Through the Looking-Glass is a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and differs from it in tone and substance.

The main theme—what it is like to change from child to adult—remains the same. There are, however, obvious contrasts. Alice's adventure is indoors rather than out, and it is winter rather than summer. Alice's sister, with her mothering spirit, is no longer present (Alice does tell her of her adventures later). Instead, Alice mothers Dinah's kittens, who become the White and Red Queens of her dreams. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts terrified Alice; now Alice herself seeks to become a queen, to dominate and punish (as she does the kittens).

Alice is now more self-confident and aggressive. She does not fall into the Looking-Glass world but wilfully seeks it. She identifies with the tyrannical Tiger-lily and is impressed by...