Essay #2 Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass: The Mirror as a Satirical Framing Device

The mirror Alice tumbles through in Through the Looking Glass functions as a framing device to place the story within the context of satire. Framing devices 'frame' a story (Alice playing with her kittens and looking though a mirror), around another story (the world through the looking glass); to ensure that the inner story will be understood through a set perspective (TvTropes n.d.).

The mirror metaphor frames the story as a satirical commentary on Victorian society, drawing from classical symbolism in which mirrors have represented introspection (Kalach n.d.);

“With respect to the replicative and 'reflecting' function of thought, the mirror is a symbol of knowledge, self-knowledge and conciousness as well as of truth and clarity.” (Becker 2000, 199).

That the world in the mirror is a satirical device for examination is first hinted at when Alice holds the black kitten up to the mirror “that it might see how sulky it was” (Carrol 1871). The looking glass world presents a satirical comedy:

“...whereby folly is seen everywhere, but the author’s attitude is one of laughter... from this perspective, the writing of satire portrays itself as the sane response to a world gone astray.” (The Satirist n.d.).

The chess game played by the Red and White queen and their looking glass denizens is a satirical parody of social manoeuvring, with each character attempting to advance their status within society. Throughout this game the authoritative behaviour of royalty, etiquette and conventions of society are all parodied (The Victorian Web 2007).

The story's conclusion, which proposes that “Life, what is it but a dream?” (Carrol 1871), concludes the satirical commentary. The looking glass examination of society and social protocols demonstrate both to be nonsensical, and therefore the suggestion that life itself is not a serious pursuit, further re-enforces the similarities between the real world and its satirical facsimile; the world through the looking glass.

References

Becker, U. 2000. The Continuum Encylopedia of Symbols. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Carrol, L. 1871. Through the Looking Glass. http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/carroll/lewis/looking/contents.html (accessed February 12, 2013).

Kalach, M. n.d. Atelier Balbec - The Mirror in Renaissance Paintings. http://www.atbalbec.com/post/24476662806/the-mirror-in-renaissance-paintings (accessed February 11, 2013).

The Satirist. n.d. The Satirist - Satire (and Related Terms) Defined. http://www.thesatirist.com/_thesatirist_admin/thesatirist_definitions.html (accessed February 12, 2013).

The Victorian Web. 2007. "Alice-Mutton: Mutton-Alice": Parodies of Protocol in Through the Looking Glass. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/lim.html (accessed February 12, 2013).

TvTropes. n.d. Framing Device - Television Tropes & Idioms. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FramingDevice (accessed February 12, 2013).