Through the Looking-Glass · Theme
Identity and Self
How Through the Looking-Glass develops Identity and Self.
Alice constantly questions her own reality and identity, as when Tweedledee and Tweedledum suggest she is merely a figment of the Red King's dream, and Humpty Dumpty mocks her name as 'stupid' and meaningless.
Where it surfaces
- Looking-Glass Insects
Alice's loss of her name in the wood and the Fawn's sudden recognition of its own identity highlight the theme of self-knowledge and the role of names in defining who we are.
- Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Alice's struggle to assert her own reality against the twins' claims highlights themes of self-perception and identity.
- The Lion and the Unicorn
Alice is called 'the Monster' and questions her own identity when the Unicorn and Lion ask what she is.
- VIII: “It’s My Own Invention”
Alice's desire to become a Queen and her concern about belonging to another person's dream reflect her struggle with identity.
- XI: Waking
Alice's identity is intertwined with her dream, and she ponders who dreamed whom.
- Which Dreamed It?
Alice's playful identification of her kittens as characters from her dream explores the fluidity of identity and the self.