NEW CRITICISM: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

The Theory:

New Criticism was a movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. It emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of literature functioned as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic object.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Criticism)

The Text:

courtesy of: http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

  And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

  The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

  The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

  Long time the manxome foe he sought --

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

  And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

  The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

  And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

  The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

  He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?

  Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

  Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

  And the mome raths outgrabe.

(courtesy of: http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html)

The Criticism:

First and foremost, in New Criticism, we are encouraged to do "close reading" of the text to grasp the meaning. The main problem is the author's style. Lewis Carroll is a writer well-known for his technique of making up words which consume the majority of his works. "Jabberwocky" just happens to be a make-believe word, and a make-believe word he chose to be the central point of the poem. Taking that into account, the review must commence. 

The poem centers on a person that was warned by his father about the Jabberwock, which has jaws that bite and claws that snatch. He is also told to beware the Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch. He comes across the Jabberwock in the forest, and with swift movements of his vorpal blade, the creature is defeated as its head rolls to the ground. Its death is celebrated by father and son.

The poem is written in a crazy style. It is meant to be childish and ridiculous, and it gets its point across. With terms such as "Jabberwocky", "vorpal blade", "Jubjub bird" and "Bandersnatch", among others, it is clear that this was the plan of the poem all along. It tells the adventures of a boy and the events that happen as he comes across the feared creature. While the premise may induce fright among younger readers (the premise of a boy meeting a monster in the forest), the defeat of the Jabberwock returns the poem to its hilarious and light mood.

The poem is very self-referential because it makes use of its own make-believe world, a world of make-believe words that comprises the majority of the poem.