In “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Alice follows the White Rabbit into Wonderland.
Lewis Carroll introduces the White Rabbit in the opening chapter, “Down the Rabbit-Hole.” Alice notices him wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch while anxiously declaring that he is late. Her curiosity leads her to chase him into a rabbit hole, beginning her extraordinary journey.
The White Rabbit is more than a guide into the story: he later appears as a servant or herald of the King and Queen of Hearts. Alice also encounters him near his house, where he mistakes her for his housemaid, Mary Ann. The Dormouse and March Hare belong to the Mad Hatter’s tea party, but neither starts Alice’s adventure. The phrase “down the rabbit hole” later became an English idiom for entering a strange, complicated, or absorbing situation.