Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [105]
“There’s Some Enemy After Her”: The White King has a rather bored and passing interest in ceremonial battle. He is quite unconcerned with his Queen being chased by enemies, because the chess match is merely a game, after all. Similarly, he is very casual in his regard to the ritual sparring between the Lion and the Unicorn, and seems quite shocked when Alice asks if his crown is at stake. Of course, the game is far more serious than the White King realizes!
The Nature of the Child: Alice is something of a peculiarity in the fantastical realm of Looking-Glass Land, being “only” a little girl. There is nothing else quite like her. The March Hare does not recognize her (perhaps as a result of the time-distortion he was trapped in at the Mad Tea-Party), but the Unicorn has never seen anything quite like her. Carroll twists this situation around to masterful effect, where the bored and fantastic Unicorn is utterly awed by the existence of something so mundane and un-impossible as a human child from the “imaginary” land of England.
“Fetch Out the Plum-Cake, Old Man!”: In the finest Scottish tradition, the Unicorn is completely unconcerned with showing deference to the harmless little King! (Best of all, the King takes it.)
Twice As Much for the Lion: The Lion, of course, has taken the lion’s share of the cake!
Chapter VIII
“Ahoy! Ahoy! Check!”: In moving into Alice’s square, the Red Knight has captured the White Pawn (Alice), while simultaneously putting the White King in check. The White Knight, however, is quite oblivious to the propriety of all this, and is a little slow on the uptake. Before either result of the Red Knight’s move can be honored, the White Knight intervenes on Alice’s behalf and challenges the Red Knight to a duel. Honoring the quizzical rules of Looking-Glass Chivalry (with a damsel in distress apparently trumping a mere check), the Red Knight gamely agrees to battle.
The Identity of the White Knight: As one of the most endearing and important characters in the “Alice” stories, Carroll designed the White Knight with exquisite care. With his songs, awkwardness, chivalry and spirit of invention, the Knight was intended to be a compassionate caricature of Carroll himself. Carroll even told Tenniel to illustrate the Knight as a fairly young man. Perhaps in pure mischief (Tenniel and Carroll had a legendary frustration with one another), Tenniel made certain that the White Knight looked very much like himself. This included not only a prominent nose and grandiose moustache … the Knight was also certainly Tenniel’s own age, and quite a bit older than Carroll!
The Farewell of the White Knight: It must be remembered that Carroll wrote Through the Looking-Glass for a public audience, and that his relations with Alice Liddell were no more. The farewell of the White Knight has often been interpreted as Carroll’s own farewell to Alice. The young Alice, while sympathetic to the White Knight’s sorrow, is so eager to grow up and become a Queen that she does not regard this passing as anything more than a fleeting sorrow. Later, of course, memory will catch up with her and she will look back on the White Knight fondly. This section of the story bears a close relation to Lorina’s nostalgic daydreams at the end of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Chapter IX
Castling: Castling, in Looking-Glass Chess, occurs when the Queens align on the back row of the game board. Here, the Red Queen is appearing to challenge the rise of Alice. Now that Alice has left the dream-lingering of the White Knight (Carroll) and she is ready to grow up, she is beset by stern Victorian women who will see if Alice is worthy of ladyship just yet. And so the examination begins, leading directly into the feast, the endgame of the Looking-Glass Chess match. Castling, then, is the rite of