Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [51]
Chapter XII
Alice’s Evidence: Carroll’s nonsense poem, “She’s All My Fancy Painted Him,” is a breezy parody of idle gossip about others’ affairs. Its appearance here as evidence highlights the absurd nature of hearsay, opinion and irrelevant discourse in a court of law. All of which, of course, serve to enhance the madness and unquestionable power of the King and Queen of Hearts!
Being Made Entirely of Cardboard: Carroll here is telling us that the Knave of Hearts is, indeed, an overgrown playing card. Of course this is completely at odds with Tenniel’s illustrations, where the “face” cards are shown as purely anthropomorphic figures wearing the regalia of card symbols. This confusion stems from Carroll’s own original illustrations of the royal card figures, which are found in Alice’s Adventures Under Ground.
Aftermath in Wonderland: There is one very curious question which is never resolved by Carroll’s narrative: What happens to Wonderland after Alice’s departure, as she vanishes into thin air, leaving chaos in her wake? We can never know for certain, but it is unlikely that the Queen of Hearts would have retained her power after being so blatantly thwarted by a mere child. There are the four royal lineages in Wonderland (Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades), and Alice’s disruption “shuffles the deck,” so that any of the other families might reign supreme thereafter.
The Sighted and the Eyeless: Lorina’s thoughts of Wonderland, and her assurance that it would all fade away when she opened her eyes, is one of the key perceptive moments in Carroll’s “Alice” stories. Alice is the dream-child, fully capable of running away with her imagination and falling into the worlds of make believe. Lorina, on the other hand, is far more pragmatic. She is able to appreciate the nature of Wonderland’s whimsy, but she can only envision it when she closes her eyes. An interesting parallel can be drawn to an 1856 painting created by Carroll’s acquaintance, Sir John Everett Millais, entitled “The Blind Girl.” Millais’s painting portrays two sisters sitting beneath a double rainbow. The younger girl, with the gift of sight, is describing the beauty of the rainbows to her sister, who is blind.
Speculative Chronology of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
By Kent David Kelly
THROUGH GATHERING and considering all of the references to time in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, it is possible to create a rough timeline of Alice’s adventures. The following is of course hypothetical, but it is interesting!
1859: This may possibly be the year of Alice’s exploration of Wonderland, since (in the story) she is exactly seven years old.
March 1, 1859: The March Hare goes mad. Right on schedule!
March 13, 1859: The Hatter sings (poorly!) at the Queen’s royal concert. Father Time is insulted, and the Queen threatens the Hatter with death. The Hatter and March Hare (and possibly the Dormouse) flee to March Hare’s house.
March 14, 1859 (6:00 PM): The Mad Tea-Party begins, as the Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse are caught in the “time trap” of Father Time.
April, 1859: The Pigeon, avoiding the serpents of Wonderland once again, lays her new clutch of eggs in the highest tree of the forest.
May 2, 1859: The March Hare, using bread-and-butter, tries to fix Hatter’s watch and accidentally breaks it instead.
May 3, 1859: The Seven of Spades accidentally brings tulip-roots to the Duchess’s Cook instead of onions. The Queen of Hearts threatens to have him beheaded.
May 4, 1859 (Morning): Alice celebrates her seventh birthday by going to a picnic with her sister Lorina on the bank of the River Isis. (Quite possibly, they boat there with Lewis Carroll.) Alice sees the White Rabbit and chases it down the rabbit-hole into Wonderland.
May 4, 1859 (Mid- to Late Morning): Alice falls down the well, explores the Hall of Doors, falls into the Pool of Tears, and runs in the caucus-race.
May 4, 1859 (Late Morning to Noon): Alice explores White Rabbit’s house and escapes,