Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [48]
“I See!”: The Queen here believes that the gardeners are traitors. In changing the color of the roses from white to red, she believes they are trying to hide their allegiance to whichever other royal power in Wonderland has the white rose as his or her symbol. (Possible suspects, as we have seen, include the Kings and Queens of Clubs, Spades and especially the Diamonds.)
“Off With Their Heads!”: The Queen of Hearts may be a parody of Queen “Bloody” Mary. It is also possible that she is from the line of William the Conqueror, who the Mouse was quite fascinated with. It is said that William introduced the grim practice of beheading to England. Of course, the Queen’s fascination with beheadings might also be a reference to English postage stamps, which of course feature Queen Victoria’s disembodied head in profile!
The White Rabbit Peeped Anxiously into Alice’s Face: The White Rabbit is nearly blind, and does not recognize Alice at all. (We will also remember that he mistook her for Mary Ann, and almost walked into her despite her huge size in the Hall of Doors.) Here, the Rabbit is erring on the side of caution. He sees that Alice has been accepted by the Kings and Queens, and so he might suspect that she is a Princess from another land. Perhaps he might be thinking of the Red and White Queens of Looking-Glass Land, just over the hedge.
“Did You Say, ‘What a Pity?’”: Following Carroll’s later descriptions of his characters, we know that the White Rabbit is not only elderly and nearly blind, but also hard of hearing as well!
The Absurdity of Croquet: The Liddell sisters loved the game of croquet, and often played in the Deanery garden. It’s quite possible that the rules confused them and—like most children—they simply devised new and more entertaining rules as they went along. Carroll himself, recognizing the deceptive complexity of the game, invented his own extremely convoluted variant called “Castle Croquet.” While the Queen of Hearts would have found it delightful, we can only hope that Carroll did not subject the Liddell children too much to his creation!
The Poor Flamingoes and Hedgehogs: Although it is never said outright, there is (as mentioned prior) a strict hierarchy of power in Wonderland. The Queen of Hearts rules over all, while the cards of the other suits (Diamonds, Clubs and Spades) do her bidding. Sentient animals, such as the White Rabbit, are her servants. (Others, such as the Cheshire-Cat, are regarded as rebels or outsiders.) There are few animals in Wonderland who cannot speak, but the flamingoes and hedgehogs certainly fall in this category. As we can see, they are treated as little more than objects of cruel amusement. All of this is consistently implied, but Carroll probably felt it was far too deep and depressing for a story of children’s fantasy!
“A Cat May Look at a King”: Alice is quoting an old saying which dates back several centuries. In other words, animals need not show respect for royalty, because royalty is a strictly human condition. The implications of this toward the improper rulership of Wonderland, in which human-like cards control a kingdom populated mostly by sentient beasts, are probably quite ominous to the King of Hearts!
Chapter IX
“How Glad I Am to See You”: The Duchess at this point has just been freed from prison, and perhaps a sentence of execution as well. Observing that Alice has gained some degree of favor with the Queen of Hearts, the mercenary duchess (despite her previous cruelties) instantly allies with Alice to further her own survival.
“And the Moral of That Is…”: The Duchess’s incessant and inappropriate moralizing reminds us of Carroll’s own mockery of other Victorian children’s stories. Many of these