“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Alice through the Looking Glass

Through the Looking-Glass: Alice's Journey to Selfhood

Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass presents a masterfully crafted quest narrative that follows Alice's transformation from pawn to queen, both literally on the chessboard and metaphorically in her journey toward self-discovery. The novel, written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under his pen name, weaves together elements of fantasy, logic, and Victorian social commentary to create a rich tapestry of meaning. Known for his inventive wordplay, mathematical logic, and exploration of nonsense literature, Carroll’s fascination with children’s imagination was inspired by his close friendship with Alice Liddell, the daughter of Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

Victorian Literary Context

Carroll's work emerges from a crucial moment in the development of children's literature. The Victorian era witnessed a transformation in how childhood was conceived, moving from Lockean ideas of the child as tabula rasa to Romantic notions of childhood innocence. This shift coincided with the rise of fantasy literature, exemplified by works like George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin (1872) and Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies (1863). Carroll's work both reflects and subverts these contemporary trends.

The novel's treatment of childhood and education particularly resonates with Victorian debates about educational reform. While contemporary writers like Samuel Smiles promoted self-help and moral improvement, Carroll presents a world where conventional education proves inadequate. Alice's recitation of facts and poems repeatedly fails her in the looking-glass world, suggesting a critique of rote learning practices in Victorian schools.

The Chessboard as Life's Stage

The novel's genius lies in its use of chess as both structure and metaphor. When Alice steps through the mirror into the looking-glass world, she enters a landscape organized as a giant chessboard. This is not merely a clever narrative device but a profound metaphor for how we navigate life's challenges. Each square represents a distinct trial; each move forward brings new encounters. Like a pawn advancing across the board, Alice must earn her transformation into a queen through perseverance and wit.

The chessboard’s rules impose structure, yet Alice’s interactions within this framework often defy logic, illustrating the tension between order and chaos. This interplay highlights Carroll’s commentary on societal constraints and the individual’s capacity to adapt.

Characters as Mirrors and Mentors

The characters Alice meets serve as fascinating reflections of authority figures and societal forces. Each square on the chessboard represents a distinct trial or interaction, akin to stages in a hero’s journey. Alice encounters obstacles that test her resourcefulness and adaptability, such as her conversation with the cryptic Red Queen, her attempt to decipher the chaotic banquet, and her puzzling exchange with Humpty Dumpty. The Red Queen, with her contradictory rules and imperious manner, embodies the often arbitrary nature of social conventions. The White Knight, despite his bumbling nature, offers genuine kindness and support, suggesting that not all authority figures seek to constrain.

Humpty Dumpty stands out as particularly significant, serving as a master of language who insists words mean exactly what he chooses them to mean. Through him, Carroll explores how language shapes reality and how those in power often control meaning itself. The Tweedle brothers, with their circular arguments and pointless rivalry, brilliantly satirize the futility of many social conflicts.

These episodes, while whimsical and often absurd, serve as metaphors for the confusion and complexity of growing up. They challenge Alice to assert herself, make decisions, and adapt to the strange rules of the looking-glass world.

Growth Through Paradox

Carroll’s genius shows in how he uses nonsense to convey deep truths about growing up. When the White Queen proudly proclaims she sometimes believes "six impossible things before breakfast," she challenges rigid thinking patterns and celebrates the power of imagination. The novel suggests that true maturity comes not from rejecting fantasy but from learning to balance logic and imagination. This balance is key to Alice’s transformation from a passive participant to an active agent of her destiny.

The Looking-Glass as Identity Explorer

The mirror motif runs deeper than the initial premise suggests. Throughout her journey, Alice constantly grapples with questions of identity. "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then," she reflects, capturing the essence of personal growth. The looking-glass world, where everything is reversed, forces Alice to reconsider her assumptions about reality and herself. Modern interpretations link this motif to psychoanalysis, viewing the looking-glass world as a reflection of Alice’s subconscious, while postmodern readings explore the deconstruction of language and reality.

The famous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" serves as more than just clever wordplay. Its tale of confronting an unnamed monster represents Alice's broader journey of facing the unknown. The poem's invented words, which somehow manage to convey meaning despite their nonsensical nature, mirror Alice's need to make sense of an increasingly absurd world.

Psychoanalytic and Feminist Readings

Through Lacanian psychoanalysis, Alice's journey through the looking-glass mirrors the crucial developmental stage Lacan terms "the mirror phase." The moment Alice steps through the mirror represents the child’s recognition of self as separate from others, while her subsequent adventures explore the tension between imaginary and symbolic orders. Her interactions with looking-glass creatures, particularly the nonsensical conversations with Humpty Dumpty, reflect the child’s struggle to master language and enter the symbolic order.

Feminist scholars like Helena Michie have highlighted how Alice's journey subverts Victorian gender expectations. Her progression from pawn to queen can be read as a rejection of passive femininity, while her encounters with the Red and White Queens present contrasting models of female authority. The chess metaphor itself takes on additional significance when considered through the lens of gender politics—Alice’s linear progression across the board challenges the circular, domestic movements expected of Victorian women.

Victorian Society in the Mirror

While entertaining on the surface, the novel offers sharp criticism of Victorian society. The rigid chess rules mirror societal constraints, while the characters' often absurd adherence to protocol satirizes Victorian formality. Yet Carroll's critique isn't bitter—it's playful and thought-provoking, encouraging readers to question their own society's conventions.

Mathematical and Logical Elements

Carroll’s background as a mathematician profoundly influences the novel’s structure. Beyond the obvious chess framework, the text explores mathematical concepts like reflection, symmetry, and inverse operations. The looking-glass world operates according to its own mathematical logic, where time runs backward and cause follows effect. This mathematical underpinning provides a counterpoint to the apparent nonsense, suggesting that even the most absurd elements follow their own internal logic.

Conclusion

Through the Looking-Glass endures because it operates on multiple levels—as a children’s fantasy, a coming-of-age story, and a sophisticated critique of society. Through its intricate play with logic and nonsense, the novel continues to reward critical attention and generate new interpretations, confirming its status as a cornerstone of both children’s literature and Victorian cultural criticism.

By the end of her quest, Alice has not only moved from pawn to queen but also internalized its lessons about perseverance, identity, and agency. Her coronation as queen represents more than just winning a game—it symbolizes her growth into someone capable of navigating complex social dynamics while maintaining her essential self. The novel’s enduring significance lies not just in its narrative complexity but in its ability to engage with fundamental questions about identity, language, and reality.