White Queen

Also known as Sheep, old Sheep, your Majesty

Major
First seen · Book 2 · Ch. 1

Behind the counter of a dim shop, the old Sheep knits with a concentration that makes fourteen pairs of needles seem perfectly ordinary. Spectacles catch the scant light as this woolly shopkeeper turns quiet industry into something faintly uncanny.

Gender: female
Age: old
First appears: Book 2 · Ch. 1
Books: 1

Alice encounters the old Sheep seated behind a counter in a dark shop, knitting with fourteen pairs of needles at once. Spectacles rest before its eyes as it works from an arm-chair, combining the familiar figure of a shopkeeper with the bewildering logic of Wonderland. Its appearance is brief, but the image of that many-needled knitting remains one of the chapter’s most peculiar sights.

Description

The Sheep is old and woolly, with the recognizable features of a sheep; the text gives no precise coloring or facial details. It sits in an arm-chair behind a counter in a dark shop, wearing spectacles. Fourteen pairs of knitting needles fill its hands and workspace, making the figure’s busy, absorbed presence its most distinctive visual trait. A human queen in a disheveled, crooked outfit, her shawl fastened with a brooch and secured by numerous pins. Her hair is in disarray, with pins that can be adjusted into order; she moves with energetic, wide-armed gestures. Give her a lively, slightly flustered expression and the bearing of a fairy-tale monarch. A human queen with a broad, good-natured face and a round head, wearing pale, white-toned royal garments that are slightly crooked and covered with pins. Her hair is untidy and tangled, with a brush caught in it, and a shawl may be wrapped around her shoulders. Her demeanor is gentle and timid, giving her a soft, absent-minded storybook presence.

Connections

Family & partnersFriends & mentorsRivals

L
Lilymother and daughter
The Queen calls Lily her precious child and imperial kitten and hurries to comfort her when Lily cries.
White Kingconflicting source relationships
They are the royal couple. The Queen rushes to rescue their child Lily, knocking the King into the ashes, and later they speak together anxiously.
Aliceconflicting source relationships
Alice encounters the Sheep in a shop and tries to buy an egg, engaging in an odd, transactional exchange.
Humpty Dumptybenefactor and recipient of a gift
Humpty Dumpty says the White Queen and King gave him his cravat as an un-birthday present.
Red Queenconflicting source relationships
The two Queens sit together, converse, invite each other to Alice’s dinner, and jointly question and instruct Alice. The Red Queen often speaks for or manages the White Queen, whom she describes as foolish but good-tempered.