what is the relationship of characterization and irony in through a looking glass

Through the Looking Glass compiles a number of characters that are a combination of humans and animals with a nursery rhyme twist. The Rabbit, Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat, and other animals are built on characteristics we attribute to each of the animals. Rabbit is bouncy and always on edge, the Caterpillar is slow moving, and the Cheshire Cat is sly and calculating. These personifications are built on stereotypes.

The novel's humans are also exaggerated caraciatures. Think about the Queen or Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Ironically, all of these stereotypical behaviors put together are in fact nothing more than a game, that the story is nothing more than a game. The reader becomes vested in specific characters, but those characters don't really matter when you look at the whole picture.