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Alice
One of the queens in Looking-glass World. Alice finds her extremely perplexing and not particularly queen-like. She spends the entire novel in a state of disarray, as she cannot keep track of her shawl and lost her hairbrush in the mess of her hair. Alice kindly tries to put the queen right, but though the queen appreciates Alice's help it seems to not make much of a difference. The White Queen introduces Alice to the idea that a person can remember in both directions—that is, remember the future and the past. As an example, she says that a man is currently being punished for a crime he hasn't committed yet, but when Alice asks what will happen if the man doesn't commit the crime, the White Queen offers a disturbing answer: that punishments are unequivocally good, whether someone committed a crime to deserve them or not. The White Queen can move very quickly around the chessboard and Alice sees her running hard at one point. She appears with Alice and the Red Queen once Alice reaches the Eighth Square to give Alice another lesson in logic, riddles, and how to carry herself as a queen. According to the Red Queen, the White Queen came from humble beginnings and so sometimes says silly things. Upon waking, Alice believes that her cat, Snowdrop, appeared as the White Queen in her dream, and that the White Queen was so disheveled throughout the dream because Snowdrop was in the middle of a bath.
The White Queen Quotes in Through the Looking-Glass
The Through the Looking-Glass quotes below are all either spoken by The White Queen or refer to The White Queen. 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 5: Wool and Water Quotes
"Well, I don't want any to-day, at any rate."
"You couldn't have it if you did want it," the Queen said. "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day."
"It must come sometimes to 'jam to-day,'" Alice objected.
"No, it ca'n't," said the Queen. It's jam every other day: to-day isn't any other day, you know."
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Chapters 9-10: Queen Alice; Shaking Quotes
Everything was happening so oddly that she didn't feel a bit surprised at finding the Red Queen and the White Queen sitting close to her, one on each side: she would have liked very much to ask them how they came there, but she feared it would not be quite civil.
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"What impertinence!" said the Pudding. "I wonder how you'd like it, if I were to cut a slice out of you, you creature!"
It spoke in a thick, suety sort of voice, and Alice hadn't a word to say in reply: she could only sit and look at it and gasp.
"Make a remark," said the Red Queen: "it's ridiculous to leave all the conversation to the pudding!"
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Get the entire Through the Looking-Glass LitChart as a printable PDF.
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The White Queen Character Timeline in Through the Looking-Glass
The timeline below shows where the character The White Queen appears in Through the Looking-Glass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Looking-Glass House
...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 pawn on the...
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The White Queen gasps in surprise and sits next to Lily to catch her breath. She shouts at...
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When Alice 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...
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Chapter 2: The Garden of Live Flowers
...like to be a queen. The Red Queen says that Alice can play as the White Queen 's pawn, since Lily is too little to play. She says that Alice will start...
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Chapter 5: Wool and Water
Alice catches the shawl and sees the White Queen running toward her. Alice helps the queen put her shawl back on and, as the...
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Alice turns down the job and says she doesn't like jam. The White Queen points out that Alice can't have the jam anyway—she can only have jam tomorrow and...
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Before Alice can suggest that they've made a mistake in their logic, the White Queen starts screaming that her finger is bleeding. The queen explains that she's going to prick...
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...light and Alice observes that the crow flew away. She says she's glad, and the White Queen moans that she wishes she could be happy. Alice remembers that she's actually very lonely...
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Alice asks if the White Queen 's finger is better but, as the queen answers, Alice finds herself in a dark...
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Chapter 6: Humpty Dumpty
...offended, but after Alice 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...
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Chapter 7: The Lion and the Unicorn
...so he commands that Hatta get the drums. Alice watches silently and then notices the White Queen running in the distance. The king says that someone is probably chasing her and when...
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Chapters 9-10: Queen Alice; Shaking
...She decides to practice and, if she really is a queen, she'll be fine. The White Queen and the Red Queen suddenly appear next to her. She wants to ask them how,...
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Concerned, Alice insists that she just said "if," which makes the Red Queen and White Queen exchange looks and shudder. The White Queen moans that Alice said more than that, and...
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The Red Queen invites the White Queen to Alice's dinner party later. The White Queen invites the Red Queen in turn. Alice...
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Alice thinks that this is all nonsense. The Red Queen and the White Queen moan that Alice is hopeless at sums. Alice asks the White Queen if she can...
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The White Queen says that Humpty Dumpty saw "it" when he showed up with a corkscrew looking for...
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The White Queen complains of being sleepy and puts her head on Alice's shoulder. The Red Queen instructs...
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...someone singing that Alice invited everyone to dine with her, the Red Queen, and the White Queen . Other voices join in the chorus. The voice sings the second verse and Alice...
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...with fish. She asks why everyone loves fish here. The Red Queen suggests that the White Queen tell Alice a riddle about fish.
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The White Queen recites her riddle. It begins by saying that catching and cooking the fish is easy,...
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The Red Queen and the White Queen push on either side of Alice, lifting her up in the air. The White Queen...
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