Riddel, or Liddell? Carrollian themes.

[bludeblu]

Hey! This is actually my first post here, I've read some of the articles and whatnot. I'm a fan of all 3 Chrono games.

After having a conversation last night about Oxford, Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" came up. It was mentioned that the character in these books is often thought to be inspired from a person named Alice Liddell, to whom the books are dedicated.

Given that the Chrono series has quite a few of Carollian themes, such as alternate dimensions, dreams and reality, and the passage of time, as well as some bizarre locations and characters, I would not be surprised if the japanese "Rideru" should be read as "Liddell" as a reference to Carroll. What do you think?

[AuraTwilight]

Heh. Totally awesome. Never would've caught that myself.

[nightmare975]

That's interesting, I never really compaired Wonderland to the world of Chrono Cross.

[Vehek]

Hmmm, but Riddel's name was first used in Radical Dreamers.

[bludeblu]

Hmmm, but Riddel's name was first used in Radical Dreamers.

True, and there similar themes in RD, too. The ambiguity between dreams, past and present are all present through the opening of the game and the end of the Nusumenai Houseki story, with the ambiguous ending, and the uncertainty of who is narrating, and the circumstances of te book itself. The whole experience of Nusumenai Houseki is quite dream-like and surreal, and this is brought out even more with the disappearance of Kid and Magil at the end, as though they were just dreams. The importance of literature as a means of recording our dreams and experienced is also a theme in both RD and Carroll's works. The notion of dreams extends back to Chrono Trigger as well, especially in the case of Lucca and the Green Dream, and in Zeal. Thte lolita themes hinted at in Carroll's works are also slightly hinted at in RD, such as the relationship between Lynx and Riddel. I think the whole of the Chrono series has quite a lot of Carrollian influence, including RD where Riddel makes her first appearance. Though they were admittedly stronger in Chrono Cross.

[Chrono'99]

The Latin spelling of Riddel's Japanese name is just "Riddle", which could mean it's just the word riddle... This Carrollian connection is quite neat, but are there really other connections of this kind beside the themes of dreams and stuff (these are rather generic themes). If the only concrete Carrollian connection is Liddell, I think it could well be a coincidence.

[Radox Redux]

It could be a coincidence, but ask yourself this: If you could think of one object related to Riddel in RD what would it be? You thought of the mirror/looking glass didn't you? I know I did. Could this be a purposeful referance that got lost in translation? Who knows?

[Lord J Esq]

Honestly, I think the idea is a stretch. But it is fascinating!

[Licawolf]

About Carrollian references in RD... after reading this thread I inmediatly thought of that scene in which the Mirror of Whispers invites Serge to the Realm of the Looking Glass, it always sounded like a reference to Alice's tales to me.

I like the idea of RD having some Alice in Wonderland influences. Maybe it's just the bizarre nature and imagery of some of the scenarios of the game, but I think the idea may not be that far-fetched...

[utunnels]

XD actually, when I first saw the Japanese spell I thought about "Tom Marvolo Riddle".
I have never read the English version of Harry Potter series, just searched that in wikipedia.