Shaking
Chapter 10 Full readingOriginal 1871 book · Project Gutenberg eBook 12 · Chapter 10
1She took her off the table as she spoke, and shook her backwards and forwards with all her might. The Red Queen made no resistance whatever; only her face grew very small, and her eyes got large and green: and still, as Alice went on shaking her, she kept on growing shorter—and fatter—and softer—and rounder—and—
Decoded Meaning & consequence
The apparent sovereign loses its fixed form when the participant interrupts the encounter
shorter—and fatter—and softer—and rounder
The Red Queen offers no resistance as Alice handles her directly. The figure loses the scale and fixed presentation that sustained its command. The traveler’s action changes the relation through which the apparent sovereign could address her.
Back to these wordsThe apparent sovereign loses its fixed form when the participant interrupts the encounter
The Red Queen offers no resistance as Alice handles her directly. The figure loses the scale and fixed presentation that sustained its command. The traveler’s action changes the relation through which the apparent sovereign could address her.
The growing eyes and softening body begin disclosing another carrier beneath the royal image. The chapter ends before naming it. A received form can withdraw through changing sensation before the experiencer understands what supported its appearance.
The practical attainment concerns interruption of enthrallment: the participant stops supplying the behavior required by the image’s authority. This particular scene approaches awakening through contact with an ordinary animal. The kitten’s emerging body introduces the living companion beneath the imposed royal role.
The overpowering image contracts around its carried form
The ceremony’s collapse continues into the body of its presiding image. The figure becomes manageable and changes beneath Alice’s hands. The apparent sovereign can no longer maintain the relation that made its orders effective.
The source leaves that change unfinished at the chapter’s end. The next brief movement will name the carrier without settling who dreamed the larger world.
Sources for this passage
Lewis Carroll · Through the Looking-GlassChapter 10: Shaking
End of chapter