The two leading theories are: (1) A sign painter in Cheshire (the county, by the way, where Carroll was born) painted grinning lions on the signboards of inns in the area…(2) Cheshire cheeses were at one time molded in the shape of a grinning cat.” ( 83) The phrase, rather mundane in itself, becomes a charming and ridiculous notion when brought to life by Carroll.Īnd this sets us up for the moment later in the chapter, when Alice remarks that she’s “often seen a cat without a grin, but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life,” one of the most-quoted lines of the book and another opportunity for Carroll to make a math joke. Martin Gardner notes, “’Grin like a Cheshire cat’ was a common phrase in Carroll’s day. In this case, Carroll brings our attention to a common cliché. The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on…" The question is, what did the archbishop find?' 'I know what "it" means well enough, when I find a thing,' said the Duck: 'it's generally a frog or a worm. 'Found IT,' the Mouse replied rather crossly: 'of course you know what "it" means.' “'The patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable-'
The first example of this occurs in Chapter 3, in the exchange between the mouse and the duck: Here Carroll seems to be drawing our attention to something peculiar or absurd in something mundane about which people in his day ordinarily would not have thought twice. 'It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, 'and that's why.” Introduction 'Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, 'why your cat grins like that?' Home -> Footnotes -> Chapter 6 -> Grin like a Cheshire Cat Grin like a Cheshire Cat
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