Malnutrition in Wonderland

Betsy Boyd (English 61, 1995

In Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, Alice discusses the nutrition of a Bread-and-butter-fly with the Gnat. The following passage refers to the Victorian's uncertain and unfortunate food supply.

"Crawling at your feet," said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), "you may observe a Bread-and-butter-fly. Its wings are thin slices of bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar."

"And what does it live on?"

"Weak tea with cream in it."

A new difficulty came into Alice's head. "Supposing it couldn't find any?" she suggested.

"Then it would die, of course."

"But that must happen very often," Alice remarked thoughtfully.

"It always happens," said the Gnat. (page 135, Norton edition)

The Bread-and-butterfly cannot survive without his weak tea and cream, a commodity not easy to obtain. Similarly, many poor Victorians faced malnutrition and serious illnesses caused by contaminated food. Deadly poisons and food shortage are issues which may have killed many a Looking-Glass butterfly. On the other side of the glass, real people were suffering.