Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [99]
A Large Flower-Bed: Some of the flowers Alice encounters on the threshold of Looking-Glass Land are taken from Tennyson’s poem, “Maud.” Tenniel’s illustrations of them may have been inspired by Grandville’s beautiful work in Un Autre Monde.
“We Can Talk”: Notice again the subtlety of Alice’s wish, which is instantly complied with. Much like Wonderland, Looking-Glass Land shapes its unnatural laws around Alice’s desires.
The Victorian Language of Flowers: In Alice’s (and especially Lewis Carroll’s) age, flowers were used in correspondence between affectionate people as a formalized game of riddle and answer. Some of the floral messages were obvious (the olive branch meaning peace, the red rose meaning true love), while others were delightfully obscure (viscaria meaning an invitation to dance, jonquil meaning “kindly return my affection”). The flowers which Alice encounters in the Garden of Live Flowers are, in order: (1) an orange Tiger-lily (meaning desire); (2) a red Rose (true love); (3) pink Daisies (innocent beauty, unknown to the possessor); (4) white Daisies (innocence and loyalty); (5) a Violet (faithfulness); and (6) Larkspur (singular fickleness). The effect may be accidental, but the progression is interesting when we consider (1) Alice’s desire to get to the top of the hill, (2) Carroll’s adoration of Alice, (3) Alice’s unawareness of her own beauty, and (4, 5) Alice’s devotion to those who care for her. The sudden twist of the Larkspur to (6) fickleness occurs only when the Red Queen is arriving, and the Larkspur cries out, “She’s coming!”
“You’re the Right Colour”: The Rose is politely inferring that Alice is a “good” (or game-worthy) person because her skin is pale (white), as opposed to ruddy (red). The Rose, familiar only with the chessmen of Looking-Glass Land, is assuming that Alice serves the White Queen.
From Pink to White: This is one of the rare instances where Alice is willing to make a deadly threat against those who misbehave!
“There’s One Other Flower”: Here, the live flowers are describing the Red Queen in the only way they know how. By “more bushy,” the Rose means that the Red Queen is wearing a larger dress than Alice. “Her petals are shorter” refers to the length of her hair, “done up close” in a snood, or hairnet. The “nine spikes” refers to the radial points of her crown.
The Prickly Red Queen: The flowers refer to the Red Queen as “one of the thorny kind.” This is a reference not only to her spiked crown, but also to her testy personality. It is also worth noting that this is probably a hint at the Liddell sisters’ nickname for their governess Miss Prickett, “Pricks.” In his article “‘Alice’ on the Stage,” Carroll explained the personality of the Red Queen as follows: “The Red Queen I pictured as a Fury, but of another type [as opposed to the Queen of Hearts]; her passion must be cold and calm; she must be formal and strict, yet not unkindly; pedantic to the tenth degree, the concentrated essence of all governesses!”
“I Hear Her Footstep”: As we can see in Tenniel’s illustration, the Red Queen is atop her formal chess-piece pedestal, and so she only has one thumping foot upon which to walk!
“Look Up, Speak Nicely”: The Red Queen has never seen a mere mortal girl in Looking-Glass Land before. She is here assuming that Alice is a White Pawn (just like Lily), and therefore a Princess. As such, she feels it is her duty to educate Alice in all forms of manners and etiquette.
A Woman’s One-Upmanship: The Red Queen’s insistence that she has