|
|
What is Anglo-Saxon attitudes?
The oddly antiquated and exaggerated body language exhibited by the March Hare (Haigha) in Lewis Carroll's "Through The Looking Glass." Victorians were intrigued by the history and culture of Anglo-Saxons, and Carroll pokes fun at this trend by transforming the March Hare of "Alice In Wonderland," into an Anglo-Saxon Messenger in the book's sequel. Alice comments "'...what curious attitudes he goes into!' (For the Messenger kept skipping up and down, and wriggling like an eel, as he came along, with his great hands spread out like fans on each side.)" This explains why the famous illustrator, Sir John Tenniel, depicted Haigha (rhymes with mayor, a homophone to the British pronunciation of "hare") in clothing that contemporary scholars viewed as being the typical garb of Anglo-Saxons. These academic jabs --- as well as subtle references to social celebrities, combined with rampant wordplay, and use of puns, puzzles, and logic --- made Carroll's "Alice In Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" hugely popular with adults, as well as with the intended audience of children.
Tone down the hand gestures, man! Looks like you're going into Anglo-Saxon attitudes!