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Humpty Dumpty
The White King is a quiet and nervous king. Because he's a king, he's not very mobile on the chessboard, so Alice meets him in the house, when he's still the size of a chess piece, and then once along her journey. The king is very interested in memory and remembers things by writing them down. He wants to be helpful, so he sends his horses and men to help Humpty Dumpty when he falls off his wall. In almost all cases, however, the king isn't able to be especially helpful. Knowledge of the "Humpty Dumpty" nursery rhyme suggests that his men won't save Humpty Dumpty, and he tells Alice that he can't save the running White Queen from whatever's chasing her. Furthermore, despite being a king, the king seems uncomfortable in his role, as though he's not very powerful. The Lion and the Unicorn successfully intimidate him without much effort.
The White King Quotes in Through the Looking-Glass
The Through the Looking-Glass quotes below are all either spoken by The White King or refer to The White King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 7: The Lion and the Unicorn Quotes
"I always thought they were fabulous monsters!" said the Unicorn. "Is it alive?"
"It can talk," said Haigha solemnly.
The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice, and said "Talk, child."
Alice could not help her lips curling up into a smile as she began: "Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"
"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the Unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?"
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The White King Character Timeline in Through the Looking-Glass
The timeline below shows where the character The White King appears in Through the Looking-Glass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Looking-Glass House
...that she can see the Red King and the Red Queen, as well as the White King and the White Queen. The pieces seem not to hear or see Alice. A white...
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...in surprise and sits next to Lily to catch her breath. She shouts at the White King to "mind the volcano" and come up to the table normally. Alice watches for a...
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...returns to the table with the ink, she listens to the White Queen and the White King discussing what happened. The king declares that he'll never forget the horror of what happened,...
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Chapter 6: Humpty Dumpty
...apologizes, he explains that it was an un-birthday present from the White Queen and the White King . Puzzled, Alice asks what an un-birthday present is. When Humpty Dumpty explains that it's...
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Chapter 7: The Lion and the Unicorn
...and fall, and their horses don't do much better. Alice finds a clearing and the White King there, busy writing in his memorandum book. In a delighted tone, he says that he...
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...road and she exclaims that she can see someone coming slowly and skipping oddly. The White King says that the messenger is an Anglo-Saxon messenger and his behaviors are "Anglo-Saxon attitudes." The...
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Alice doesn't understand why the White King needs two messengers. He says impatiently that he needs one to fetch and one to...
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The White King asks Haigha who he saw on the road and he is pleased to hear that...
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Alice asks if the winner gets the crown, a suggestion that shocks the White King . She quickly finds that she's out of breath, but the White King refuses to...
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...of white and brown bread. Alice takes a piece but finds it very dry. The White King says that the Lion and the Unicorn won't fight more today, so he commands that...
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The Unicorn saunters by the White King , eyes his crown, and suggests that he did the best this time. The king...
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The Unicorn shouts for the White King to grab the plum cake. The king talks Haigha through pulling a plum cake, a...
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The White King tries to change the subject, but the Lion ignores the attempt and notices that Alice...
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