How does Carroll present Eccentricity in Chapter 11?
The chapter begins by describing the courtroom of Wonderland. As the reader would expect, the courtroom is not a normal one, mainly because the inhabitants are not supposed to be there, e.g. birds and beasts. The reader is first introduced to eccentricity in this chapter by the appearance of the King, who is also playing the judge, The judge, by the way, was the King; and, as he wore his crown over his wig. This shows eccentricity as firstly, the King is not supposed to be in the courtroom, let alone playing the judge, and secondly, he should not be wearing the crown as well as the wig, it should be one or the other. This eccentricity also provides humour for younger readers as they can imagine how silly the King must look.
A little way into the chapter, the reader is introduced to the jurors. This is perfectly normal in a courtroom and brings back some order for the reader. However as the reader carries on, it is clear that Carroll is juxtaposing the formality of the courtroom, all the jurors were writing down 'Stupid things!'. Here Carroll is using eccentricity to present to the audience how literal and formal the jurors usually are and how it can make them become confused if they dont relax a little. Carroll is also bringing up the issue of identity again in this chapter, for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial, showing that it is not only Alice who struggles with finding her identity in Wonderland. By doing this, Carroll also provides a link back to the beginning of the book and carries on the theme running throughout of identity. Carroll also juxtaposes the formality of the courtroom by allowing Alice to interact with the jurors whilst they are writing down, to them, important things, This, of course, Alice could not stand , and she went round the court , and got behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. This provides a humorous image for young readers and also leads on to Carroll presenting the eccentric behaviour of one particular juror, Bill the Lizard. Up until this point, he had been behaving normally but when his pen is taken away from him by Alice, Bill deviates from the social norm and begins to act strangely, therefore showing how in Wonderland, even strange acts can become normal, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day. By doing this Carroll begins to make the reader think and question, what is normal?
What happens next is, in one way normal, but in another way eccentric. Consider your verdict is said by the King, which is perfectly normal seeing as he is the judge and in a normal courtroom, the judge does say those words. However, the eccentricity of this phrase is that it has been said in the wrong order. This phrase is said, by the judge, right at the end of the trial when all the evidence has been given, unlike this courtroom, where one piece of evidence has been given and the judge is already asking for the verdict. Luckily, the White Rabbit has more knowledge of how a trail should run and overturns the social order, therefore overruling the King, Not yet, not yet!. The Mad Hatter is then brought in and behaves in an unexpected way, rather than eccentric. When the reader first met the Mad Hatter, his behaviour was greatly eccentric, with all the riddles and saying which made no sense. But upon entering the courtroom, the Mad Hatter seems very subdued, speaking in polite and archaic dialogue, I beg pardon your Majesty The effect achieved by using archaic language is that Carroll is presenting abnormality and eccentricity because the Mad Hatter is the only one talking in archaic language, everyone else is using modern language.
Eccentricity is also presented with the March Hare and Dormouse shouting out different answers to the question which was aimed at the Mad Hatter. This is eccentric behaviour because a courtroom is supposed to be quiet and only the person being questioned is allowed to answer, 'Fifteenth', said the March Hare. 'Sixteenth', said the Dormouse, but in the Wonderland courtroom, the norms the reader expects are not there in Wonderland, a similarity between the reader and Alice, as Alice is still looking for some kind of social norm in all the nonsense of Wonderland. Carroll does a clever, but simple play on words so that younger readers are still able to understand it, 'Take off your hat', the King said to the Hatter. 'It isn't mine' said the Hatter. Here it is a play on words because the archaic word, 'Hatter' shows the reader that the hat the Hatter is wearing isn't his personally, but it is his because he makes them. This is eccentric because the King doesn't understand the Hatter's trade, even though it is clearly stated in his name, the Mad Hatter. Carroll presents eccentricity in the Hatter's nervous behaviour to demonstrate to the reader how people do silly things when they're under pressure and scared of authority, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out of his teacup instead of the bread-and-butter.
Nervous and eccentric behaviour is again portrayed by the Mad Hatter when he gets his words mixed up, and the twinkling of the tea. Here he is getting mixed up with the line 'like a tea tray in the sky' from 'twinkle twinkle little bat' which he sang for the Queen at the last concert. This relates back to what the Queen said before when she asked for the list of singers at the last concert, obviously making the Mad Hatter scared that she will recognise him and execute him. Eccentricity
and informality continues as the Hatter gives evidence and the March Hare denies his part in it, which is simply accepted by the King, 'You did!' said the Hatter. 'I deny it!' said the March Hare. 'He denies it', said the King:'leave out that part'. Here, Carroll could be using the eccentric behaviour to make a mockery of the courtrooms of his time where anything could be accepted in order to keep the social order running smoothly.
This chapter takes place in a courtroom with a trial about who stole the tarts, even though they are all there in the courtroom for everyone to see. The King has more control than the Queen in this chapter, suggesting an archaic social order. Carroll uses eccentricity a lot in this chapter to deviate from the social norms in a courtroom to show, in a comical way, what chaos a trail would descend into without them.
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