THE PRINCE & PAUPER BY MARK TWAIN

THE PRINCE & PAUPER

BY

MARK TWAIN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

‘The Prince & Pauper’ is a novel by Mark Twain . Mark Twian was an American writer. Mark twain was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30 , 1835. Twain began his career writing light , humorous verse but evolved into a grim, almost profane chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind. Unfortunately, a complete bibliography of his works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces written by Twain (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pennames. Additionally, many believe that a large portion of his speeches and lectures have been lost or simply were not written down; thus, the collection of Twain's works is an ongoing process. Researchers have rediscovered published material by Twain as recently as 1995.

The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, the novel tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court, London, and Prince Edward, son of Henry VIII of England.

SUMMARY :-

Tom Canty, youngest son of a family of beggars living with the dregs of society in Offal Court, has always had aspirations to a better life, encouraged by the local priest who has taught him to read and write. He hangs around the palace gates one day and sees the little prince, and is about to be thrashed and sent away by the guards until the prince commands them to stop and invites Tom inside. Fascinated by the differences of each other's lifestyles and by their similar appearances, the boys exchange roles. Edward leaves in rather a hurry, before the boys are caught at their game, first quickly putting away an article of national importance which we later learn is the Great Seal of England. Soon Prince Edward is attempting to escape from the brutality of Tom's father, while Tom posing as the prince is attempting to cope with court customs and manners. His fellow nobles and palace personnel think "the prince" is suffering an illness that has caused memory loss and fear he will go mad. They repeatedly question him about the missing "Great Seal", but he knows nothing about it. However, when Tom is asked to sit in on judgments, his common-sense observations reassure them that he is of sound mind.

Edward soon encounters Miles Hendon, a soldier and nobleman returning from war. While Miles does not believe Edward's claims to royalty, he humors him and becomes his protector. Meanwhile, news reaches them that King Henry VIII has died and Edward is the rightful king.

As Edward experiences the brutish life of a pauper first hand, he becomes aware of the stark class inequalities in England at that time. In particular, he realizes the harsh and punitive nature of the English judicial system, witnessing women burned at the stake, pilloring, and flogging. He becomes aware that the accused are convicted on the flimsiest of evidence and branded, dismembered, boiled in oil or hung for petty offenses. He vows to reign with mercy when he regains his rightful place. When he unwisely declares before a gang of thieves that he really is the king and will put an end to unjust laws, they assume he is insane, and hold a mock coronation.

After a series of adventures, including a stint in prison, Edward manages to exchange places with Tom just as the latter is about to celebrate his coronation. Tom is eager to give up the throne, but the nobles refuse to believe that the beggarly child is the rightful king, until he produces the Great Seal that he had hidden before leaving the palace. Tom declares that if anyone had bothered to describe the Seal he could have produced it at once, since he had found it inside a decorative suit of armor where Edward had stashed it, and had been using it to crack nuts.

Edward and Tom finally switch back, and later, Miles is rewarded with a raised noble rank of an Earl and the unique family right to sit in the presence of the king. As for Tom, in gratitude in supporting the new King's claim to the throne, Edward names him "The King's Ward," a privileged position he holds for the rest of his life. In the end, they all live happily for quite some time. The afterword mentions that Edward died at a young age (which is an unescapeable historical fact - Edward having been an actual historical personage).

Major characters:-

The two major characters were Tom Canty and Edward, the Prince of Wales.

The conflict was between John Canty, Tom's father, and the prince.
The other conflict was between Tom and the lords, servants, the King, and all the royal people in the castle. John Canty, the lords, the servants, the
King, and all the royal people in the castle opposed Tom and Edward. Tom and Edward opposed them also. The characters deal with the situation that they find themselves in by telling the truth. They never stopped telling everyone one who they really were. They insisted saying that there were not who everyone really thought they were.

Everyone thought Tom and Edward were both mad. The reason why no one believed them is because they both looked alike and they both had exchanged outfits. They exchanged outfits because Edward wanted to feel how it was to be a pauper and how to live like one and Tom wanted to feel how it was to be a prince, the son of the King, and how to live like one. First Tom was enjoying it because he didn't have to beg anymore, he ate good food, and he slept in a nice, cozy bed in the King's palace, but later he didn't enjoy it because he wanted to go back home to his original family and live the way he used to live.

The Prince of Wales, son of the King, Edward was then living like a
Pauper. He was treated badly and never ate anything at all. He was beaten
by John Canty, Tom's father and was always forced to beg. Tom's mom tried to stop John but John and Tom’s sisters watched in just slapped her horror. Edward didn't even enjoy being a pauper at least once. Everyone just
thought that Tom and Edward were both mad.

They solved the confusion, though. After the King had died and Tom
was about to be crowned King of England Edward ran in and said that he was the true King. The royal guards grabbed Edward when suddenly Tom ran to Edward and told the guards to take their hands off of him. He told them that Edward was the true King. The noble advisor saw that Tom and Edward looked alike. He gave them a test. The test was to tell the noble advisor where was the Great Seal of England. Edward went into the cabinet wher the Great Seal was supposed to be but to his surprise he found it empty. Tom cried out and told Edward to think and remember where he had last put the Seal. Unfortunately Edward remembered where he had put it and he was crowned King and Tom became Edward's loyal knight.

LITERARY SIGNIFICANCE & CRITICISM:-

Much of the humor in the book originates in the two boys' inability to function in the world that is so familiar to the other, although Tom soon displays considerable wisdom in his decisions. In many ways, the book is a social satire, particularly compelling in its condemnation of the inequality that existed between the classes in Tudor England. In that sense, Twain abandons the wry Midwestern style for which he is best known and adopts a style reminiscent of Charles Dickens.

Though not as popular among critics as Twain's other works, the book has foreshadowed the author's successful forays into historical fiction with A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In the later book, Twain depicted some manifestly unjust laws prevailing in Tudor England as if they had already existed in the 5th century society of King Arthur - an obvious anachronism.

The short appearance in the book Edward's sister, future Queen Mary I, had a considerable influence on perpetuating her her negative image among the general reading public - given the enduring popularity of Twain's work. His depiction of her as a cold and cruel person seems to be connected both to Twain's outspoken atheism and to the strong anti-Catholic prejudice prevalent in American society at the time of writing.

STYLE:-

Mark Twain wrote one of the great styles of American literature.