# Identity and Self in Through the Looking-Glass

> Theme guide for Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.

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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/chapters/iii-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/chapters/iv-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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/chapters/vii-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”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/chapters/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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/chapters/xi-waking): Alice's identity is intertwined with her dream, and she ponders who dreamed whom.
- [Which Dreamed It?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/chapters/xii-which-dreamed-it): Alice's playful identification of her kittens as characters from her dream explores the fluidity of identity and the self.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/themes/identity_and_self
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/through_the_looking_glass_se/themes