Jabberwocky

Study Guide

Literary Devices

Setting

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Literary Devices Setting

“Jabberwocky” doesn’t describe its setting in any discernible detail, but the reader can infer that it takes place in a fantastical world. The fantastical nature of the world immediately becomes clear in the opening lines, which set the scene: “Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe” (lines 1–2). We might not know what “brillig” means or what a “wabe” is, but the syntax of the lines clearly indicates that what’s being communicated are the two most basic elements of setting: time and place. Later stanzas in the poem provide further information. For instance, after the father tells his son about the Jabberwock, the son sets off into a forest, where he eventually encounters the monster: “The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, / Came whiffling through the tulgey wood” (lines 14–15). Again, we may not know what “tulgey” means, but it’s clear enough that the climactic battle takes place in a forest. The forest backdrop places “Jabberwocky” in humorous relationship to the European romance tradition, where many heroic quest narratives involved passage through dark and dangerous forest landscapes.

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