50 pages • 1 hour read
Mark TwainThe Prince and the Pauper
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1881A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Relationship Between Personal Identity and Social Class
The Prince and the Pauper examines how one’s social class defines, or is unable to truly define, personal identity. Characters in the novel are often described by their social standing, as when the guard calls Tom a “young beggar” (21) in Chapter 3. Many chapter titles follow this model, including “The Prince with the Tramps” (124), “The Prince with the Peasants” (157), and “The Prince with the Prisoner” (185). Indeed, the title of The Prince and the Pauper itself defines the characters by who they are in English society. Markers of social class, especially clothing, are central to how people interact: Tom and Edward switching clothing and thereby reversing their social statuses is the plot’s premise. To many characters, personal identity and social status are synonymous.
However, Twain challenges this method of judging a person, condemning the conflation of identity and class. Primarily, this is achieved by the central premise of the plot. Through imagining two identical, but personally distinct, people born at opposite ends of society, Twain satirizes a society that believes in rigid social class. Both Edward and Tom frequently admit that they have swapped identities and act in ways unexpected for a person of their station. Despite this, no one (with the exception of Tom’s mother and a palace minister), seriously considers whether they are telling the truth, instead presuming that they are “mad.”
Each protagonist has a different reaction to the new societal expectations that are placed upon him. Tom, always fascinated with the monarchy, allows much of his personal identity to be subsumed by his social role. After three weeks of acting like the king, he begins to forget about both his family and Edward. The praise he receives for his actions and the expectations of his office take up most of his thoughts, until he believes that nothing is more important than being king. This leads Tom to commit his only cruel act in the novel—denying his own mother—which in turn leads to him relinquishing his position.
Edward, conversely, never loses his conviction in his identity despite it repeatedly leading him into trouble. Though Edward gains valuable experience during his adventure, he does not fundamentally change. Even at the beginning of the novel, he shows his charitable nature by letting Tom through the gates and promising to give Tom’s sisters new clothing and servants. Both boys’ coming-of-age arcs reflect the message that changing one’s social standing cannot make a cruel person kind; these core qualities must already exist to be cultivated through experience. This is shown through the other characters’ behavior as well. No matter the circumstances, Father Andrew and Miles Hendon are compassionate protectors even when it puts them in danger while John Canty and Hugh Hendon are always petty tyrants.
Morality and Justice in 16th-Century England
The Prince and the Pauper is filled with examples of immoral but lawful action. From Henry VIII downward, Twain’s version of the English justice system is especially brutal and prone to wrongful application. Henry VIII is known to everyone but Edward as a “grim tyrant” and a “terror” (82), who spends his final hours arranging an enemy’s execution. Similarly, Hugh Hendon is a petty tyrant, exerting his power of the Hendon lands to enforce loyalty by fear. For much of the book, the system does not serve justice but acts as a form of repression, backed by brutal punishments, such as boiling or burning the guilty party alive.
To emphasize the law’s injustice, Twain showed the king being subject to his own system of punishment. Edward’s society accepts that the poor suffer harsh consequences under the law, but it is unthinkable for them to see a king punished in the same way. The events surrounding the legal system make the greatest impression on Edward. The first is his trial. He would have been hanged if the woman who was the victim of his theft had not taken pity on him and lied under oath, which worked against her in the end. The next is when he sees two Baptists imprisoned and burnt to death for their faith. Following these experiences, Edward resolves that “kings should go to school to their own laws, […] and so learn mercy” (220). The cumulative impact of his experience in London is to make his short-lived reign merciful. Edward’s growth arc implies that rulers who have never suffered do not have an internalized sense of morality or justice. Tom’s character arc supports this; he grew up seeing the penalties of the law inflicted on ordinary people and immediately abolished unduly harsh laws when he became king. The novel’s message clear: A ruler is made merciful through understanding the consequences of harsh rules. By learning through experience, a ruler can become aware of the flaws in their system.
Twain’s choice of Edward’s reign for the setting of this book is notable. The reigns of Henry VIII and “Bloody’ Mary,” which preceded and followed Edward, respectively, had reputations for being especially violent. They saw the persecution of Catholics, first, and then Protestants. Situating the plot between these two notably harsh times creates a stark image of the historical context in which Edward’s experience of the need for morality based on mercy in the justice system takes place.
The Importance of Empathy and Understanding
Linked to the role of mercy and morality in justice is an emphasis on the importance of empathy and understanding. As the book is intended for children, this theme appears as a moral lesson. Throughout the book, people who come across Edward when he is removed from office are either kind or cruel to him. Those who are cruel to him are generally punished once he has regained his station, and those who are kind are given some reward.
In The Prince and the Pauper, gaining a reward is not the only reason to be kind. Empathy and kindness are important in all interactions, whether they are rewarded or not. There are exceptions to the pattern of rewarding kindness and punishing evil: Father Andrew is kind and empathetic, and this leads him to be murdered by John Canty. In the end, John never pays for murdering Father Andrew. He gets away, and the narrative never states whether he prospers or regresses into poverty after leaving London. Father Andrew and John’s subplot proves there is some ambivalence in the novel’s message about good always being rewarded and evil always being punished.
The novel primarily highlights the importance of empathy and understanding in the experiences of Edward and Tom, who each comes to know more about the trials the other faces. Edward, at the beginning of the novel, shows little awareness of poverty; he assumes that Tom also has servants, not understanding that life is significantly different outside the palace. He also wishes for experiences that he does not have, believing that if he could “revel in the mud” (25) with no one to criticize him, he would forego the crown. As he gains more understanding of what life is like for Tom, his empathy for others increases.
Tom’s poverty initially leads him to believe, like Edward, that everyone’s life is similar to his. When he begins to study, with Father Andrew, Tom begins to understand that the wealthy do not face the hardships he experiences. This gives him a more complete view of the world, yet still an incomplete one, as it is not until he becomes king that he learns about the hardships kings face. Loneliness and the burden of great responsibility accompany the grandeur of living a royal life. In the end, this revelation leads him to appreciate the simple pleasures of life with his family.
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