Through the Looking-Glass

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Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a work of children's literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, although it makes no reference to its events. In it, there are many mirror themes, including opposites, time running backwards, and so on.

Contents

[edit] Chess

Whereas the first book has the deck of cards as a theme, this book is loosely based on a game of chess, played on a giant chessboard with fields for squares. While the game described (a list of moves is included) cannot be carried out legally due to a move where white doesn't move out of check - this is much as might happen if a young child were playing. Also the sequence of moves (white and red) is not always followed, which goes along with the book's mirror image reversal theme as noted by mathematician and author Martin Gardner.

Carroll lived at Beckley, overlooking Otmoor: and the chessboard theme is believed to have been inspired by the characteristic field pattern resulting from its enclosure and drainage.

[edit] Recycled characters

The Mad Hatter and the March Hare make an appearance as the Hatta and Haigha (pronounced as the English would have pronounced "hatter" and "hare"). However, Alice does not recognise them, which is unnatural, since she had such a horrible time at the Mad Tea Party. Furthermore, no reference to the Mad Hatter and the March Hare is actually written. They are only pictured (by Sir John Tenniel, not by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) to resemble their Wonderland counterparts and, as such, may be considered as mere dead ringers. Furthermore, Hatta is a messenger, while the Mad Hatter is a hatter.

One explanation may be that Alice forgot all about them (in fact, she did forget her own name, in The Wood Where Things Have No Name).

Another one could be that Hatta and Haigha are mirrored versions of their Wonderland foils. Note that, in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, the Mad Hatter is expressing concerns and affection for his friend, who became mad in march. While, in Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There, it is Haigha inquiring about Hatta's well-being.

A third explanation might be that, due to his meddling with The Time and possibly his death sentence (which are explained in the previous book), the Mad Hatter may have gone/fled/been banished to the Looking-Glass world, where chronological order is reversed.

A fourth explanation is that, since chronology is reversed in the Looking-Glass world, Alice has not yet met them in Wonderland and, so, cannot remember them here - which, again, is doubtful, since she did not mention them to Dinah and her kittens, at the end of the book.

Finally, Hatta and Haigha may appear in Through The Looking-Glass simply beacause "The Dreamer" dreamed about them. This "Dreamer" is not identified and is hinted to be Alice or the Red King, but may simply be Dodgson himself(remember the central part of the last poem : Still she haunts me phantomwise/Alice moving under skies/Never seen by waking eyes).

In fact, the Mad Hatter/Hatta and the March Hare/Haigha have led to much controversy about Wonderland and the Looking-Glass world being or not in the same universe or, at least, connected other by simply their heroine.

"Dinah", Alice's cat, also makes a return - this time with her two kittens.

Though she does not appear, Alice's sister is mentioned.

Furthermore, in both Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There, there are puns and quid pro quos about two non-existing characters : Nobody and Somebody.

Paradoxally, the gnat calls Alice an old friend, though it was never introduced in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. However, this could just be due to the fact that chronology is reversed in the Looking-Glass world : the gnat may consider Alice an old friend simply because they will spend some time together later.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Alice ponders what the world is like on the other side of a mirror, and to her surprise, is able to pass through to experience this world. She discovers a book with looking-glass poetry, "Jabberwocky", which she can read only by holding it up to a mirror. Upon leaving the house, she enters a garden, where the flowers speak to her and mistake her for a flower. There, Alice also meets the Red Queen, who offers a throne to Alice if she just moves to the eighth rank in a chess match. Alice is placed as the White Queen's pawn, and begins the game by taking a train to the fourth rank, since pawns in chess can move two spaces on the first move.

Red King snoring, by John Tenniel
Enlarge
Red King snoring, by John Tenniel

She then meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, of whom she knows from the famous nursery rhyme. After reciting to her the long poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter", the two proceed to act out the events of their own poem. Alice continues on to meet the White Queen, who is very absent-minded and later transforms into a sheep.

The following chapter details her meeting with Humpty Dumpty, who explains to her the meaning of "Jabberwocky", before his inevitable fall from the wall. This is followed by an encounter with the Lion and the Unicorn, who again proceed to act out a nursery rhyme. She is then rescued from the Red Knight by the White Knight, who many consider to be a representation of Lewis Carroll himself.

At this point, she reaches the eight rank and becomes a queen, and by capturing the Red Queen, puts the Red King (who has remained stationary throughout the book) into checkmate. She then awakes from her dream (if it was a dream), and blames her black kitten (the white kitten was wholly innocent) for the mischief caused by the story. The two kittens are the children of Dinah, Alice's cat in the first book.

[edit] Poems and songs

[edit] "Hidden Parts: The Wasp in a Wig"

At the suggestion of his illustrator, John Tenniel, Lewis Carroll decided to suppress a scene involving what was described as the "wasp in the wig". In a letter to Carroll, dated June 1, 1870, Tenniel wrote:

"... I am bound to say that the ‘wasp’ chapter does not interest me in the least, and I can’t see my way to a picture. If you want to shorten the book, I can’t help thinking – with all submission – that this is your opportunity."

For many years no one had any idea what this missing section was or whether it had survived. In the mid 1970s, a document purporting to be the galley proofs of the missing section was sold at Sotheby's. Its contents were subsequently published in Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, and is also available as a hardback book The Wasp In A Wig - A Suppressed Episode ... (Clarkson Potter, MacMillan & Co.; 1977).

The 'rediscovered' section describes Alice's encounter with a wasp wearing an old barrister's wig. At the time of its appearance some experts expressed doubts over its authenticity. Questions were raised about the quality of the writing and the authenticity of the handwritten annotations. No scientific tests have yet been performed on the document to determine its age or other marks of authenticity, however this has not prevented its being widely accepted as genuine by most experts.

[edit] Adaptations

  • A silent movie adaptation, "Alice Through a Looking Glass", was made in 1928.
  • The book was adapted into a TV musical in 1966, with songs by Moose Charlap, and Judi Rolin in the role of Alice. [1]
  • The book was adapted into a BBC TV movie, "Alice Through the Looking Glass", in 1974, with Sarah Sutton playing Alice.
  • The book was adapted into an animated TV movie in 1987, with Janet Waldo as the voice of Alice (Mr. T was the voice of the Jabberwock).
  • A second BBC movie, with the same name as the first, was produced in 1998, with Kate Beckinsale playing the role of Alice. [2]
  • A live musical, "Alice Through the Looking Glass", with music by Stephen Daltry, was produced in 2000.

[edit] External links

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