I had lunch with a number of\u00a0 friends last week and two of the friends came in together. One of the ladies said, \u201cand here comes Tweedledee and Tweedledum.\u201d I hadn\u2019t heard that for a long time. I remember hearing it a lot more when I was younger \u2014 especially when I was a kid.\u00a0
Anyhow, I figured that would be as good a topic as any to mull over today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people know that Tweediedum and Tweediedee are characters from \u201cThrough the Looking Glass\u201d by Lewis Carroll. The books that I remember reading as a kid portrayed them as round, childlike twins that are nearly indistinguishable in both their appearance and their personality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some of my extensive research discovered that those names were used more than a century before Carroll wrote the book.
Tweediedum and Tweediedee first appeared in a satirical poem by an English poet by the name of John Byrom in 1725. He used the names to mock a trivial disagreement between two composers \u2014 George Frideric Handel and Giovanni Bononcini. It reads:
Some say, compar\u2019d to Bononcini,
That Mynheer Handel\u2019s sound divine;
Some say that Bononcini,
Compared to Handel\u2019s is a ninny;
Others aver, that there are few
So much disturb\u2019d by tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lewis Carroll introduced Tweedledum and Tweedledee as living characters.\u00a0 Alice encountered them in the forest where they recited their famous nursery rhyme:
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the rhyme, the twins argue over a broken rattle, prepare for a fight, but are ultimately distracted by a passing crow. Carroll portrayed them as humorous, stubborn, and childishly absurd, enhancing their symbolic role as figures of meaningless conflict. The phrase over time came to mean two people who are practically identical \u2014 often with insignificant differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, Tweedledum and Twidledee symbolize deeper themes beyond their surface-level comedic images.
In politics, the phrase \u201cTweedledum and Tweedledee\u201d is often used to criticized two opposing parties that seem different but share similar flaws or ideologies.
The iconic quarrel over a broken rattle shows how trivial man arguments are\u2026
That symbolizes how external events often overshadows petty disputes, making the conflict seem ridiculous in hindsight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Tweedledum and Tweedledee have appeared in some modern adaptations \u2014 some with creative twists that emphasize the comedic and symbolic nature of the two.
They appeared in Disney\u2019s \u201cAlice in Wonderland.\u201d Disney\u2019s version made them more childlike and playful \u2014 more focused on their comic aspect rather than conflict.
On TV, BBC\u2019s \u201cAlice Through the Looking Glass\u201d took a more traditional portrayal, staying true to the original dialogue and nursery rhyme context.
There\u2019s even a criminal duo named Tweedledum and Tweedledee in DC Comics (Batman Universe.) They\u2019re cousins rather than twins, but they engage in petty crime.
I think they even appear in some video games, but I\u2019m not sure which ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyhow, they\u2019re pretty cool characters \u2014 they can be, or symbolize, just about anything.
Just use your imagination\u2026.
Contrariwise,\u00a0
if it was so,\u00a0
it might be;
and if it were so,
it would be;but as it isn\u2019t,
it ain\u2019t.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had lunch with a number of\u00a0 friends last week and two of the friends came in together. One of the ladies said, \u201cand here comes Tweedledee and Tweedledum.\u201d I hadn\u2019t heard that for a long time. I remember hearing … Continue reading