oop!
Beau—ootiful Soo—oop!
Soo—oop of the e—e—evening,
Beautiful, beautiful Soup!
‘Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish,
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?
Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?
Beau—ootiful Soo—oop!
Beau—ootiful Soo—oop!
Soo—oop of the e—e—evening,
Beautiful, beauti—FUL SOUP!’ (Carroll, 143).
- The Gryphon asks him to repeat the chorus.
- They hear “the trial’s beginning!” from a distance.
- The Gryphon takes Alice by the hand and the two run.
Chapter XI. Who Stole the Tarts?
- “The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them—all sorts of little birds and breasts, as well as the whole pack of cards: the Knave was standing before them, in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard him; and near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other. In the very middle of the court was a table, with a large dish of tarts upon it” (Carroll, 144).
- Alice hopes the trial gets on quickly so she can have the refreshments.
- The judge for the court is the King.
- Alice goes on to describe the members of the court, like the jurors who are different creatures.
- The jury are writing their names on their slates.
- She asks the Gryphon why and he replies that they fear that they’ll forget by the end of the trial.
- Alice exclaims: Stupid things!
- The White Rabbit cries out for silence in the court.
- Alice continues to think about the jurors writing their names.
- One of the jurors is using a squeaky pencil, it is Bill the Lizard.
- Alice sneaks up behind him and steals his pencil.
- He is forced to write with his finger for the rest of the trials.
- The White Rabbit reads the accusation.
‘The Queen of Hearts, she made some
tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of HEarts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!’ (Carroll, 148)
- The King asks the jury to consider the verdict.
- The White Rabbit interrupts, there’s more that needs to be addressed..
- The King calls for the first witness.
- The Hatter comes in as the first witness with a tea cup and bread-and-butter. He enters with the March Hare and the Dormouse.
- The Hatter apologises, he hadn’t finished his tea before being presented in front of the court.
- The King asks when he began.
- Hatter says fourteenth of March.
- March Hare corrects to the fifteenth.
- Dormouse corrects to the sixteenth.
- The King tells the jury to write it down.
- They do and they reduce their answer to shillings and pence.
- The King asks for the Hatter to take off his hat.
- The Hatter says it isn’t his before explaining that he’s a hatter, he has none of his own.
- The King calls him a thief.
- The Queen stares through spectacles.
- The King asks for evidence or he’ll execute him.
- Uncomfortable, the Hatter returns the stare of the Queen and accidently bites a chunk out of his teacup rather than bread-and-butter.
- Alice begins to feel curious.
- The Dormouse, who’s sitting between people, one of which is Alice, complains about being squished.
- Alice explains that she’s growing.
- The Dormouse tells her to stop and she boldly replies that he’d growing as well.
- He comments on the rate before moving seats.
- The Queen continues to stare at the Hatter.
- She calls for a list of singers in the last concert.
- Feeling nervous, the Hatter took off both shoes.
- The King asks the Hatter again for evidence.
- The Hatter rambles and tries to think, he mentions the twinkling of tea.
- They are confused over a pun.
- Hatter attempts to try and explain himself again.
- His ramblings pull in the March Hare, saying he said—
- The March Hare denies it.
- The King asks the others to omit that part.
- He replaces the March Hare with the Dormouse who is fast asleep.
- He continues his story of cutting bread-and-butter.
- The King asks for what the Dormouse said.
- The Hatter can’t remember.
- The King doesn’t understand why he can’t remember.
- The Hatter drops his teacup and bread-and-butter.
- The King notes that the Hatter is a poor speaker.
- A guinea-pig cheers before being silenced.
- Alice interprets his silencing as someone being suppressed by the officers of the court.
- The King allows him to stand down, he can’t, so he lets him sit down.
- Hatter wants to finish his tea and looks at the Queen who is reading the list of singers.
- The King excuses him.
- The Hatter scampers out of the court without his shoes.
- The Queen tells one of the officers to take of his head outside but the Hatter was already out of sight.
- The King calls for the next witness.
- The Duchess’s cook comes in with a pepper-box that causes the courtroom to sneeze.
- The King asks for evidence.
- The cook refuses.
- The White Rabbit takes control and tells the King to cross-examine the witness.
- The King asks what the tarts are made of.
- Mostly pepper, she answers.
- The Dormouse interrupts with “treacle.”
- The Queen demands for the Dormouse to be thrown out of court.
- By the time they settle, the cook has disappeared.
- The King calls for the next witness.
- He asks his wife to cross examine the next witness as it makes his forehead ache.
- “Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled over the list, feeling very curious to see what the next witness would be like, ‘—for they haven’t got much evidence YET,’ she said to herself. Imagine her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name ‘Alice!’ (Carroll, 156).
Chapter XII. Alice’s Evidence
- Alice cries out that she’s here and makes her way to the witness stand.
- She has forgotten how much she has grown.
- “She jumped up in such a hurry that she tipped over the jury-box with the edge of her skirt, upsetting all the jurymen on to the heads of the crowd below, and there they lay sprawling about, reminding her very much of the globe of goldfish she had accidentally upset the week before” (Carroll, 157).
- Alice excuses herself and tries to help.
- The King emphasizes that the trial cannot continue until all the jurymen are in their seat.
- She soon settles everything.
- The Jury soon settles and writes down the incident.
- Apart from Bill who is too traumatised.
- The King asks Alice what she knows.
‘Nothing WHATEVER?’ persisted the King.
‘Nothing whatever,’ said Alice.
‘That’s very important,’ the King said, turning to the jury.
- The White Rabbit corrects him as UNimportant.
- Some of the jury write important and the other write unimportant.
- Alice thinks that it doesn’t matter one bit.
- The King writes in his notebook before reading out: ‘Rule Forty-two. ALL PERSONS MORE THAN A MILE HIGH TO LEAVE THE COURT’ (Carroll, 160).
- Alice argues she’s not a mile high.
- The Queen says she’s two.
- Alice then brings up that it’s a made up rule, but the King says that it is the oldest rule in the book.
- She questions why the rule isn’t number one.
- The King asks the jury to make up their mind.
- The White Rabbit interrupts as he brings in an unopened letter from the prisoner to somebody.
- The King notes it could be for nobody.
- They ask who it’s directed to.
- The White Rabbit opens the letter to a verse.
- They notice that the handwriting doesn’t belong to the prisoner.
- The King suggests he could have imitated somebody else’s handwriting.
- The Knave swears he didn’t write the letter and that there isn’t a name signed at the bottom.
- The King says it made matters worse, and that the Knave must have mischief on his mind.
- The audience applauds the King’s cleverness.
- The Queen concludes that he’s guilty.
- Alice disagrees.
- The King asks the White Rabbit to read them.
- ‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop” (Carroll, 163).
- The White Rabbit reads:
‘They told me you had been to her,
And mentioned me to him:
She gave me a good character,
But said I could not swim.
He sent them word I had not gone
(We know it to be true):
If she should push the matter on,
What would become of you?
I gave her one, they gave him two,
You gave us three or more;
They all returned from him to you,
Thought they were mine before.
If I or she should chance to be
Involved in this affair,
He trusts to you to set them free,
Exactly as we were.
My notion was that you had been
(Before she had this fit)
An obstacle that came between
Him, and ourselves, and it.
Don’t let him know she liked them best,
For this must ever be
A secret, kept from all the rest,
Between yourself and me.’ (Carroll, 164).
- The King declares this the most important information yet.
- Alice doesn’t believe there’s any meaning of it as she grew bold because of her height.
- The jury writes what Alice says: “SHE doesn’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it” (Carroll, 164)
- The King disagrees with Alice and uses the line about swimming, he asks the Knave if he can swim?
- They all discuss the lines of the verses and their applicability to the Knave.
- The King pushes the relevance and Alice emphasizes that the lines contradicts his points.
- They suspect the tarts reference to what the speaker had returned
- The King brings up a line about fits.
- He turns to his wife and asks if she has fits.
- She screams “Never!” as she throws an inkstand at Bill.
- The King realises the words don’t fit her, he then determines it as a pun.
- He asks the jury for their verdict.
- “‘No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Sentence first—verdict afterwards” (Carroll, 166).
- Alice proclaims it as nonsense.
- The Queen demands her silence and Alice refuses.
‘Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved.
‘Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’
- The cards rise in the air and fall on her, causing Alice to scream in anger
and fear.
- As she beats them off, she finds herself back on the bank with her head on the lap of her sister.
- Her sister is trying to lull her awake.
- Alice tries to tell her of her adventures in Wonderland.
- Her sister reassures her and lets her know that it is tea time.
- Alice “ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been” (Carroll, 169).
- Her sister sits still as she watches her little sister run off.
- Alice’s sister begins to dream of little Alice.
- All of the major characters reappear while she keeps her eyes closed.
- Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the aftertime, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would father about her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own her own child-life, and the happy summer days. (Carroll 171)
THE END
Significance of the Text:
This text explores the natural curiosity of a child’s mind. It emphasizes how sometimes things that make no sense can make perfect sense to others. Alice herself grows from a character that acts relatively humble to a proud girl who isn’t afraid to argue with a Queen. This can be interpreted as a person changing and trying to define themselves in the chaotic world we live in.
Another thing that is essential to keep in mind is that this text is made deliberately for children. It is meant to be an exciting adventure that’s unpredictable with curious rules. Whilst some may take the events and the growth of each of the characters as a philosophical remark about identity, another lense must be considered as it is meant to be entertaining and relatable to children who wanted to explore the adventures of Wonderland.
Interesting Tidbit:
As mentioned before, it is essential to remember the intended audience of the novel. Lewis Carroll, his real name is Ludwige Dodgson, wrote this story for Alice Liddell. Alice is the daughter of Henry Liddell who is a good friend to the author. Dodgson would tell Alice and her sisters stories and eventually, their influence caused him to write Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. However, Dodgson had a fall out with Henry Liddle after he saw some of the photographs that Dodgson had taken of Alice. A more indepth examination of the real life influences to Dodgson’s work can be found in The Story of Alice by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst.
Where you can Purchase Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alices-Adventures-Wonderland-Lewis-Carroll/dp/1447279999/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1452435956&sr=8-2&keywords=alice+in+wonderland
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Wonderland-Through-Looking-Glass-Classics/dp/0553213458/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1452435934&sr=8-4&keywords=alice+in+wonderland
Read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Free:
http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Wonderland-Through-Looking-Glass-Classics/dp/0553213458/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1452435934&sr=8-4&keywords=alice+in+wonderland
Works Cited:
Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. New York: Scholastic, 1989. Print.
Word Count: 13,500
2
![hamletmachine-05[1]](https://megalomaniacwriter.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/hamletmachine-051.png?w=660&h=646)
2
![hamletmachine-05[1]](https://megalomaniacwriter.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/hamletmachine-051.png?w=660)
The Cheshire Cat reappears and she asks him where she should go. 
Megalomaniac Writer 