Queen of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
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The Queen of Hearts is a character from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by the mathematician Lewis Carroll. She is a foul-tempered monarch, that Carrol himself pictured as "a blind fury", and who is quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offence. Her most famous line, one which she repeats often, is "Off with their heads!"
The Queen is referred to as a card from a pack of playing cards by Alice, yet somehow she is able to talk and is the ruler of the lands in the story. She is often confused with the Red Queen from the sequel, Through the Looking Glass.
Alice is recommended, by three gardening playing cards (who are painting roses so that they are the right colour for the Queen), to drop down on the ground in order to avoid being confronted by her. She is confused, and having never met the Queen, ignores this advice. When the Queen arrives and asks Alice who is lying on the ground(since the backs of all playing cards look alike), Alice tells her that she does not know. The Queen then becomes frustrated and commands that her head be severed. She is deterred by her comparitively moderate husband by being reminded that Alice is only a child.
Generally, however, the Queen demands that everything is perfect, and, if for some reason, something goes wrong, you can be sure anyone involved will be sentenced to be beheaded. For instance:
- The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off with his head!' she said, without even looking round.
One of the Queen's hobbies besides ordering executions is croquet, however it is Wonderland croquet where the balls are live hedgehogs and the mallets are flamingos. This is presumably with the aim that the birds' blunt beaks should strike, but, as Alice observes, it is complicated by the fact that they keep looking back up at the players- as well as the hedgehogs' tendency to scuttle away without waiting to be hit. The Queen's soldiers act as the arches (or hoops) on the croquet grounds, but have to leave off being arches every time the Queen orders an execution in order to drag away the victim, so that, by the end of the game in the story, the only players that remain are the Queen herself, the King and Alice.
Despite the frequency of death sentences, it would appear few people are actually beheaded. The King of Hearts quietly pardons many of his subjects when the Queen is not looking, and her soldiers humour her but do not carry out her orders. Nevertheless, all creatures in Wonderland fear the Queen. In the final chapters, the Queen sentences Alice again (for defending the Knave of Hearts) and she offers an interesting approach towards justice: sentence before verdict.
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[edit] American McGee's Alice
In the video game American McGee's Alice, the Queen of Hearts (also referred to as the 'Red Queen') is the final boss and the reason for Wonderland's decay. When Alice fights her, she discovers that the Queen is her dark side and she must be destroyed in order for her to become sane once more. The Queen's appearance is different in American McGee's Alice. She appears to be a large insect rather than a person.
[edit] The Looking Glass Wars
In The Looking Glass Wars, the Queen of Hearts is reimagined as Queen Redd, the enemy and aunt of the heroine, Alyss. She kills Alyss' parents and usurps the throne of Wonderland.
It should be noted that the Queen of Hearts in this story is actually Alyss' mother. Alyss is, therefore, the Princesss of Hearts.
[edit] Disney
In the Disney animated feature, Alice in Wonderland, the Queen appears as Alice puts it, as a "fat, pompous, bad tempered old tyrant". Her presence is all the more striking because of how tiny her husband is made to look in comparison to her. Similar to the book, Alice meets three cards painting the roses red. When the Queen arrives she challenges Alice into a game of croquet. The game is eventually spoiled by the Cheshire Cat. The Queen blames Alice for it and holds a trial for the fate of her head. The Queen calls the March Hare, the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse to witness, who hold an unbirthday party for her. During the party, the Cheshire Cat reappears and upsets the Dormouse. The mouse runs all over, and in attempt to crush the mouse the King of Hearts manages to hit the Queen with a hammer. The Queen, of course, blames Alice for it, and is going to have her beheaded. But Alice eats mushrooms she earlier got, which make her grow bigger, so although rule #42 says anyone more than a mile high must leave the court immediately, Alice feels free to call the queen a "fat, pompous, bad tempered old tyrant". Unfortunately, she subsequently shrinks down to her normal size, but flees and is able to escape.
Of interest is the fact that this version of the Queen seems to be an amalagamation of the Queen from the book, the Duchess, and the Red Queen of Through The Looking-Glass. When pleased, she can be quite pleasant, but can almost at once change to enraged. The Queen is voiced by Verna Felton.
The Queen of Hearts extracts her revenge upon Alice in the game Disney's Villains' Revenge where she stole the ending page of the story and change the ending, so Alice lost her head. Jiminy Cricket, the player and Alice's headless body retrieve the head and escape the labyrinth of the queen. They meet one last time in the final battle and she surrenders.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts series
- See also: Kingdom Hearts series
[edit] Kingdom Hearts
The Queen also appeares in the Disney Interactive-Square Enix video game Kingdom Hearts. In this game she is convinced that Alice tried to steal her heart, and declares she be beheaded. Sora, Donald and Goofy appear and stop her. They tell her that they know who the real culprit is (they suspect the Heartless). The Queen demands they bring her proof, but once the three return with a handful of evidence, the Queen disregards it and orders her card soldiers to attack. Sora and pals defeat the cards, but during the battle Alice is kidnapped. The Queen orders Sora to find Alice, but the Cheshire Cat tells him that she has been taken away into darkness. The Queen is played by veteran voice actress Tress MacNeille in the English version, and by Sumie Ozawa in the Japanese version.
[edit] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
The Queen also appeares in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, created from Sora's memories of Wonderland. The Queen puts Alice under trial for purportedly aiding the Heartless. It also seems the Queen's memory was stolen. Sora puts himself forward as the thief to take away the blame from Alice, and thus the cards attack him. Afterwards, Alice goes missing, and the cards attack again. Running away from them, Sora finds Alice. Afterwards, the Queen orders Sora to tell her where the Heartless came from, and when he's unable to answer, orders his arrest. Alice reminds the Queen of her "asking" him to stop the Heartless. The Queen, not wanting to ruin her dignity, pretends she did just that and leaves with her guards.
[edit] 1999 TV movie
In the 1999 Alice in Wonderland television movie, the Queen of Hearts is played by Miranda Richardson, whose portrayal is strongly rememicent of her role as the spoiled Queenie in Blackadder.
| Preceded by Lady Tremaine (Cinderella) |
Walt Disney Animated Classics Main Villain Alice in Wonderland |
Succeeded by Captain Hook (Peter Pan) |
