The Mouse is a fictional character in
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...
's 1865 novel ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...
''. He appears in Chapter II "The Pool of Tears
and Chapter III "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale
Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice, the eponymous heroine in the book, first talks to the mouse when she is floating in a pool of her own tears, having shrunk in size:
With no response from the mouse, Alice fears that it may not speak English and attempts to speak French. Upon mentioning the French word for
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
, ''chatte'', the mouse panics. This leads to a discussion about cats and dogs, culminating in the mouse telling Alice his history.
The Mouse's Tale
When Alice hears the mouse's "long and sad tale", she is watching his tail. So, she imagines the tale in its shape. The "Fury" referenced in the tale is Carroll's childhood friend's dog.
[de Rooy, Lenny]
Poem Origins: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Fury said to a
mouse, That he
met in the
house,
"Let us
both go to
law: I will
prosecute
YOU. --Come,
I'll take no
denial; We
must have a
trial: For
really this
morning I've
nothing
to do."
Said the
mouse to the
cur, "Such
a trial,
dear Sir,
With
no jury
or judge,
would be
wasting
our
breath."
"I'll be
judge, I'll
be jury,"
Said
cunning
old Fury:
"I'll
try the
whole
cause,
and
condemn
you
to
death."'
In other media
Although the Mouse does not appear in the
1951 Disney film, part of his personality has been integrated to the Dormouse.
The character makes an appearance in the 1985 made-for-TV adaptation of ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'' and is portrayed by
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...
. In this incarnation the Mouse sings "I Hate Dogs and Cats" before joining in the Caucus-race with the rest of the animals that have been floating on Alice's pool of tears.
In the 1983 anime ''
Fushigi no Kuni no Alice
is an anime adaptation of the 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' which ran on the TV Tokyo network and other local stations across Japan from October 10, 1983 to March 26, 1984. The series was a Japanese-German co-production betwee ...
'', The Mouse appears in overalls. Though he dislikes cats, he isn't actually scared of them.
In the anime and manga series ''
Pandora Hearts
''Pandora Hearts'' (stylized as ''PandoraHearts'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Jun Mochizuki. It was serialized in Square Enix's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Monthly GFantasy'' from May 2006 to March 2015, with its ...
'' The Mouse is reimigined as Gilbert Nightray with his fear of cats and his younger brother Vincent is based on the Dormouse.
The character also makes an appearance as Mr. Mouse in the 1999 made-for-TV ''
Hallmark adaption'' and is portrayed by
Ken Dodd
Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances.
A life ...
.
References
{{Alice, state=expanded
Mice and rats in literature
Anthropomorphic mice and rats
Lewis Carroll characters
Literary characters introduced in 1865