March Hatter

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March Hatter
GENERAL
Alice in Wonderland
Character	March Hare
Character	Mad Hatter
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Friends
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash

1

March Hatter is the slash ship between the March Hare and the Mad Hatter from the Alice in Wonderland fandom.

Canon

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

The Hatter and the March Hare are both first mentioned one chapter before appearing. It is established that the Cheshire Cat is familiar with both of them, as he knows where they live. He also tells Alice that they are both mad, but quickly invalidates that information by saying that everyone in Wonderland is mad.

Alice would see them both having tea after deciding to go to the March Hare, only to find out that it didn’t matter which one she decided to visit: They are always together. Along with them on the table was the Dormouse, but it is fast asleep and is being used by them as a cushion and a rest for their elbows. The moment they saw Alice, they immediately yelled that there was no room at the table, even though there was plenty of room as they were all crowded together on one end of it.

When Alice sat down anyway, the Hatter and the March Hare both starting being rude to her, each in their own way. As Alice stands her ground, the Hatter asks her his riddle of “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”, which excites Alice. The March Hare reacts to that by asking her if she truly thinks she can answer his friend’s riddle. As the March Hare cites her for “not saying what she means”, the Hatter sides with him, telling her that her “meaning what she says” is not the same thing. After asking Alice what day of the month it is (with her telling him it’s the Fourth of May), the Hatter gets angry at the March Hare for being two days wrong and getting crumbs into his butter.

In response, the March Hare grabs the Hatter’s watch and dips it in his tea, retorting it was the best butter. After the Hatter asks Alice if she had guessed his riddle yet, she, the March Hare and even the Hatter himself admit that they don’t have the slightest idea what it means.

As the Hatter explains the rules of Time, the character, to Alice, giving the idea of time flying as an example, the March Hare listens and silently admits that he only wished it would be that way for him. As the Hatter explains that Time isn’t kind to either him or the March Hare, he briefly implies that the March Hare got his name because the Hatter and Hare both went mad because they offended Time in March at the concert of the Queen of Hearts. As the Queen of Hearts accused them of murdering Time, the Hatter explained that this is why it’s always six o’clock for them, Time stopped time for them at tea time. Alice guesses that’s why they always sit at a long table drinking tea, they don’t have the time to do the dishes in between, so they always reuse the next best cup, sitting down like playing a game of musical chairs. When Alice asks what they do when they start over again, the March Hare quickly changes the subject, urging her to tell a story.

Alice refuses, admitting she doesn’t know one, but then both the Hatter and the Hare say that the Dormouse should do it instead. Alice is continuously confused at the lack of logic in the mouse’s story, but the Hatter and Hare shush her and ask her rhetorical questions every time she speaks up. When Alice gets fed up with the rude atmosphere of the tea party, she leaves them be. However, hoping either of the guests would call after her, but they didn’t even notice she left. The last time she checked on the two of them, they were in the process of stuffing the sleeping Dormouse in the teapot.

The Hatter and Hare briefly appear again in the court of the Queen of Hearts, being tasked as witnesses for who stole her tarts. When the Hatter mentions what the March Hare said to him, the Hare speaks up and denies everything.

Alice through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll

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Alice in Wonderland (1951)

In this movie, the tea party is recontexualized as an "unbirthday party", the Hatter and Hare celebrate every day that isn't their birthday. When Alice joins them, they still try to shoo her away, but mellow out and celebrate with her once they all realize that it's her unbirthday too. The celebration is interrupted by the White Rabbit appearing late at the party, with the Hatter noting that the Rabbit's watch is 2 days late. Trying to "repair" it, the Hatter and Hare remove essential parts from the watch, fill it with condiments off the table and finally smash it into pieces with a hammer. Chasing after the distraught White Rabbit, Alice leaves the two of them putting the Dormouse into a teapot and launching it into the air.

They appear again at Alice's trial, when they explain where they were during the Queen of Hearts' humiliation, they give the alibi that they've been celebrating their unbirthday. When the King of Hearts tells them that it's his wife's unbirthday, they immediately begin celebrating and giving her present that turns out to be a Cheshire Cat in disguise. After Alice fails to point it out to her, she causes disorder in the court forcing her to eat her mushrooms to grow into a giant, chewing out the Queen while she is far too small to do anything about it. However, due to eating both sides of the mushroom at once, she shrinks again and the Queen and her subjects give chase. During the chase, the Mad Hatter and March Hare appear again, holding Alice back, but then join the chase when she breaks free.

Adventures in Wonderland (1992)

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Alice in Wonderland (2010)

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Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016)

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Fanon

The bulk of the shipping comes from Disney Channel's live-action series Adventures in Wonderland. Fans love top interpret their relationship as gay, which is helped by both of them being played by openly gay actors.

Most other adaptations don't support it, though scholars interpreting their close yet tension-filled relationship as romantic isn't uncommon.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Hatter/Hare tag on AO3

Hatter & Hare tag on AO3

Jefferson/Hare tag on AO3

Trivia

• Although Hatter and March appear in American McGee's Alice, the games having them as enemies doesn't have those versions of the two be supported. With Hatter turning his two former tea party friends into automatons, leading to March and Dormy taking their revenge on Hatter in Madness Returns.