The Wabe is a fictional location mentioned in the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, which appears in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Within the context of the poem, it serves as a setting for some of the fantastical creatures described.
Meaning and Etymology
In Through the Looking-Glass, Alice consults Humpty Dumpty for an explanation of the poem's more obscure words. Humpty Dumpty defines "the Wabe" as "the grass-plot round a sun-dial." He elaborates on the words surrounding it, such as "slithy" (lithe and slimy) and "toves" (something like badgers, something like lizards, and something like corkscrews), and their actions of "gyring" (going round and round like a gyroscope) and "gimbling" (making holes like a gimlet). While these explanations provide a whimsical, if nonsensical, interpretation, the primary function of "the Wabe" is to contribute to the poem's overall atmosphere of surrealism and linguistic play.Context in "Jabberwocky"
"The Wabe" appears in the famous opening stanza of "Jabberwocky":'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
Here, it functions as the environment where the "slithy toves" perform their actions of gyring and gimbling. Its precise nature is left vague, allowing the reader's imagination to fill in the details of this peculiar, perhaps perilous, landscape.
Literary Significance
As with many terms in "Jabberwocky," "the Wabe" exemplifies Carroll's mastery of portmanteau words and invented vocabulary, which contribute to the poem's enduring appeal as a classic of nonsense literature. It is not intended to have a logical or real-world equivalent, but rather to evoke a sense of the uncanny and the absurd, central to the world Alice experiences through the looking-glass. The ambiguity of terms like "the Wabe" invites readers to engage actively with the text, constructing their own interpretations of its bizarre world.See Also
- Jabberwocky
- Lewis Carroll
- Through the Looking-Glass
- Nonsense literature