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Mock Turtle | |
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Alice character | |
![]() The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, illustrated by John Tenniel | |
First appearance | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
Created by | Lewis Carroll |
In-universe information | |
Species | Formerly a Turtle/Sea Turtle, now a Turtle/Cow hybrid |
Gender | Male |
Nationality | Wonderland |
The Mock Turtle is a fictional character devised by Lewis Carroll from his popular 1865 book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . Its name is taken from a dish that was popular in the Victorian period, mock turtle soup.
Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Alice, "Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?"
"No," said Alice. "I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is."
"It's the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from", said the Queen.
— Alice in Wonderland, chapter 9
Carroll enjoyed such puns on Victorian fashions and etiquette, and showed this frequently. The description and drawing by John Tenniel gives comedic value to the Mock Turtle, as he is clearly an assemblage of creatures, therefore not a real turtle as his name rightly suggests.
Alice encounters the Mock Turtle with the Gryphon. The Mock Turtle is a very melancholic character, his somber attitude is believed to be a result of him having been a real turtle. He tells Alice his history of going to school in the sea. He says his teacher was an old sea turtle called Tortoise and when Alice asks him why he was called Tortoise if he was a turtle the Mock Turtle answers, "We called him tortoise because he taught us!" ("tortoise" and "taught us" both being pronounced [tɔːtəs] in Carroll's dialect).