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| Duchess | |
|---|---|
| Alice character | |
 Alice and the Duchess, 1865 illustration byJohn Tenniel | |
| First appearance | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) |
| Created by | Lewis Carroll |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Family | Queen of Hearts |
| Nationality | Wonderland |
TheDuchess is a character inLewis Carroll'sAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865. Carroll does not describe her physically in much detail, although as stated in Chapter 9, "Alice did not much like keeping so close to her: first, because the Duchess wasvery ugly; and secondly, because she was exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice’s shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin."[1] Her hideous appearance and short stature is strongly established in the popular imagination thanks toJohn Tenniel's illustrations and from context it is clear thatAlice finds her quite unattractive.
The Duchess is an antagonist ofThe Queen of Hearts. In her first appearance, the Duchess seems nearly as unpleasant as the Queen herself, but later on treats Alice with friendliness and respect.
According toMartin Gardner inThe Annotated Alice,John Tenniel's drawings of the Duchess were inspired byQuentin Matsys'sThe Ugly Duchess (c. 1513) in theNational Gallery.[2]
The Duchess lives in Wonderland in a small house just outside theCaterpillar's forest. She employs a footman, whom Alice thinks resembles a frog, and a Cook, who is addicted topepper and who throws crockery and kitchen utensils over her shoulder with no concern for those who might be hit. The footman enjoys staring at the sky for days on end, oblivious to most people in or out of the house. The Duchess also has a baby and a cat (theCheshire Cat).
Lewis Carroll is not explicit about her physical attributes, but Tenniel's drawings illustrate an ugly and grotesque woman with an extremely large head. Her character is strongly volatile; at times she even seems to have a double personality. When she first meets Alice in her kitchen, she shows herself to be nervously aggressive.
She recites one of the better-known[citation needed] rhymes in the book, when she advocates beating a child for sneezing:
Speak roughly to your little boy
and beat him when he sneezes
he only does it to annoy
because he knows it teases.
I speak severely to my boy
I beat him when he sneezes
for he can thoroughly enjoy
the pepper when he pleases
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 has transformed 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 it states that—like everyone else in Wonderland—it is mad.
When Alice meets the Duchess for the second time at the Queen's croquet party, the Duchess is much more chatty and pleasant tempered. She 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. (InKurt Vonnegut's novelBreakfast of Champions he also has a character do this, and Vonnegut breaks thefourth wall to tell readers that it is a directhomage to this famous scene with the Duchess.) Even so, Alice begins to suspect that the Duchess might actually have a pleasant personality after all, and that her earlier ruthlessness was caused by the pepper.
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.[citation needed]
TheDuchess' Cook lives in the Duchess' Palace, is obsessed with pepper and throws it all over the place, causing the Baby and Duchess to sneeze constantly. She also smashes plates everywhere with crockery and kitchen utensils.
She is called to testify as a witness at the trial later in the book, and when told to give her evidence, she replies "Shan't." After theWhite Rabbit tells the King that he is required to cross examine this witness, the King asks her what tarts are made of, to which she answers "pepper."
In the 2010Tim Burton film,Thackery Earwicket (March Hare) shares many of The Cook's characteristics such as enjoying smashing plates and throwing pepper everywhere.
