Alice'S Adventures In Wonderland Chapter Summary

Chapters 8 and 9

CHAPTER 8: THE QUEEN’S CROQUET GROUND

Events + Reactions:

1. Alice arrives in the garden and encounters a very nervous group of gardening cards who are painting roses
- Alice asks timidly why they’re painting the roses after observing their quarrelling
2. The Queen arrives and Alice meets her, and they play croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs – she quickly discovers the Queen’s favourite line: “Off with her/his head!”
- Doesn’t know whether to bow down like the cards or not when the Queen arrives – feels if you can’t see the procession (because your head is on the ground ☺) then there is no point in having one
- Is at first polite with the Queen and then more assertive, but accepts the offer to play croquet
- During croquet game: gets nervous about the consequences if she were to have a dispute with the Queen, and looks for a way to discretely escape
3. The Cheshire cat appears and they chat, and the Queen orders it to be beheaded
- For Alice, the appearance of the Cheshire Cat’s head in thin air gives her somebody to talk to
- After execution is ordered she wanders off to keep playing croquet, and decides to go and talk some more to her ‘friend’ when her flamingo and hedgehog keep misbehaving.
4. An argument ensues about how to and if you can behead a head (between King, Queen and executioner), and they ask Alice to determine who is right – then the cat’s head disappears
- Alice overwhelmed by the opinions flying at her and suggests they ask the Duchess (because she owns the cat)

Interactions with Characters:

Cards:
- First just watches their exchanges out of curiosity
- Asks them where the Queen is timidly after they bow to her: beginning to become afraid of the unknown, or the fact that they are treating her as an authority figure?
- The cards ran to Alice for protection from the executioner and she exclaims that the cards ‘sha’n’t be beheaded!’ – she picks them up and hides them in a pot

Queen:
- At...