I guess, nearly everybody knows about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from their childhood experiences. This book, andThrough the Looking Glass,were written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson who is better known by his pen-name Lewis Carroll. His main contribution is to be found in children's literature. In my following work I will concentrate on the scene between Alice and Humpty Dumpty. Because Humpty Dumpty is very well known especially by british children, he is one of the main characters in the bookThrough the Looking Glass.Many children are able to tell the little nursery rhyme about him, which goes: "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall: Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses and all the King's men Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his Place again." For this is the chapter which is unique in the linguistic sense, I divided it in several parts to analyze it best. These are the topics of which Alice and Humpty speak.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Structure of Chapter VI. in Through the Looking Glass
II.1 Humpty Dumpty's appearance in the beginning
II.2 Humpty's shape and Names and meanings
II.3 Humpty Dumpty's position
II.4 Talking about age
II.5 Belt or cravat
II.6 Un-birthday discussion and Calculation
II.7 Words and their meaning
II.8 The Jabberwocky
II.9 Humpty's poem
II.10 Alice's face
III. Conclusion
Objectives and Research Themes
This paper examines the linguistic and narrative significance of the encounter between Alice and Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, focusing on how this chapter operates as a unique site of linguistic ambiguity and preordained destiny.
- The role of Humpty Dumpty as a central character embodying arrogance and personified language.
- The subversion of linguistic norms and the arbitrary nature of signs in the Looking Glass World.
- The intertextual relationship between the original nursery rhyme and the unfolding narrative.
- The contrast between Alice's polite, coherent communication and Humpty Dumpty's nonsensical, authoritative verbal control.
Excerpt from the Book
II.3 Humpty Dumpty's position
Because Alice is fully aware of the nursery rhyme which says "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall: Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...", she politely asks him if he would not be safer down on the ground. When looking at Humpty she must have thought of the rhyme and now wants to prevent its fulfillment. Ergo, he evokes an intertextual origin , "which exhausts the 'meaning' of Humpty Dumpty by determining its fate down to the minutest details".18
Humpty Dumpty, occupying a higher position on this narrow wall "with his legs crossed like a Turk", answers in a very arrogant way. He says, there is no chance of falling off the wall. This behavior reveals that pride goes before the fall.19 Humpty Dumpty is the embodiment of arrogance. Furthermore, Humpty could not know that every prediction made in the real world will come true in the Looking Glass World. The content of the nursery rhyme therefore will come to its fulfillment. Normally, events first happen and are then formed into words. In the mirror-world it goes the other way around: The words, namely the nursery rhyme , do exist in advance and just wait of their fulfillment in Looking Glass World. Maybe Alice is much more aware of these facts - because she knows the rhyme which Humpty Dumpty does not - and that is why she tries to prevent Humpty from the consequences.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: The introduction establishes the academic focus on the Humpty Dumpty scene, identifying the character's importance in British children's literature and the linguistic uniqueness of the chapter.
II. Structure of Chapter VI. in Through the Looking Glass: This main section provides a detailed, step-by-step analysis of the dialogue, covering themes such as identity, the arbitrary nature of language, the "un-birthday" concept, and the fatalistic predictions of the nursery rhyme.
III. Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, reinforcing that Humpty Dumpty serves as an extreme example of arrogance and a manifestation of meaning within the context of the Looking Glass World's reversed logic.
Keywords
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty, Alice, Nonsense literature, Linguistic ambiguity, Semiotics, Nursery rhymes, Intertextuality, Character analysis, Victorian literature, Narrative structure, Metaphor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic work?
The paper focuses on the specific scene in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass where Alice interacts with Humpty Dumpty, analyzing it as a linguistically and narratively unique chapter.
What are the central themes discussed in this analysis?
Key themes include the nature of proper names, the relationship between words and meaning, the authority of the speaker, and the influence of nursery rhymes on a character's predetermined fate.
What is the main research objective?
The objective is to explore how Humpty Dumpty functions as a character who attempts to master language and reality, and to demonstrate how the "Looking Glass" world functions through inverse logic.
Which methodology is applied in this study?
The paper utilizes literary analysis and semiotic interpretation, drawing on scholarly works (such as those by Jean-Jacques Lecercle and Martin Gardner) to examine the philosophy of nonsense.
What is covered in the main section of the paper?
The main section provides a granular, ten-part breakdown of the conversation between Alice and Humpty Dumpty, ranging from his physical appearance to his specific discussions on age, language, and poetry.
How would you describe the key characteristics of this work?
This work is characterized by its close reading of text, its focus on the "philosophy of nonsense," and its exploration of the tension between human agency and assigned destiny in fantasy literature.
How does the author interpret Humpty Dumpty's view on language?
The author argues that Humpty Dumpty treats language as an arbitrary tool he controls, claiming "when I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean," which positions him as a master over a "rebellious population of words."
What is the significance of the nursery rhyme in the analysis?
The nursery rhyme acts as a script that dictates Humpty Dumpty's ultimate fate; the author highlights how the Looking Glass world functions inversely, where words exist before the events they describe.
How does the encounter reflect a polarization between Alice and Humpty Dumpty?
The author identifies a contrast between Alice’s polite and loving nature and Humpty Dumpty’s selfish, arrogant, and impatient demeanor, highlighting their conflicting interpretations of reality.
- Quote paper
- Stefanie Schinzel (Author), 2001, Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/60319
