Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in an English

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

and 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 1871 book ''

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

''. Their names may have originally come from an

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

written by poet

John Byrom John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester FRS (29 February 1692 – 26 September 1763) was an English poet, the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner. He is most remembered as t ...

. The nursery rhyme has a

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

number of 19800. The names have since become synonymous in western popular culture slang for any two people whose appearances and actions are identical.

Lyrics

Common versions of the nursery rhyme include: :Tweedledum and Tweedledee : Agreed to have a battle; :For Tweedledum said Tweedledee : Had spoiled his nice new rattle. :Just then flew down a monstrous crow, : As black as a tar-barrel; :Which frightened both the heroes so, : They quite forgot their quarrel.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 418.

Origins

The words "Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum" make their first appearance in print as names applied to the composers

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

and

Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. Biography E ...

in "one of the most celebrated and most frequently quoted (and sometimes misquoted)

s", satirising disagreements between Handel and Bononcini, written by

(1692–1763): in his satire, from 1725. :Some say, compar'd to Bononcini :That Mynheer Handel's but a Ninny :Others aver, that he to Handel :Is scarcely fit to hold a Candle :Strange all this Difference should be :'Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee! Although Byrom is clearly the author of the epigram, the last two lines have also been attributed to

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

and

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

. While the familiar form of the rhyme was first printed in ''Original Ditties for the Nursery'' (c. 1805), Byrom may have drawn on an existing rhyme.M. Gardner, ed., ''

The Annotated Alice ''The Annotated Alice'' is a 1960 book by Martin Gardner incorporating the text of Lewis Carroll's major tales, ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1871), as well as the original illustrations by John Te ...

'' (New York: Meridian, 1963).

''Through The Looking-Glass''

The characters are perhaps best known from

's ''

Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice Found There ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'' (1871). Carroll, having introduced two fat little men named Tweedledee and Tweedledum, quotes the nursery rhyme, which the two brothers then go on to enact. They agree to have a battle, but never have one. When they see a monstrous black crow swooping down, they take to their heels. The Tweedle brothers never contradict each other, even when one of them, according to the rhyme, "agrees to have a battle". Rather, they complement each other's words, which led

John Tenniel Sir John Tenniel (; 28 February 182025 February 1914)Johnson, Lewis (2003), "Tenniel, John", ''Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online'', Oxford University Press. Web. Retrieved 12 December 2016. was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and pol ...

to portray them as twins in his illustrations for the book.

Other depictions

* Tweedledee and Tweedledum appear in Disney's 1951 version of ''Alice in Wonderland'', both voiced by

J. Pat O'Malley James Rudolph O'Malley (15 March 1904 – 27 February 1985) was an English character actor and singer who appeared in many American films and television programmes from the 1940s to 1982, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley. He also appeared on ...

, and representing the sun and moon as they tell

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

the story of

The Walrus and the Carpenter "The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his book ''Through the Looking-Glass'', published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The poem is co ...

, and the first stanza of the poem called, You Are Old, Father William before Alice quietly leave to find the

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! ...

. The Disney versions of the characters later appeared in the Disney television series ''

House of Mouse ''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American Animation, animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to ...

'' and one of them in the final scene of ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

''. *Tweedledee and Tweedledum appear in '' Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'', portrayed by

Ben Cotton Ben Cotton (born July 26, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. His most notable roles are on the TV series ''Stargate Atlantis'' playing scientist Dr. Kavanagh, his portrayal of "Leon Bell" in the game Dead Rising 2, Shane Pierce, the ...

and Matty Finochio. They appear as the Red Queen's servants where they started out working for the Red King. While Tweedledum is shown to be loyal to the Red Queen, Tweedledee is shown to be loyal to Jafar.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweedledee and Tweedledum Animated duos Fictional duos Fictional rivalries Fictional twins Lewis Carroll characters Literary duos