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Through the Looking-Glass

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass or simply Through the Looking-Glass) is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872)[1] by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, University of Oxford, and the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. There she finds that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed, including logic (for example, running helps one remain stationary, walking away from something brings one towards it, chessmen are alive, nursery rhyme characters exist, and so on).

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
First edition cover of Through the Looking-Glass
AuthorLewis Carroll
IllustratorJohn Tenniel
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
PublisherMacmillan
Publication date
27 December 1871 (dated 1872)
Pages208
Preceded byAlice's Adventures in Wonderland 

Through the Looking-Glass includes such verses as "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter", and the episode involving Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The mirror above the fireplace that is displayed at Hetton Lawn in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire (a house that was owned by Alice Liddell's grandparents, and was regularly visited by Alice and Lewis Carroll) resembles the one drawn by John Tenniel and is cited as a possible inspiration for Carroll.[2] It prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published.[3]

Plot summary edit

Alice is playing with a white kitten (whom she calls "Snowdrop") and a black kitten (whom she calls "Kitty") while pondering what the world is like on the other side of a mirror's reflection. Climbing up onto a mantelpiece, she pokes at the wall-hung mirror behind a fireplace and discovers, to her surprise, that she can step through it. She ends up in a reflected version of her own house and finds a book with looking-glass poetry, "Jabberwocky", whose reversed printing she can read only by holding it up to the mirror. She also observes that the chess pieces have come to life, though they remain small enough for her to pick up.

 
Alice entering the looking-glass.

Upon leaving the house (where it had been a cold, snowy night), she enters a sunny spring garden where the flowers can speak. Elsewhere in the garden, Alice meets the Red Queen, who is now human-sized, and who impresses Alice with her ability to run at breathtaking speeds.

The Red Queen reveals that the entire countryside is laid out in squares, like a gigantic chessboard, and offers to make Alice a queen if she can move all the way to the eighth rank/row in a chess match. Alice is placed in the second rank as one of the White Queen's pawns, and begins her journey across the chessboard by boarding a train that jumps over the third row and directly into the fourth rank, thus acting on the rule that pawns can advance two spaces on their first move. She arrives in a forest where a gnat teaches her about the looking glass insects, creatures part bug part object (e.g., bread and butterfly, rocking horse fly), before flying away. Continuing her journey, Alice crosses the "wood where things have no names". There she forgets all nouns, including her own name. With the help of a fawn who has also forgotten his identity, she makes it to the other side, where they both remember everything. Realizing that he is a fawn, she is a human, and that fawns are afraid of humans, it runs off.

 
Alice meeting Tweedledum (centre) and Tweedledee (right)

She then meets the twin brothers Tweedledum and Tweedledee, whom she knows from the nursery rhyme. After reciting a poem, they draw Alice's attention to the Red King—sleeping under a nearby tree—and provoke her with idle philosophical banter that she is but an imaginary figure in his dreams. The brothers begin suiting up for battle, only to be frightened away by an enormous crow, as the nursery rhyme about them predicts.

 
The Red King dreaming

Alice next meets the White Queen, who is absent-minded but can remember future events before they have happened. Alice and the White Queen advance into the chessboard's fifth rank by crossing over a brook together, but at the very moment of the crossing, the Queen transforms into a talking Sheep in a small shop. Alice soon finds herself struggling to handle the oars of a small rowboat, where the Sheep annoys her with shouting about "crabs" and "feathers".

After crossing another brook into the sixth rank, Alice encounters Humpty Dumpty, who, besides celebrating his unbirthday, provides his own translation of the strange terms in "Jabberwocky". In the process, he introduces Alice to the concept of portmanteau words, before his inevitable fall.

 
The White Knight

"All the king's horses and all the king's men" come to Humpty Dumpty's assistance, and are accompanied by the White King, along with the Lion and the Unicorn, who proceed to act out a nursery rhyme by fighting with each other. The March Hare and Hatter[a] appear in the guise of "Anglo-Saxon messengers" called "Haigha" and "Hatta".

Upon leaving the Lion and Unicorn to their fight, Alice reaches the seventh rank by crossing another brook into the forested territory of the Red Knight, who wants to capture the "white pawn"—Alice—until the White Knight comes to her rescue. Escorting her through the forest towards the final brook-crossing, the Knight recites a poem of his own composition and repeatedly falls off his horse.

Bidding farewell to the White Knight, Alice steps across the last brook, and is automatically crowned a queen, with the crown materialising abruptly on her head.[b] She soon finds herself in the company of both the White and Red Queens, who confound Alice by using word play to thwart her attempts at logical discussion. They then invite one another to a party that will be hosted by Alice—of which Alice herself had no prior knowledge.

Alice arrives and seats herself at her own party, which quickly turns into chaos. Alice grabs the Red Queen, believing her to be responsible for all the day's nonsense, and begins shaking her.

Alice awakes in her armchair to find herself holding Kitty, whom she deduces to have been the Red Queen all along, with Snowdrop having been the White Queen. Alice then recalls the speculation of the Tweedle brothers, that everything may have been a dream of the Red King, and that Alice might herself be no more than a figment of his imagination.

Characters edit

Main characters edit

Minor characters edit

Symbolism edit

Mirrors edit

One of the key motifs of Through the Looking-Glass is that of mirrors, including the use of opposites, time running backwards, and so on, not to mention the title of the book itself. In fact, the themes and settings of the book make it somewhat of a mirror image of its predecessor, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The first book begins in the warm outdoors, on 4 May;[c] uses frequent changes in size as a plot device; and draws on the imagery of playing cards. The second book, however, opens indoors on a snowy, wintry night exactly six months later, on 4 November (the day before Guy Fawkes Night);[d] uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions as a plot device; and draws on the imagery of chess.

Chess edit

 
Lewis Carroll's diagram of the story as a chess game
 
The composition, according to Glen Downey

While the first Alice novel took playing cards as a theme, Through the Looking-Glass instead used chess; most of the main characters are represented by chess pieces, with Alice being a pawn. The looking-glass world consists of square fields divided by brooks or streams, and the crossing of each brook typically signifies a change in scene, with Alice advancing one square. At the book's beginning, Carroll provided and explained a chess composition with descriptive notation, corresponding to the events of the story. Although the piece movements follow the rules of chess, other basic rules are ignored: one player (White) makes several consecutive moves while the (Red/Black) opponent's moves are skipped, and a late check (12... Qe8+) is left undealt with. Carroll also explained that certain items listed in the composition do not have corresponding piece moves but simply refer to the story, e.g. the "castling of the three Queens, which is merely a way of saying that they entered the palace". Despite these liberties, the final position is an authentic checkmate.

The most extensive treatment of the chess motif in Carroll's novel was made by Glen Downey in his master's thesis, later expanded and incorporated into his dissertation on the use of chess as a device in Victorian fiction. In the former piece, Downey gave the composition's moves in algebraic notation: 1... Qh5 2. d4 3. Qc4 4. Qc5 5. d5 6. Qf8 7. d6 8. Qc8 9. d7 Ne7+ 10. Nxe7 11. Nf5 12. d8=Q Qe8+ 13. Qa6 14. Qxe8#.[4] In the latter piece, Downey treated the 21 items in the composition sequentially, identifying the above 16 coherent chess moves, and another five items as "non-moves" or pure story descriptors, per Carroll's qualification.[5]

The mating position nearly satisfies the conditions of a pure mate, a special type of checkmate where the mated king is prevented from moving to any of the adjacent squares in its field by exactly one enemy attack, among other conditions. The position is also nearly an ideal mate, a stronger form of pure mate in which every piece on the board of either colour contributes to the checkmate. The one feature of the position which prevents it from being either a pure or an ideal mate is that the Red (Black) King is unable to move to e3 for two reasons: the knight's attack, and the (sustained) attack of the newly promoted, mating queen. Although pure and ideal mates are "incidental" in real games, they are objects of aesthetic interest to composers of chess problems.[6]

Language edit

The White Queen offers to hire Alice as her lady's maid and to pay her "twopence a week, and jam every other day". Alice says that she does not want any jam today, to which the Queen replies, "you couldn't have it if you did want it. The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day." This is a reference to the rule in Latin that the word iam or jam—which means now, in the sense of already or at that time—cannot be used to describe now in the present, which is nunc in Latin. Therefore, "jam" is never available today.[7] This exchange is also a demonstration of the logical fallacy of equivocation.[8]

Poems and songs edit

 
The Walrus and the Carpenter

Most poems and songs in the book do not include a title.

The Wasp in a Wig edit

Lewis Carroll decided to suppress a scene involving what was described as "a wasp in a wig" (possibly a play on the commonplace expression "bee in the bonnet"). A biography of Carroll, written by Carroll's nephew, Stuart Dodgson Collingwood, suggests that one of the reasons for this suppression was a suggestion from his illustrator, John Tenniel,[11] who wrote in a letter to Carroll dated 1 June 1870:[12]

I am bound to say that the 'wasp' chapter doesn't interest me in the least, and I can't see my way to a picture. If you want to shorten the book, I can't help thinking—with all submission—that there is your opportunity.

For many years, no one had any idea what this missing section was or whether it had survived. In 1974, a document purporting to be the galley proofs of the missing section was auctioned at Sotheby's; the catalogue description, in part, read, "the proofs were bought at the sale of the author's…personal effects…Oxford, 1898". The document would be won by John Fleming, a Manhattan book dealer, for a bid of about US$832 (equivalent to $4,937 in 2022).[13] The contents were subsequently published in Martin Gardner's More Annotated Alice (1990),[14] and are also available as a hardback book.[15]

The rediscovered section describes Alice's encounter with a wasp wearing a yellow wig, and includes a full previously unpublished poem. If included in the book, it would have followed, or been included at the end of, Chapter 8—the chapter featuring the encounter with the White Knight. The discovery is generally accepted as genuine, but the proofs have yet to receive any physical examination to establish age and authenticity.[16]

The missing episode was included in the 1998 TV film adaptation Alice through the Looking Glass, with the character being portrayed by Ian Richardson. It was also included in the 2010 graphic novel "The Complete Alice in Wonderland".

Dramatic adaptations edit

 
The Jabberwock

The book has been adapted several times, both in combination with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and as a stand-alone feature.

Stand-alone adaptations edit

Adaptations with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland edit

Film and TV edit

  • Alice in Wonderland (1933) is a pre-code live-action film directed by Norman Z. McLeod, with Charlotte Henry in the role of Alice, along with Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, and others. Despite the title, the film features most elements from Through the Looking Glass as well, including Humpty Dumpty (played by W. C. Fields) and a Harman-Ising animated version of "The Walrus and the Carpenter".[27]
  • The animated Alice in Wonderland (1951) is the most famous among all direct adaptions of Carroll's work. The film features several elements from Through the Looking-Glass, including the talking flowers, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, and "The Walrus and the Carpenter". The Unbirthbay celebration is held by the Mad Hatter and March Hare during the tea party scene.[28]
  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972), a musical film starring Fiona Fullerton as Alice, includes the twins Fred and Frank Cox as Tweedledum & Tweedledee.[29]
  • Nel Mondo Di Alice ("In the World of Alice") is a 1974 Italian TV series that covers both novels, particularly Through the Looking-Glass in episodes 3 and 4.[30]
  • Alice in Wonderland (1985) is a two-part TV musical produced by Irwin Allen that covers both books, and stars Natalie Gregory as Alice. In this adaptation, the Jabberwock materialises into reality after Alice reads "Jabberwocky", pursuing her throughout the second half of the musical.[31]
  • Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu (1985; Japanese: ふしぎの国のアリス) is an anime adaptation of the two novels in which later episodes adhere more closely with Through the Looking Glass.
  • Alice in Wonderland (1999), a made-for-TV Hallmark/NBC film with Tina Majorino as Alice, uses elements from Through the Looking Glass, such as the talking flowers, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, and "The Walrus and the Carpenter", as well as the chess theme, including the snoring Red King and White Knight.[32]
  • Alice (2009) is a Syfy TV miniseries that contains elements from both novels.[33]
  • Alice in Wonderland (2010), directed by Tim Burton, is a live-action Disney reboot that follows Alice at an adult age, containing elements from both books.[34]

Stage productions edit

 
Maidie Andrews as Alice in Alice Through the Looking-Glass at the Comedy Theatre, London during the Christmas period 1903–04. Pictured in The Tatler (January 1904)

Other edit

See also edit

References edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ First introduced in the first book.
  2. ^ This is a reference to pawn promotion.
  3. ^ During the "Mad Tea-Party", Alice reveals that the date is "the fourth" and that the month is "May" (chap.7).
  4. ^ In the first chapter, Alice speaks of the snow outside and the "bonfire" that "the boys" are building for a celebration "to-morrow," a clear reference to the traditional bonfires of Guy Fawkes Night that take place on 5 November. In Chapter 5, she affirms that her age is "seven and a half exactly."
  5. ^ See "Jabberwocky" full poem including readings, via Wikisource.
  6. ^ See "Walrus and the Carpenter" full poem, via Wikisource.

Citations edit

  1. ^ Oxford Companions. 1986. Oxford Companion to English Literature (5th Ed.).
  2. ^ Carroll, Lewis (1997). Lewis Carroll's Diaries: Containing Journal 8, May 1862 to September 1864. Lewis Carroll Society. p. 186.
  3. ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (1985). Secret Gardens: The Golden Age of Children's Literature. Houghton Mifflin. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-395-35293-9.
  4. ^ Downey, Glen (1992). Theoretical Checkmating: an Analysis of the Manner in which the "Chess Problem" in Through the Looking-Glass Resists and Subverts Critical Interpretations of the Novel's Chess Motif (PDF) (MA). McMaster University. p. 66 (.pdf p. 73).
  5. ^ Downey, Glen (1998). "3" (PDF). The Truth about Pawn Promotion: The Development of the Chess Motif in Victorian Fiction (PhD). University of Victoria.
  6. ^ Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1996) [first pub. 1992]. The Oxford Companion to Chess (second ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
  7. ^ Cook, Eleanor (2006). Enigmas and Riddles in Literature. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521855101. p. 163.
  8. ^ Almossawi, Ali. "An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments". pp. 16–7. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Carroll, Lewis. 1897 [1872]. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Company.
  10. ^ Bedtime-Story. 1999. "The Background & History of 'Alice in Wonderland'" Bedtime-Story Classics 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  11. ^ Symon, Evan V. (18 June 2014) [2013]. "10 Deleted Chapters that Transformed Famous Books". Listverse.
  12. ^ Gardner, Martin (2000). The Annotated Alice. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-393-04847-6.
  13. ^ "The Wasp in a Wig: A 'Suppressed' Episode of Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There [exhibit item]". University of Maryland Libraries. Retrieved 12 January 2023. Alice 150 Years and Counting…The Legacy of Lewis Carroll
  14. ^ Gardner, Martin. (1990) More Annotated Alice. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. ISBN 0-394-58571-2.
  15. ^ Carroll, Lewis (1977). The Wasp in a Wig: A Suppressed Episode of 'Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. New York: Lewis Carroll Society of North America.
  16. ^ Leach, Karoline (2015). "The Curious Case of the Wasp in the Wig" (PDF). Contrariwise. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  17. ^ Alice Through a Looking Glass (1928) at IMDb  
  18. ^ Cleverdon, Douglas (1959). "Alice Through the Looking Glass". National Library of Australia (Podcast). London: Argo. from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  19. ^ Handley, Alan. 1966. Alice Through the Looking Glass, with music by M. Charlap, lyrics by E. Simmons. USA: NBC. TV special. See Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966) at IMDb  .
  20. ^ "Alice Through the Looking Glass – 1966 Television Soundtrack". Masterworks Broadway. Sony Music Entertainment. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  21. ^ MacTaggart, James. 1973. Alice Through the Looking Glass. UK: BBC. Television special. See Alice Through the Looking Glass (1973) at IMDb  .
  22. ^ Bresciani, Andrea, and Richard Slapczynski. 1987. Alice Through the Looking Glass. AU: Burbank Films Australia. See Alice Through the Looking Glass (1987) at IMDb  .
  23. ^ Henderson, John. 1998. Alice Through the Looking Glass. UK: Projector Productions and Channel 4. See Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998) at IMDb  .
  24. ^ Burden, Andy (dir.). Alice Through a Looking Glass [live production], written by H. Naylor, music by P. Dodgson. Factory Theatre: Tobacco Factory Theatres.
  25. ^ Upton, Andrew. 2008. Through the Looking Glass [opera], composed by A. John. Malthouse Theatre: Victorian Opera.
  26. ^ Wyatt, Stephen (2011). "Lewis Carroll - Alice Through the Looking Glass". Saturday Drama - BBC Radio 4. United Kingdom: BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  27. ^ McLeod, Norman Z. 1933. Alice in Wonderland. US: Paramount Pictures. [Motion picture]. See Alice in Wonderland (1933) at IMDb  .
  28. ^ Geronimi, Clyde, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske. 1951. Alice in Wonderland. US: Walt Disney Studios. See Alice in Wonderland (1951) at IMDb  .
  29. ^ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972) at IMDb  
  30. ^ fictionrare2 (29 September 2014), Nel mondo di Alice 3^p, archived from the original on 11 December 2021, retrieved 23 April 2016{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Alice in Wonderland (1985) at IMDb  
  32. ^ Alice in Wonderland (1999) at IMDb  
  33. ^ Alice (2009) at IMDb  
  34. ^ Alice in Wonderland (2010) at IMDb  
  35. ^ . Lookingglasstheatre.org. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  36. ^ . Lookingglasstheatre.org. 13 February 2007. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  37. ^ a b "Theatre adaptations (excluding reimaginings)". all-in-the-golden-afternoon96.tumblr.com. Retrieved 23 April 2016.[dead link]
  38. ^ Wade, Laura. 2012. Alice. Oberon Modern Plays. Oberon Books. ISBN 9781849433570. [Theatre script]. Retrieved via Google Books[permanent dead link].
  39. ^ "Alice's Adventures Under Ground". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  40. ^ Corry, John (15 June 1982). "Theater: Wonderland Characters in 'Looking-Glass'". The New York Times.
  41. ^ Jabberwocky (1977) at IMDb  

Other sources edit

  • Tymn, Marshall B.; Kenneth J. Zahorski and Robert H. Boyer (1979). Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8352-1431-5.
  • Gardner, Martin (1990). More Annotated Alice. New York: Random House. p. 363. ISBN 978-0-394-58571-0.
  • Gardner, Martin (1960). The Annotated Alice. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. pp. 180–181.

External links edit

  •   Quotations related to Through the Looking-Glass at Wikiquote
  •   Media related to Through the Looking-Glass at Wikimedia Commons
  • A catalogue of illustrated editions of the Alice books from 1899 to 2009
  • [1]150 anniversary web site
Online texts
  •   The full text of Through the Looking-Glass at Wikisource
  • Through the Looking-Glass at Standard Ebooks
  • Through the Looking-Glass at Project Gutenberg
  •   Through the Looking-Glass public domain audiobook at LibriVox

through, looking, glass, other, uses, disambiguation, what, alice, found, there, also, known, alice, simply, novel, published, december, 1871, though, indicated, 1872, lewis, carroll, mathematics, lecturer, christ, church, university, oxford, sequel, alice, ad. For other uses see Through the Looking Glass disambiguation Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There also known as Alice Through the Looking Glass or simply Through the Looking Glass is a novel published on 27 December 1871 though indicated as 1872 1 by Lewis Carroll a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church University of Oxford and the sequel to Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 1865 Alice again enters a fantastical world this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it There she finds that just like a reflection everything is reversed including logic for example running helps one remain stationary walking away from something brings one towards it chessmen are alive nursery rhyme characters exist and so on Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found ThereFirst edition cover of Through the Looking GlassAuthorLewis CarrollIllustratorJohn TennielCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenreChildren s fictionPublisherMacmillanPublication date27 December 1871 dated 1872 Pages208Preceded byAlice s Adventures in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass includes such verses as Jabberwocky and The Walrus and the Carpenter and the episode involving Tweedledum and Tweedledee The mirror above the fireplace that is displayed at Hetton Lawn in Charlton Kings Gloucestershire a house that was owned by Alice Liddell s grandparents and was regularly visited by Alice and Lewis Carroll resembles the one drawn by John Tenniel and is cited as a possible inspiration for Carroll 2 It prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published 3 Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Characters 2 1 Main characters 2 2 Minor characters 3 Symbolism 3 1 Mirrors 3 2 Chess 3 3 Language 4 Poems and songs 5 The Wasp in a Wig 6 Dramatic adaptations 6 1 Stand alone adaptations 6 2 Adaptations with Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 6 2 1 Film and TV 6 2 2 Stage productions 6 3 Other 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Footnotes 8 2 Citations 8 3 Other sources 9 External linksPlot summary editAlice is playing with a white kitten whom she calls Snowdrop and a black kitten whom she calls Kitty while pondering what the world is like on the other side of a mirror s reflection Climbing up onto a mantelpiece she pokes at the wall hung mirror behind a fireplace and discovers to her surprise that she can step through it She ends up in a reflected version of her own house and finds a book with looking glass poetry Jabberwocky whose reversed printing she can read only by holding it up to the mirror She also observes that the chess pieces have come to life though they remain small enough for her to pick up nbsp Alice entering the looking glass Upon leaving the house where it had been a cold snowy night she enters a sunny spring garden where the flowers can speak Elsewhere in the garden Alice meets the Red Queen who is now human sized and who impresses Alice with her ability to run at breathtaking speeds The Red Queen reveals that the entire countryside is laid out in squares like a gigantic chessboard and offers to make Alice a queen if she can move all the way to the eighth rank row in a chess match Alice is placed in the second rank as one of the White Queen s pawns and begins her journey across the chessboard by boarding a train that jumps over the third row and directly into the fourth rank thus acting on the rule that pawns can advance two spaces on their first move She arrives in a forest where a gnat teaches her about the looking glass insects creatures part bug part object e g bread and butterfly rocking horse fly before flying away Continuing her journey Alice crosses the wood where things have no names There she forgets all nouns including her own name With the help of a fawn who has also forgotten his identity she makes it to the other side where they both remember everything Realizing that he is a fawn she is a human and that fawns are afraid of humans it runs off nbsp Alice meeting Tweedledum centre and Tweedledee right She then meets the twin brothers Tweedledum and Tweedledee whom she knows from the nursery rhyme After reciting a poem they draw Alice s attention to the Red King sleeping under a nearby tree and provoke her with idle philosophical banter that she is but an imaginary figure in his dreams The brothers begin suiting up for battle only to be frightened away by an enormous crow as the nursery rhyme about them predicts nbsp The Red King dreamingAlice next meets the White Queen who is absent minded but can remember future events before they have happened Alice and the White Queen advance into the chessboard s fifth rank by crossing over a brook together but at the very moment of the crossing the Queen transforms into a talking Sheep in a small shop Alice soon finds herself struggling to handle the oars of a small rowboat where the Sheep annoys her with shouting about crabs and feathers After crossing another brook into the sixth rank Alice encounters Humpty Dumpty who besides celebrating his unbirthday provides his own translation of the strange terms in Jabberwocky In the process he introduces Alice to the concept of portmanteau words before his inevitable fall nbsp The White Knight All the king s horses and all the king s men come to Humpty Dumpty s assistance and are accompanied by the White King along with the Lion and the Unicorn who proceed to act out a nursery rhyme by fighting with each other The March Hare and Hatter a appear in the guise of Anglo Saxon messengers called Haigha and Hatta Upon leaving the Lion and Unicorn to their fight Alice reaches the seventh rank by crossing another brook into the forested territory of the Red Knight who wants to capture the white pawn Alice until the White Knight comes to her rescue Escorting her through the forest towards the final brook crossing the Knight recites a poem of his own composition and repeatedly falls off his horse Bidding farewell to the White Knight Alice steps across the last brook and is automatically crowned a queen with the crown materialising abruptly on her head b She soon finds herself in the company of both the White and Red Queens who confound Alice by using word play to thwart her attempts at logical discussion They then invite one another to a party that will be hosted by Alice of which Alice herself had no prior knowledge Alice arrives and seats herself at her own party which quickly turns into chaos Alice grabs the Red Queen believing her to be responsible for all the day s nonsense and begins shaking her Alice awakes in her armchair to find herself holding Kitty whom she deduces to have been the Red Queen all along with Snowdrop having been the White Queen Alice then recalls the speculation of the Tweedle brothers that everything may have been a dream of the Red King and that Alice might herself be no more than a figment of his imagination Characters editMain characters edit Alice March Hare here named Haigha The Hatter Humpty Dumpty Red King Red Queen The Sheep Tweedledum and Tweedledee The Walrus and the Carpenter White King White Knight White Queen The Lion and the Unicorn Minor characters edit Main article List of minor characters in Through the Looking GlassSymbolism editMirrors edit One of the key motifs of Through the Looking Glass is that of mirrors including the use of opposites time running backwards and so on not to mention the title of the book itself In fact the themes and settings of the book make it somewhat of a mirror image of its predecessor Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 1865 The first book begins in the warm outdoors on 4 May c uses frequent changes in size as a plot device and draws on the imagery of playing cards The second book however opens indoors on a snowy wintry night exactly six months later on 4 November the day before Guy Fawkes Night d uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions as a plot device and draws on the imagery of chess Chess edit This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves nbsp Lewis Carroll s diagram of the story as a chess game nbsp The composition according to Glen DowneyWhile the first Alice novel took playing cards as a theme Through the Looking Glass instead used chess most of the main characters are represented by chess pieces with Alice being a pawn The looking glass world consists of square fields divided by brooks or streams and the crossing of each brook typically signifies a change in scene with Alice advancing one square At the book s beginning Carroll provided and explained a chess composition with descriptive notation corresponding to the events of the story Although the piece movements follow the rules of chess other basic rules are ignored one player White makes several consecutive moves while the Red Black opponent s moves are skipped and a late check 12 Qe8 is left undealt with Carroll also explained that certain items listed in the composition do not have corresponding piece moves but simply refer to the story e g the castling of the three Queens which is merely a way of saying that they entered the palace Despite these liberties the final position is an authentic checkmate The most extensive treatment of the chess motif in Carroll s novel was made by Glen Downey in his master s thesis later expanded and incorporated into his dissertation on the use of chess as a device in Victorian fiction In the former piece Downey gave the composition s moves in algebraic notation 1 Qh5 2 d4 3 Qc4 4 Qc5 5 d5 6 Qf8 7 d6 8 Qc8 9 d7 Ne7 10 Nxe7 11 Nf5 12 d8 Q Qe8 13 Qa6 14 Qxe8 4 In the latter piece Downey treated the 21 items in the composition sequentially identifying the above 16 coherent chess moves and another five items as non moves or pure story descriptors per Carroll s qualification 5 The mating position nearly satisfies the conditions of a pure mate a special type of checkmate where the mated king is prevented from moving to any of the adjacent squares in its field by exactly one enemy attack among other conditions The position is also nearly an ideal mate a stronger form of pure mate in which every piece on the board of either colour contributes to the checkmate The one feature of the position which prevents it from being either a pure or an ideal mate is that the Red Black King is unable to move to e3 for two reasons the knight s attack and the sustained attack of the newly promoted mating queen Although pure and ideal mates are incidental in real games they are objects of aesthetic interest to composers of chess problems 6 Language edit The White Queen offers to hire Alice as her lady s maid and to pay her twopence a week and jam every other day Alice says that she does not want any jam today to which the Queen replies you couldn t have it if you did want it The rule is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday but never jam to day This is a reference to the rule in Latin that the word iam or jam which means now in the sense of already or at that time cannot be used to describe now in the present which is nunc in Latin Therefore jam is never available today 7 This exchange is also a demonstration of the logical fallacy of equivocation 8 Poems and songs edit nbsp The Walrus and the CarpenterMost poems and songs in the book do not include a title nbsp To the Looking Glass world it was Alice that said source source Tune for To the Looking Glass world it was Alice that said Problems playing this file See media help Introduction prelude Child of the pure unclouded brow Jabberwocky e 9 31 34 chap I Tweedledum and Tweedledee 9 74 chap IV The Walrus and the Carpenter f 9 77 82 chap IV Humpty Dumpty 9 115 chap VI Humpty Dumpty s poem In Winter when the fields are white 9 128 30 chap VI The Lion and the Unicorn 9 141 chap VII Haddocks Eyes i e A sitting on a Gate 9 171 3 chap IX Red Queen s lullaby Hush a by lady in Alice s lap 9 187 chap X To the Looking Glass world it was Alice that said 9 192 chap X White Queen s riddle First the fish must be caught 9 197 chap X A boat beneath a sunny sky postlude acrostic poem in which putting the beginning letters of each line spell Alice Pleasance Liddell the girl after whom the book s Alice is named 10 9 210 11 The Wasp in a Wig editLewis Carroll decided to suppress a scene involving what was described as a wasp in a wig possibly a play on the commonplace expression bee in the bonnet A biography of Carroll written by Carroll s nephew Stuart Dodgson Collingwood suggests that one of the reasons for this suppression was a suggestion from his illustrator John Tenniel 11 who wrote in a letter to Carroll dated 1 June 1870 12 I am bound to say that the wasp chapter doesn t interest me in the least and I can t see my way to a picture If you want to shorten the book I can t help thinking with all submission that there is your opportunity For many years no one had any idea what this missing section was or whether it had survived In 1974 a document purporting to be the galley proofs of the missing section was auctioned at Sotheby s the catalogue description in part read the proofs were bought at the sale of the author s personal effects Oxford 1898 The document would be won by John Fleming a Manhattan book dealer for a bid of about US 832 equivalent to 4 937 in 2022 13 The contents were subsequently published in Martin Gardner s More Annotated Alice 1990 14 and are also available as a hardback book 15 The rediscovered section describes Alice s encounter with a wasp wearing a yellow wig and includes a full previously unpublished poem If included in the book it would have followed or been included at the end of Chapter 8 the chapter featuring the encounter with the White Knight The discovery is generally accepted as genuine but the proofs have yet to receive any physical examination to establish age and authenticity 16 The missing episode was included in the 1998 TV film adaptation Alice through the Looking Glass with the character being portrayed by Ian Richardson It was also included in the 2010 graphic novel The Complete Alice in Wonderland Dramatic adaptations edit nbsp The JabberwockThe book has been adapted several times both in combination with Alice s Adventures in Wonderland and as a stand alone feature Stand alone adaptations edit Alice Through a Looking Glass 1928 17 a silent movie directed by Walter Lang would be one of the earliest stand alone adaptations of the book A dramatised audio recorded version directed by Douglas Cleverdon was released in 1959 by Argo Records The book is narrated by Margaretta Scott starring Jane Asher as Alice along with actors Frank Duncan Humpty Dumpty Red King Frog Tony Church Norman Shelley and Carleton Hobbs 18 Alice Through the Looking Glass 1966 was an NBC TV musical special first airing on 6 November The special includes music by Moose Charlap and stars Ricardo Montalban Agnes Moorehead Jack Palance Jimmy Durante and the Smothers Brothers along with Judi Rolin in the role of Alice 19 20 Alice Through the Looking Glass 1973 is a BBC TV movie directed by James MacTaggart and starring Sarah Sutton as Alice 21 Alice in the Land in the Other Side of the Mirror 1982 is a 38 minute Soviet cutout animated TV film produced by Kievnauchfilm studio and directed by Yefrem Pruzhanskiy Alice Through the Looking Glass 1987 is an animated TV movie starring Janet Waldo as the voice of Alice and The Red Queen as well as the voices of Mr T as the Jabberwock Jonathan Winters and Phyllis Diller 22 Alice through the Looking Glass 1998 is a Channel 4 TV movie starring Kate Beckinsale in the role of Alice which restored the lost Wasp in a Wig episode 23 A 2 hour multimedia stage production 2007 conceived by Andy Burden was produced by the Tobacco Factory The show would be directed by Burden and written by Hattie Naylor with music and lyrics by Paul Dodgson 24 Through the Looking Glass 2008 was a chamber opera composed by Alan John to a libretto by Andrew Upton 25 Alice Through the Looking Glass 2016 directed by James Bobin is a sequel to the Tim Burton directed Disney reboot Alice in Wonderland 2010 It does not follow the plot of the book The BBC Radio 4 show Saturday Drama broadcast an adaptation by Stephen Wyatt on 22 December 2011 The broadcast featured Lewis Carroll voiced by Julian Rhind Tutt as both the narrator and an active character in the story Other actors include Lauren Mote Alice Carole Boyd Red Queen Sally Phillips White Queen Nicholas Parsons Humpty Dumpty Alistair McGowan Tweedledum amp Tweedledee and John Rowe White Knight 26 Adaptations with Alice s Adventures in Wonderland edit Film and TV edit Alice in Wonderland 1933 is a pre code live action film directed by Norman Z McLeod with Charlotte Henry in the role of Alice along with Cary Grant Gary Cooper and others Despite the title the film features most elements from Through the Looking Glass as well including Humpty Dumpty played by W C Fields and a Harman Ising animated version of The Walrus and the Carpenter 27 The animated Alice in Wonderland 1951 is the most famous among all direct adaptions of Carroll s work The film features several elements from Through the Looking Glass including the talking flowers Tweedledee amp Tweedledum and The Walrus and the Carpenter The Unbirthbay celebration is held by the Mad Hatter and March Hare during the tea party scene 28 Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 1972 a musical film starring Fiona Fullerton as Alice includes the twins Fred and Frank Cox as Tweedledum amp Tweedledee 29 Nel Mondo Di Alice In the World of Alice is a 1974 Italian TV series that covers both novels particularly Through the Looking Glass in episodes 3 and 4 30 Alice in Wonderland 1985 is a two part TV musical produced by Irwin Allen that covers both books and stars Natalie Gregory as Alice In this adaptation the Jabberwock materialises into reality after Alice reads Jabberwocky pursuing her throughout the second half of the musical 31 Fushigi no Kuni no Arisu 1985 Japanese ふしぎの国のアリス is an anime adaptation of the two novels in which later episodes adhere more closely with Through the Looking Glass Alice in Wonderland 1999 a made for TV Hallmark NBC film with Tina Majorino as Alice uses elements from Through the Looking Glass such as the talking flowers Tweedledee amp Tweedledum and The Walrus and the Carpenter as well as the chess theme including the snoring Red King and White Knight 32 Alice 2009 is a Syfy TV miniseries that contains elements from both novels 33 Alice in Wonderland 2010 directed by Tim Burton is a live action Disney reboot that follows Alice at an adult age containing elements from both books 34 Stage productions edit nbsp Maidie Andrews as Alice in Alice Through the Looking Glass at the Comedy Theatre London during the Christmas period 1903 04 Pictured in The Tatler January 1904 Alice in Concert 1980 also known as Alice at the Palace was a production written and produced by Elizabeth Swados Performed on a bare stage the production starred Meryl Streep in the role of Alice with additional supporting cast by Mark Linn Baker and Betty Aberlin Lookingglass Alice 2007 was an acrobatic interpretation of both novels produced by the Lookingglass Theater Company that performed in New York City Philadelphia and Chicago 35 with a version of the show touring the rest of the United States 36 A 2 part production by Iris Theatre in London was staged in the summer of 2013 in which the second part consisted of Through the Looking Glass Both parts included Laura Wickham in the role of Alice 37 Alice 2010 written by Laura Wade was a modern adaptation of both books that premiered at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 2010 38 Wonder land 2015 a live musical by Moira Buffini and Damon Albarn takes some characters from the second novel notably Dum and Dee and Humpty Dumpty while the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen are merged into one character Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass 2001 was a stage adaption by Adrian Mitchell for the Royal Shakespeare Company in which the second act consists of Through the Looking Glass 37 Alice s Adventures Under Ground 2020 a one act opera written in 2016 by Gerald Barry and first staged at the Royal Opera House is a conflation of the two novels 39 Looking Glass a 1982 Off Broadway play based on Charles Dodgson the real life name of author Lewis Carroll 40 Other edit Jabberwocky 1977 is a film that expands the story of the poem Jabberwocky 41 Thru the Mirror 1936 is a Mickey Mouse short film in which Mickey travels through his mirror and into a bizarre world Donald in Mathmagic Land 1959 is a film that includes a segment with Donald Duck dressed as Alice meeting the Red Queen on a chessboard American McGee s Alice 2000 is a computer game in which the player takes the role of a teenage Alice fighting to reclaim her sanity It was followed by a sequel Alice Madness Returns in 2011 Through the Looking Glass 2011 was a ballet by American composer John Craton Through the Zombie Glass 2013 is a book by Gena Showalter See also edit nbsp Novels portal nbsp Children s literature portal nbsp United Kingdom portalAlice Chess I Am the Walrus Translations of Alice s Adventures in Wonderland Translations of Through the Looking Glass Vorpal sword Works based on Alice in WonderlandReferences editFootnotes edit First introduced in the first book This is a reference to pawn promotion During the Mad Tea Party Alice reveals that the date is the fourth and that the month is May chap 7 In the first chapter Alice speaks of the snow outside and the bonfire that the boys are building for a celebration to morrow a clear reference to the traditional bonfires of Guy Fawkes Night that take place on 5 November In Chapter 5 she affirms that her age is seven and a half exactly See Jabberwocky full poem including readings via Wikisource See Walrus and the Carpenter full poem via Wikisource Citations edit Oxford Companions 1986 Oxford Companion to English Literature 5th Ed Carroll Lewis 1997 Lewis Carroll s Diaries Containing Journal 8 May 1862 to September 1864 Lewis Carroll Society p 186 Carpenter Humphrey 1985 Secret Gardens The Golden Age of Children s Literature Houghton Mifflin p 68 ISBN 978 0 395 35293 9 Downey Glen 1992 Theoretical Checkmating an Analysis of the Manner in which the Chess Problem inThrough the Looking GlassResists and Subverts Critical Interpretations of the Novel s Chess Motif PDF MA McMaster University p 66 pdf p 73 Downey Glen 1998 3 PDF The Truth about Pawn Promotion The Development of the Chess Motif in Victorian Fiction PhD University of Victoria Hooper David Whyld Kenneth 1996 first pub 1992 The Oxford Companion to Chess second ed Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 280049 3 Cook Eleanor 2006 Enigmas and Riddles in Literature New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521855101 p 163 Almossawi Ali An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments pp 16 7 Retrieved 15 June 2019 a b c d e f g h i j k Carroll Lewis 1897 1872 Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There Philadelphia Henry Altemus Company Bedtime Story 1999 The Background amp History of Alice in Wonderland Bedtime Story Classics Archived 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 January 2007 Symon Evan V 18 June 2014 2013 10 Deleted Chapters that Transformed Famous Books Listverse Gardner Martin 2000 The Annotated Alice W W Norton amp Company p 283 ISBN 978 0 393 04847 6 The Wasp in a Wig A Suppressed Episode of Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There exhibit item University of Maryland Libraries Retrieved 12 January 2023 Alice 150 Years and Counting The Legacy of Lewis Carroll Gardner Martin 1990 More Annotated Alice New York Clarkson N Potter ISBN 0 394 58571 2 Carroll Lewis 1977 The Wasp in a Wig A Suppressed Episode of Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There New York Lewis Carroll Society of North America Leach Karoline 2015 The Curious Case of the Wasp in the Wig PDF Contrariwise Retrieved 17 January 2019 Alice Through a Looking Glass 1928 at IMDb nbsp Cleverdon Douglas 1959 Alice Through the Looking Glass National Library of Australia Podcast London Argo Archived from the original on 10 April 2020 Retrieved 12 January 2023 Handley Alan 1966 Alice Through the Looking Glass with music by M Charlap lyrics by E Simmons USA NBC TV special See Alice Through the Looking Glass 1966 at IMDb nbsp Alice Through the Looking Glass 1966 Television Soundtrack Masterworks Broadway Sony Music Entertainment Retrieved 12 January 2023 MacTaggart James 1973 Alice Through the Looking Glass UK BBC Television special See Alice Through the Looking Glass 1973 at IMDb nbsp Bresciani Andrea and Richard Slapczynski 1987 Alice Through the Looking Glass AU Burbank Films Australia See Alice Through the Looking Glass 1987 at IMDb nbsp Henderson John 1998 Alice Through the Looking Glass UK Projector Productions and Channel 4 See Alice Through the Looking Glass 1998 at IMDb nbsp Burden Andy dir Alice Through a Looking Glass live production written by H Naylor music by P Dodgson Factory Theatre Tobacco Factory Theatres Upton Andrew 2008 Through the Looking Glass opera composed by A John Malthouse Theatre Victorian Opera Wyatt Stephen 2011 Lewis Carroll Alice Through the Looking Glass Saturday Drama BBC Radio 4 United Kingdom BBC Retrieved 12 January 2023 McLeod Norman Z 1933 Alice in Wonderland US Paramount Pictures Motion picture See Alice in Wonderland 1933 at IMDb nbsp Geronimi Clyde Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske 1951 Alice in Wonderland US Walt Disney Studios See Alice in Wonderland 1951 at IMDb nbsp Alice s Adventures in Wonderland 1972 at IMDb nbsp fictionrare2 29 September 2014 Nel mondo di Alice 3 p archived from the original on 11 December 2021 retrieved 23 April 2016 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Alice in Wonderland 1985 at IMDb nbsp Alice in Wonderland 1999 at IMDb nbsp Alice 2009 at IMDb nbsp Alice in Wonderland 2010 at IMDb nbsp Lookingglass Alice Video Preview Lookingglasstheatre org Archived from the original on 27 October 2011 Retrieved 5 November 2011 Lookingglass Alice Lookingglass Theatre Company Lookingglasstheatre org 13 February 2007 Archived from the original on 8 March 2012 Retrieved 16 January 2012 a b Theatre adaptations excluding reimaginings all in the golden afternoon96 tumblr com Retrieved 23 April 2016 dead link Wade Laura 2012 Alice Oberon Modern Plays Oberon Books ISBN 9781849433570 Theatre script Retrieved via Google Books permanent dead link Alice s Adventures Under Ground Royal Opera House Retrieved 6 February 2020 Corry John 15 June 1982 Theater Wonderland Characters in Looking Glass The New York Times Jabberwocky 1977 at IMDb nbsp Other sources edit Tymn Marshall B Kenneth J Zahorski and Robert H Boyer 1979 Fantasy Literature A Core Collection and Reference Guide New York R R Bowker Co p 61 ISBN 978 0 8352 1431 5 Gardner Martin 1990 More Annotated Alice New York Random House p 363 ISBN 978 0 394 58571 0 Gardner Martin 1960 The Annotated Alice New York Clarkson N Potter pp 180 181 External links edit nbsp Quotations related to Through the Looking Glass at Wikiquote nbsp Media related to Through the Looking Glass at Wikimedia Commons A catalogue of illustrated editions of the Alice books from 1899 to 2009 1 150 anniversary web siteOnline texts nbsp The full text of Through the Looking Glass at Wikisource Through the Looking Glass at Standard Ebooks Through the Looking Glass at Project Gutenberg nbsp Through the Looking Glass public domain audiobook at LibriVox Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Through the Looking Glass amp oldid 1188559738, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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