Marriage Counseling
"The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small.'Off with his head!' she said, without even looking round."
"Now that Alice has left, I need to check over my next patients' notes before they get here. This entire overflowing folder is dedicated to the King and Queen of Hearts, the rulers here in Wonderland. They have been married for longer than I can remember and in therapy here with me for probably equally as long. I've been working with them on role reversal techniques by having the King attempt to successfully give orders to members of his court and for the Queen to work on her temper not only with her husband, but with everyone else as well. So far neither one has made much progress."
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"Ah, hello King
and Queen. How are you?"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The
Queen screeched, "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" and the King simply whispered,
"Fine, thank you."
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"I've heard from several other patients that you, Queen, have once again been demanding that all the white roses in Wonderland be painted red."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"I've heard from several other patients that you, Queen, have once again been demanding that all the white roses in Wonderland be painted red."
"Who has been blabbing to you?!" she shouted.
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"Well, as you know, I cannot tell you the answer to that, due to doctor-patient confidentiality. Every one of your attempts to persuade me by yelling "Off with his head' have yet to succeed you in getting this answer. But back to the roses. I want to know the deeper reason why you would prefer the roses painted red instead of white."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Well, as you know, I cannot tell you the answer to that, due to doctor-patient confidentiality. Every one of your attempts to persuade me by yelling "Off with his head' have yet to succeed you in getting this answer. But back to the roses. I want to know the deeper reason why you would prefer the roses painted red instead of white."
"Well, this moron sitting next to me always seems to forget that red roses are my favorite flower. Every time I ask him to get someone to plant red roses, I turn around and my entire kingdom is filled with white ones! Such an idiot! I always end up having to correct the problem myself, because as usual he can't do anything I've asked of him correctly."
"Queen, don't you think you are being a little bit harsh towards you husband all because of the color of some roses?"
"The fact that he continues to forget my favorite color of roses, doctor, is the least of our problems. He is always undermining my authority in my own kingdom!"
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"And how does that make you feel?"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"And how does that make you feel?"
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"How does that make me feel? Well, I feel as if I want to chop off his head, of course! Behind my back, when he thinks I'm not looking, he is always pardoning those whom I have convicted. He makes me look like a fool in front of the entire kingdom! Why, just last week, at the trial for the Knave of Hearts, he had the audacity to tell me I could not execute that wretched girl Alice just because she was a child. Despite the fact that she embarrassed not just me, but everything our court stands for, by calling the proceedings 'ridiculous.' And while he sat there and argued with me about Blondie, she managed to eat some magical mushrooms, grow two miles high, and then ran out of the courtroom, taking half the ceiling with her!"
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"I'm sorry, my dear. I told you we would have the entire courtroom reconstructed in no time," said the King, who had finally spoken more than a few words.
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"Don't apologize to me about the courtroom! Apologize about letting that little brat go!"
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"But, my dear, she was only a child. All she needs is a little discipline."
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"How does that make me feel? Well, I feel as if I want to chop off his head, of course! Behind my back, when he thinks I'm not looking, he is always pardoning those whom I have convicted. He makes me look like a fool in front of the entire kingdom! Why, just last week, at the trial for the Knave of Hearts, he had the audacity to tell me I could not execute that wretched girl Alice just because she was a child. Despite the fact that she embarrassed not just me, but everything our court stands for, by calling the proceedings 'ridiculous.' And while he sat there and argued with me about Blondie, she managed to eat some magical mushrooms, grow two miles high, and then ran out of the courtroom, taking half the ceiling with her!"
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"I'm sorry, my dear. I told you we would have the entire courtroom reconstructed in no time," said the King, who had finally spoken more than a few words.
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"Don't apologize to me about the courtroom! Apologize about letting that little brat go!"
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"But, my dear, she was only a child. All she needs is a little discipline."
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"Now,
Queen, we have discussed
your temper. Meanwhile, King, please don't feel as if you have to
apologize for every
single thing you do. Incidentally, I am working with Alice on her
disciplinary issues."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"Well, someone needs to get a grip on
that child, since this idiot let her slip through my fingers!"
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"Now, Queen, if I remember correctly, one of your favorite hobbies, besides executions of course, is croquet. Am I correct?"
"Now, Queen, if I remember correctly, one of your favorite hobbies, besides executions of course, is croquet. Am I correct?"
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"Why, yes, I do enjoy a good game of hitting the hedgehog, but those moronic playing cards never can sit still long enough for a single game."
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"Might I make a suggestion?"
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"Why, yes, I do enjoy a good game of hitting the hedgehog, but those moronic playing cards never can sit still long enough for a single game."
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"Might I make a suggestion?"
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"If you feel the need."
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"Perhaps if you were to trust your husband a bit more, like giving him more responsibility in court, then you would not need to send the cards off to carry out your orders every time you feel the whim to order an execution. Then not only do you get to play more of your favorite game, but your husband gets the chance to step up and prove that he can help rule the kingdom."
"Perhaps if you were to trust your husband a bit more, like giving him more responsibility in court, then you would not need to send the cards off to carry out your orders every time you feel the whim to order an execution. Then not only do you get to play more of your favorite game, but your husband gets the chance to step up and prove that he can help rule the kingdom."
"I
suppose I could relinquish a bit of control if it meant that I would
get to play more croquet. But the moment he screws up, and I have
no
doubt it will be very soon, I will be back to giving orders to my
soldiers."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________"I promise to try and do my best, my dear," the King said, making every attempt to sound strong.
"Well, I think we have made real progress this week. Please try and work on what we have discussed and at our next session we'll see where everyone is at."
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The Queen stomped out of the room, just as she had entered it, and the King quietly followed. I always have hope for these two after a session is over with, but I guess I should just count myself lucky to not have been beheaded, at least not yet.
Author's
Note: I again used several chapters from Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland in order to create my second story on the marriage
counseling between the King and Queen of Hearts. I kept many of
the
same scenes from the original source, but reworked them to be used as
issues between the two of them while they are in their therapy
session. In the original story, the Queen is someone
you
do not want to mess with, or else she will sign you up to be
executed.
The King had a much more minor role in the original source and he still
does in my version, but I played
up his characteristics of being a meek pushover dominated by his wife,
who is
still as relentless and overbearing as she was in the original
story.
Even if the story never came out and said it, it was implied that he
pardoned most of the people his wife had condemned to execution.
I
included both the scene in which the Queen has all the cards paint the
white roses red as well as the scene involving the trial of the Knave
of Hearts to show why the King and Queen have trouble getting
along.
Again, I reworked the characters of the Queen and King of Hearts from
the original source in order to create a character study about what
makes
them tick. After reading this story you will understand why these
characters act the way that they do.
Source: Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll. Chapter
Eight: The Queen's Croquet-Ground
Chapter Eleven: Who Stole the Tarts?
Chapter Twelve: Alice's Evidence
Image Information: Puppets of The Marin Collection: Queen, King, & Rabbit. Greenwich Arts Council
Alice in Wonderland (1985) movie still. Alice in Wonderland Film & TV
Illustration of the King & Queen by Sir John Tennial. Alice in Wonderland eBook
Chapter Eleven: Who Stole the Tarts?
Chapter Twelve: Alice's Evidence
Image Information: Puppets of The Marin Collection: Queen, King, & Rabbit. Greenwich Arts Council
Alice in Wonderland (1985) movie still. Alice in Wonderland Film & TV
Illustration of the King & Queen by Sir John Tennial. Alice in Wonderland eBook