Character description of the Mad Hatter
he Mad Hatter is one of the members of the Mad Tea Party. Later he also appears as a witness during the trial. He occasionally is very rude and
provokes Alice during the tea party. When he is called upon by the Queen, he is
very nervous and frightened.
In 'Through the Looking Glass', the Hatter returns in the form of the Anglo-Saxon messenger 'Hatta'
The phrase 'mad as a hatter' was common in Carroll's time. 'Mad as a hatter' probably owes its origin to the fact that hatters actually did go mad, because the mercury they used sometimes gave them mercury poisoning.
Carroll may have asked Tenniel to draw the Mad Hatter to resemble Theophilus Carter, a furniture dealer near Oxford. Carter was known in the area as the Mad Hatter, partly because he always wore a top hat and because of his eccentric ideas.
It is also often suggested that Tenniel made the Mad Hatter resemble the politician Disraeli.
Many people wonder about the tag on the Mad Hatter's hat. It is a price tag, displaying the price 'ten and six': 10 pounds and 6 pennies.
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