The Duchess
Quote 1
"Tut, tut, child!" said the Duchess. "Every thing's got a moral, if only you can find it." (Wonderland 9.6)
By putting this Victorian commonplace into the mouth of the ridiculous Duchess, Lewis Carroll shows us how absurd it really is. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was one of the first major works of children's literature that placed entertainment value above moral instruction. After all, not everything does have a moral – some things are just wrong, or absurd, or ridiculous. Carroll almost anticipates existentialism here. It's a bit depressing, really, but it's saved by our laughter.