Universal Appeal

Surely one of the most appealing factors in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" is the sheer timelessness of the poem's setting. The boy's encounter with the mysterious Jabberwock beast has no specific reference point in history. This factor boosts the poem's universal appeal, for "Jabberwocky" is capable of captivating readers of any era—Elizabethan, Victorian, Industrial, Computer, or otherwise. Although the poem was written and published at the height of Victorian England, no special knowledge of that era is required in order to understand and enjoy the poem. Similarly, a reasonable facsimile of "Jabberwocky" could have been penned in any number of historical eras, given that the poem contains no noticeable references to Carroll, his life, or his times. A Roman scribe in Pompeii named Barnacus Frabjus could have written a "Jabberwocky" -like poem (and indeed, his readership, given its receptivity to the wildly fantastical creatures embedded...