Alice and the Duchess

The Duchess is a character invented by Lewis Caroll, who appeared for the first time in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll, in 1865. Caroll does not describe her physically in much detail, although her hideous appearance is strongly established in the popular imagination thanks to John Tenniel's illustrations and from context it is clear that Alice finds her quite unattractive. The Duchess (and the characters which accompany her) is a character that was only added successively, in the 1865 version, and not in the earlier ones. Image File history File links Alice_par_John_Tenniel_32. ... Image File history File links Alice_par_John_Tenniel_32. ... Photograph of Lewis Carroll taken by himself, with assistance Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was a British author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Photograph of Lewis Carroll taken by himself, with assistance Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was a British author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... 1889 Self-portrait Sir John Tenniel (February 28, 1820 – February 25, 1914) was an English illustrator. ... Alice is a fictional character in the books Alices Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, which were written by Charles Dodgson under the pen name Lewis Carroll. ...

Origin

The Duchess was born as an antagonist to The Queen of Hearts and as a double of her personality. In Alice's Adventures Under Ground she is in fact absent, but many of her characteristics are the same as the Queen's. Probably Lewis Carroll wanted this nth caricature of the female sex (including the Cook), as another supplication to Alice to not lose her spontaneity and innocence of childhood, therefore to say that growing up is not necessarily a positive phenomenon (as testified by the child of the Duchess). John Tenniels illustration of the King and Queen of Hearts at the trial of the Knave of Hearts. ...

According to Martin Gardner in The Annotated Alice, John Tenniel, for his drawings, seems to be inspired by Quentin Massys 'La vecchia grotesqua' (1513). The painting seems to be a portrait of Margarete Maultasch a duchess of the XIV century passed down in history as the ugliest woman who ever existed. However since the painting was done 200 years after her death it is impossible to verify if Massy did a reliable portrait of the real duchess. Martin Gardner (b. ... The Annotated Alice is a work by Martin Gardner incorporating the text of Lewis Carrolls major tales - Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. ... 1889 Self-portrait Sir John Tenniel (February 28, 1820 – February 25, 1914) was an English illustrator. ... The Ugly Duchess by Quentin Matsys (1525-30) Oil on wood, 64 x 45,5 cm National Gallery, London Quentin Matsys, also known as Quentin Massys, Quentin Metsys or Kwinten Metsys (1466 - 1530), was a painter in the Flemish tradition, founder of the Antwerp school. ... The Ugly Duchess by Quentin Matsys (1525-30) may be a satirical portrait of Margarete Maultasch. ...

Description

The Duchess with her family

It is possible to give a description of her character by analyzing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice on Stage. Image File history File links Alice_par_John_Tenniel_21. ... Image File history File links Alice_par_John_Tenniel_21. ...

The Duchess lives in Wonderland in a small palace just outside the forest of the Caterpillar. She is a duchess and has a Cook and a Valet; she moreover has a child (or at least, that is the way it appears) and a cat, (The Cheshire Cat). Lewis Caroll is not very explicit about her physical aspects, while Tenniels drawings illustrate a very ugly and grotesque woman, and show her head in a very out-of proportional way in relation to her body. Her character is strongly voluble, at times she even seems to have a double personality: at her first meeting with Alice (which happens in the kitchen of her home) she shows herself to be nervous and aggressive and absolutely not disposed to interact, and she recites one of the more famous (or infamous) rhymes in the book, when she advocates beating a child for sneezing: The Caterpillar using a hookah; an illustration by John Tenniel The Caterpillar is a fictional character appearing in Lewis Carrolls book, Alices Adventures in Wonderland. ... The Cheshire cat as John Tenniel envisioned it in the 1866 publication The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat appearing in Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland. ...

"Speak harshly to your little boy/and beat him when he sneezes/he only does it to annoy/because he knows it teases."

As the cook has absolutely saturated the kitchen with pepper, and the baby sneezes constantly, one can only conclude he has probably suffered quite a bit at his mother's hands. Taking pity on the child, Alice spirits him away only to find that he quickly transforms into a pig. It is never explained why this happens, but Alice looks on the bright side, concluding that while the baby wasn't a very attractive baby, it makes for a good-looking pig.

Of the Duchess' household, the Cat appears to be by far the most balanced and sensible, although he states that, like everybody else in Wonderland, he is mad. How he came to be with the Duchess is, like so many other matters in Wonderland, a mystery. Later, when he meets up with Alice, it appears he has left the Duchess for good.

When Alice meets the Duchess for the second time, the Duchess is much more chatty and almost flirtatious, seemingly determined to charm the young girl for reasons unknown. She now repeatedly places her chin firmly on Alice's shoulder, which Alice finds disturbing as well as uncomfortable, as the Duchess has a very sharp, pointy chin. (In Kurt Vonnegut's novel Breakfast of Champions he also has a character do this, and Vonnegut breaks the fourth wall to tell readers that it is a direct homage to this famous scene with the Duchess.) The Duchess' mood swing is so severe here that Alice thinks that perhaps her earlier irritability was due to all the pepper. In any case, the Duchess has no concern for her baby now that he's become a pig. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut, and is a prime example of Vonneguts peculiar brand of deadpan satire. ... The fourth wall is the imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. ... For a description of the medieval homage ceremony see commendation ceremony Homage is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted. ...

The Duchess is often seen as a child's-eye-view of emotionally volatile and mysterious adults, switching back and forth between dark moods and condescending affection at unpredictable times.

Other Media

The Duchess, as she appears in "American McGee's Alice".

• The Duchess is the first boss that Alice faces in American McGee's Alice. Appearing from the chimney, she is extremely large and ugly, wearing a stained apron and wielding a bizarre sort of pepper shaker, from which she shoots lethal black pepper at Alice. In this version, she seems to be a cannibal, as her first lines indicate that Alice would make a nice light snack. After being defeated, she becomes intoxicated with pepper, and her head explodes.