by Louise Irvine
The Queen of Hearts was the audience favorite at Chelsea Rousso’s Believe the Impossible fashion show on January 22. She will be back to take over the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and create some teatime madness with TEAquila, Teapots & Tarts on Friday, February 25. Dr. Maria Portilla, a pediatric dentist, stole the show as the formidable Queen of Hearts wearing a leopard skin Glasskini and a red taffeta gown with fabric donated by Stroheim. Find out who stole her tarts? OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
Mad King George
The Queen of Hearts was derived from an old English nursery rhyme based on playing card characters. In the rhyme, the Queen bakes some tarts which the Knave of Hearts stole. He returns them when he is beaten by the King of Hearts and vows never to steal again. The poem was first published in the late 18th century and included verses about the King of Spades, the King of Clubs, and the Diamond King but only the Queen’s verse entered popular culture and was even set to music.
There are several theories about who inspired the Queen of Hearts but it may be just that hearts rhymes well with tarts. One source cites Judith in the Bible, another claims it is Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia. In 1805, Charles Lamb published a satirical political poem about England’s “mad” King George III, who lost the American colonies, and Queen Charlotte as the King and Queen of Hearts.
Queen Victoria
By the Victorian era, the King and Queen of Hearts had become synonymous with love and “Queen of my Heart” was a popular theme for Valentine cards. Queen Victoria was an avid fan of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and some believe that she inspired the Queen of Hearts although the author, Lewis Carroll, never confirmed this. In fact, he respected Queen Victoria and probably would not have parodied her as the impulsive, short-tempered Queen of Hearts who demands executions and shrieks “Off with their heads” throughout the story. Fortunately, the King of Hearts pardons her victims behind her back and nobody is ever executed in Wonderland.
Movie Madness
In the critically acclaimed 1949 movie by Lou Bunin, with live-action and stop motion puppetry, the tyrannical Queen of Hearts was so clearly a grotesque caricature of Queen Victoria that the film was banned in Britain until 1985. Distribution of this pioneering classic was also impacted by the release of Disney’s 1951 cartoon which combined the character of the Queen of Hearts playing card with the Red Queen chess character from Carroll’s sequel Through the Looking Glass. Confusion has reigned ever since. The most famous Queen of Hearts in recent times is Helena Bonham Carter in Tim Burton’s Wonderland movies in 2010 and 2016.
Queen of Wonderland
We first meet the furious Queen of Hearts in her rose garden where her playing card gardeners mistakenly planted a white rose tree and they are desperately trying to paint the roses red before she notices. Of course, she orders their executions and Alice saves them by hiding the playing cards in a plant pot. The Queen loves playing croquet in her garden but it is a crazy version of the game with flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls. Everybody plays at once and the game is over when the volatile Queen has sentenced all the players.
Trial of the Tarts
In the final chapter of Alice’s adventures, the King and Queen of Hearts preside over an absurd trial to determine who stole the tarts in which Lewis Carroll lampoons the British legal system. The Mad Hatter was called as the first witness and was so nervous he bit a large piece out of his teacup instead of his bread and butter. He left in a hurry to finish his tea and was gone before the Queen’s sentence “And just take his head off outside,” Alice was also called as a witness although she knew nothing about the case. The Queen was eager to pronounce a sentence before the verdict was reached and shouted “Off with her head!” Alice’s adventures in Wonderland ended abruptly when she realized that her adversaries were nothing more than a pack of cards that flew into the air and rained down on her.
The Queen of Hearts in the Fired Arts
The Queen’s Wonderland rose garden has been reimagined at WMODA for our Believe the Impossible season with glass hearts by Josh Fradis, including a royal scepter which he made especially for the Queen of Hearts. See all the pottery and porcelain renditions of the Queen of Hearts in Through the Looking Glass at WMODA which includes figures of the Queen of Hearts by the Royal Doulton Studio and an unusual sculpture of the Queen and Knave of Hearts by the late David Burnham Smith. A mannequin of the Queen of Hearts now dominates the Mad Tea Party as Ms. Wonderland. See her come to life again on February 25.
See the Queen of Hearts come to life and take over the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with TEAquila, Teapots & Tarts on Friday, February 25 from 4 - 7 @ WMODA!
