Historical Context- Alice in Wonderland

Literature and Parodies  

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is filled with literary allusions--along with its historical references and caricatures that reflect the literature of his time. It is said that Lewis Carroll has written these parodies to ridicule the didactic nursery rhymes for children--which echoes the overall theme of his novel. His vividly creative realm--Wonderland--demonstrates his emphasis on imagination, fun and freedom. In many ways he implies the futility and his scorn of these overly preachy poems when children are supposed to just be children. The poems they read should echo that very aspect and speak to their childish nature; instead of trying to bore them out of their minds. (This is very evident when Alice's sister attempts to give Alice a history lesson, at which Alice argues that any book without pictures is impossible to read.) 

Here, we shall take a look at two examples, "The Queen of Hearts" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat."

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"The Queen of Hearts"

This is a poem written by an anonymous author adapted into Carroll's novel. Not only does Carroll reference his character, "Queen of Hearts" to the one mentioned in the poem, he also structures the tart trial near the end of the first book based on this poem. 

The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,    
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts
He stole those tarts,    
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,    
And beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,    
And vowed he'd steal no more.

Here we can see the correlations between this poem and the story events--the characters involved are exactly the same. The Queen of Hearts, The Knave of Hearts (who stole the tarts) and the King of Hearts (who calls for a trial). This poem is presented as the "accusation" and one of the evidence to establish and affirm Knave of Hearts' guilt. The King of Hearts, after the poem is read, rushes towards the verdict without any further consideration as he continues to do the same even when he calls for the witnesses. 

The trial itself that is created out of this poem also serves as a parody to mock the British law system in which the evidences and the witnesses contribute little to the final verdict, since the King of Hearts (the judge) is described to be unreasonably hasty, as mentioned above. As well, the jurors are all diligently scribing things that are absurdly unimportant; phrases such as "nothing whatever" and even the word "important" are recorded down. 

Along with this poem, the anonymous author also publishes three other related poems, and they are: "The King of Spades", "The King of Clubs", and "The Diamond King". 


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"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" 
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!

Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.


Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!


Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, 
How I wonder what you are!
Perhaps the most memorable parody is the Dormouse's "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat." The "bat" in this poem is a Lewis Carroll's personal caricature of Bartholomew Price, Carroll's former teacher whose nickname is Bat. Price is said to be a close associate to Alice Liddell's family. 

Some other parodies: 

"How Doth the Little Crocodile", a poem recited by Alice in Chapter Two of the first book, is a parody of Isaac watt's nursery rhyme, "Against Idleness and Mischief." 

"You Are Old, Father William"--a parody of Robert Southey's "The Old Man's Comforts and How He Gained Them"
 
"The Duchess' Lullaby"--a parody of David Bates' "Speak Gently" 


"Tis the Voice of the Lobster"--a parody of "The Sluggard" 

"Beautiful Soup"--a parody of "Star of the Evening, Beautiful Star" by James M. Sayles