Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
He seems to, when compared to the Queen of Hearts, be the moderate part of the Wonderland government. As an example, when the Queen, who enjoys ordering beheadings, attempts to have Alice executed (charged with being unable to answer who is lying down in front of her) the King of Hearts reminds her that she is only a child.
The King also quietly pardons many of the subjects the Queen has ordered to be beheaded when the Queen is not looking. This guarantees few people are actually beheaded. Nevertheless, when the Queen plays a game of croquet in the story, the only players who remain at the end are himself, the Queen, and Alice.
At the Knave of Hearts' trial, however, where he acts as judge, he is revealed to be quite juvenile, with such lines as, "don't be nervous or I'll have you executed on the spot" to the Mad Hatter, or asking the Duchess's cook irrelevant questions such as, "what are tarts made of?" Between the two of them, the King and Queen appear to present a fairly accurate reflection of the childish, reckless and confusing world of Wonderland.
Read more about this topic: King Of Hearts (Alice's Adventures In Wonderland)
Famous quotes containing the words alice and/or adventures:
“Women think that an engineer is a man in hip boots building a dam. They don’t realize that 95 percent of engineering is done in a nice air-conditioned office.”
—Beatrice Alice Hicks (1919–1979)
“I have a vast deal to say, and shall give all this morning to my pen. As to my plan of writing every evening the adventures of the day, I find it impracticable; for the diversions here are so very late, that if I begin my letters after them, I could not go to bed at all.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)