Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [100]
“That Would Be Nonsense”: Alice may be remembering that she successfully defied the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland by declaring her royal proceedings to be “nonsense.” Things are not so simple here, however, and the Red Queen is a far more canny adversary!
“I Wish I Was One of Them”: Again, Alice desires something to be true, and so it is. The Red Queen smiles upon her, and allows Alice to enter play as a White Pawn—perhaps believing that Alice’s naiveté will improve the Red Queen’s chance of winning, and so ruling all of Looking-Glass Land. Alice, then, is a Pawn in every sense of the word.
“Faster! Faster!”: The theme of pastoral Wonderland was one of a hegemonic monarchy, represented by the rule of the Queen of Hearts. Timelessness was the nature of the land (exemplified by the Mad Tea-Party, where time never changes). In Looking-Glass Land, however, there are two competing monarchies, and time is of the essence. The land is in turmoil, and everything is about rushing, change, and the obsessions of timekeeping. Wonderland (with its paths and forests) represents pastoral Merry Olde England, while Looking-Glass Land (with its artificial landscape and trains) represents Victorian England, caught up in the throes of the Industrial Revolution.
“One of the Knights Will Show You the Way”: Ominously, the Red Queen is implying that she knows that two chivalrous Knights, White and Red, will fight over Alice. By saying that one of the Knights will show Alice the way to the palace, she means either that the White Knight will win, and guide Alice onward; or, the Red Knight will be victorious, and Alice will be taken before the Red Queen as a fairly-earned prisoner of war.
“She Can Run Very Fast”: In chess, the Queens are the most powerful and mobile pieces in the game, being able to move an unlimited number of squares in any of the eight directions.
Chapter III
Alice on the Train: This clever illustration is a reference to the Millais painting, “My First Sermon,” which shows a young child in Alice’s pose, caught in another (very uncomfortable) adult situation. The background of the carriage is from August Leopold Egg’s painting, “The Travelling Companions.”
“Tickets, Please!”: As an astute reader of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will remember, the three lines of asterisks denote those moments when Alice becomes disoriented, or her body’s shape is changing. Here, there is a change that occurs when she leaps over the brook. She has just crossed from one chessboard square into the next, and in so doing has vanished and appeared on a Looking-Glass train heading north. Her first encounter is with the Guard, a conductor responsible for ticket checking.
“A Thousand Pounds a Minute”: As we have seen through Alice’s encounter with the Red Queen, Looking-Glass Land is certainly a place where people are obsessed with haste, rushing and progress. The unified voices in the railway carriage represent “the people,” caught up in the rush of technological Victorian life. But where the Queen was concerned with time, these people are simply obsessed with money.
“You’re Travelling the Wrong Way”: After the Guard scrutinizes Alice, he tells her that she is moving in the wrong direction. This is actually quite disconcerting, when we consider that Alice is a White Pawn in the chess game, and can only move in a single direction! The Guard has probably sensed that Alice is (unknowingly) serving the purposes of the manipulative Red Queen, instead of the White.
The Gentleman in the Papers: The illustrated man is Benjamin Disraeli, the famous politician who was certainly in the newspapers!
The Passengers on the Train: As the train is filled with various and sundry creatures going about their business, the identities of those sharing Alice’s railway carriage (Man, Goat, Beetle, Horse and Gnat) tell us much about the nature