Thursday, August 12, 2010

The White Rabbit´s Evidence...

Goodness, did it just sound like a broken watch at the end of "Heart-Shaped Glasses"? Of course it did. And it was "exactly two days slow". That explains why the White Rabbit was highly concerned about it.


      "Faster, faster
    faster-faster-faster
    faster-faster-faster
    I'm late, I'm late
    And the hands on my clock
    are starting to shake"

The notion of time was quite tricky in Wonderland. No one was ever late for tea because it always happened around The Mad Hatter, and yet the White Rabbit is tied to the clock like a ball and chain. It just doesn´t make any sense, and that´s the whole point.


But as the watch broke we found some funny shapes in it, like cogs and springs, some of them even reminded us of the spiral, one of the most ancient symbols in the world:

A simple spiral which can be found in many
elements in nature.

The Spiral Heart designed for EAT ME, DRINK ME ,
an emblem for a new era.

The Card Maze, another possible source of inspiration for the
Spiral Heart design, notice the uneven lines and edges.

In conclusion, all these elements are living, moving elements. And isn´t the heart one of the most treasured things ever? Then why did it become a symbol of tragedy, who tainted it and stripped it from all its beauty? Ask the Queen Of Hearts, of course.






 `Would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, `why you are painting those roses?'
Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, `Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a RED rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we're doing our best, afore she comes, to--'
  
    "...and we'll paint
    over the evidence".












Alice eagerly painting the roses red.



But here´s another piece of EVIDENCE:

"...your lips look like they were made for something else,but they just suck my breath".
"A hunter from the darkest wild... makes you feel just like a child."  (Jumanji, 1995)


White could be an analogy for innocence. While there was no white suit of cards in Poker, just black and red a white rose is seen as a "mistake", one that was heavily punished by The Queen Of Hearts. Another explanation could have been because of The White Queen (from the chessboard in Through The Looking Glass).

"The Queen she likes 'em red
If she saw white instead
She'd raise a fuss
And each of us
Would quickly lose his head
Goodness!
Since this is the part we dread".
We're painting the roses red

(from the Disney song: Painting The Roses Red)

Thus, we understand that the Queen of Hearts clearly identifies herself with the red roses,  which have a universal meaning of love and romance. However, in her case they could stand for wrath, so said the Caterpillar to Alice;

"don´t lose your temper..."

for you might end up like Her Majesty, who also refuses to dialogue; if there is anything she doesn´t like she´ll shout, "off with your head!", an obvious reference to beheading.

This concept could be taken one step further and "beheading" could also mean destroy anything produced by the head; the brain, reason, logic. This becomes even more EVIDENT in this scene:



Carroll wrote the following:

"I pictured to myself the Queen of Hearts as a sort of embodiment of ungovernable passion – a blind and aimless Fury."

Clearly she knows nothing about the matters of the heart. Looks to us as if she were actually the Queen Of Spades.

`That's the most important piece of evidence we've heard yet,' said the King, rubbing his hands; `so now let the jury--' 

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