Dormouse

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Dormouse (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
The Mad Hatter with the Dormouse asleep on the left. Illustration by John Tenniel.
First appearance	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Created by	Lewis Carroll
Information
Species	Mouse
Gender	Male

The March Hare and the Mad Hatter put the Dormouse's head in a teapot. Illustration by John Tenniel.

The Dormouse is a character in "A Mad Tea Party", often popularly known as "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party", Chapter VII [1] from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. He sat between the March Hare and the Mad Hatter. They were using him, while he slept, as a cushion when Alice arrives at the start of the chapter.

The Dormouse is always falling asleep during the scene, waking up every so often, for example to say:

`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'

He also tells a story about three young girls who live in a treacle well, live on treacle, and draw pictures of things beginning with M, including mousetraps, memory and muchness.

Eventually the Mad Hatter and the March Hare put his head in a teapot. He later appears, equally sleepy, at the Knave of Hearts' trial and voices resentment at Alice for growing, and his last interaction with any character is his being "suppressed" (amongst other things) by the Queen for shouting out that tarts are made of treacle.

Cultural references

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The Dormouse is referenced in popular culture by two American rock bands: Firstly by Jefferson Airplane in the song "White Rabbit", in which the last line of the song, repeated twice and building through a crescendo is "Remember what the dormouse said: feed your head, feed your head". Secondly by the progressive metal band Queensrÿche in the song "Right Side of My Mind". The British rock band Radiohead also refer to the dormouse in the song "Knives Out" with the lyrics, "Catch the mouse/ Don't look down/ Shove it in your mouth" and "Cook him up/ Squash his head/ Put him in the pot".

The Dormouse makes an appearance in American McGee's Alice, where he and the March Hare are held captive as the Mad Hatter's experiments. He is tied to a dissection table and continues to fall asleep from the Hatter's medicines.

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