Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Prince and the Pauper, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Appearances vs. Reality
Wealth, Poverty, and Morality
Justice
Nature vs. Nurture
Summary
Analysis
John Canty drags the struggling Edward through the street. Everyone watches as John raises a cudgel to hit the boy, but only one person speaks up in Edward’s defense. The man reaches out to protect Edward from the cudgel, and John hits the man over the head in response. John drags Edward into the Canty house. Tom’s mother and sisters cower in the corner, but Grammer Canty simply watches. John orders Edward to tell them his name. Incensed at how he’s being treated, Edward declares that he’s the Prince of Wales. Nan and Bet rush forward with cries of pity while Tom’s mother cries out that so much reading has caused Tom to lose his mind. Edward tries to comfort Tom’s mother by telling her that she can get Tom back safe and sound if she just brings Edward back to the palace and his father.
Like Tom, people call Edward insane when he tries to explain his true identity. In this case, however, the Canty’s think it’s madness for any lower-class person to claim to belong to something higher (as Edward, Tom is called mad for saying he belongs to a lower social class and wanting to return to it). The overarching message this sends is that people think it’s unreasonable for anyone to claim to be something they’re not—in this way, class divisions in Tudor England are staunch and seemingly inescapable. Furthermore, people’s clothes indicate what kind of world they belong to. This is why it seems insane for Edward (dressed in rags) to say he’s actually a prince or for Tom (dressed in finery) to say he’s a beggar.
Themes
Tom’s mother, Nan, and Bet beg John to just let the boy go to bed—they say he’ll be back to his old self in the morning and he’ll be able to go begging again. John ponders this and he asks Edward to hand over whatever money he was able to collect that day. Edward gets offended and repeats that he’s a prince, so John hits him. Tom’s mother grasps Edward to her and tries to shield him from John and Grammer Canty’s blows. Edward tells Tom’s mother to protect herself and that he can take the beating. That night Nan, Bet, and their mother try to comfort Edward, who promises that his father, the king, will reward them for their kindness one day.
Like King Henry VIII, Tom’s mother and sisters believe that “Tom’s” madness is a fleeting thing and that he can regain his sanity by resting. In this way, Twain demonstrates that royalty and commoners aren’t fundamentally different as people despite their very different lifestyles, as both the king and the Cantys are genuinely concerned for their family member’s mental health. Meanwhile, Edward has never experienced cruelty before, so being beaten by John and Grammer is particularly traumatizing for him. It reduces him to the same level as Tom—although Edward has more pride than Tom at this point, which makes getting beaten all the more humiliating. Tom, on the other hand, considers abuse a normal part of his day, again emphasizing the vast differences between royal and common life.
Themes
In her own bed, Tom’s mother worries about what’s wrong with “Tom” and the possibility that the boy in the house isn’t actually her son. She decides she needs to test him somehow. She remembers that Tom has a specific way of raising his hand to his eyes with the palm out whenever anything startles him, so she goes to where Edward is sleeping and she tries to startle him by hitting the floor by his head. She tries this several times, but each time Edward only opens his eyes groggily—he doesn’t raise his hand the way Tom would. At first, Tom’s mother tries to write this off as a symptom of his madness, but the thought that the boy isn’t her son still pesters her. Ultimately, she convinces herself that it’s impossible for the boy to be anyone other than her son.
Unlike John, Tom’s mother has a strong maternal instinct that enables her to notice very subtle differences between the boy dressed in Tom’s clothes and who she knows Tom to be. However, not even that gut instinct that something is wrong can override Tom’s mother’s belief that it’s impossible that her son could be associated with royalty. In other words, it’s easier for her to believe her son is mad than that the boy in the house isn’t her son, reflecting the tendency for people to trust what they see rather than what they intuit.
Themes
Edward sleeps deeply but he is irritated when none of the servants answer his calls as he wakes. Edward soon realizes that the before night wasn’t a dream and he’s that really living in a hovel and wearing rags instead of proper clothes. There’s a knock on the door and John asks who it is. The person at the door explains that the man John hit was Father Andrew, and that now the priest is dying. John grabs Edward by the hand and orders all the family to flee to London Bridge. Once outside, the Canty family gets separated in the huge crowds that are drinking and celebrating. Someone convinces John to take a drink and John lets go of Edward’s hand long enough for the boy to escape. Once alone, Edward realizes the city is drinking to a false prince—he believes Tom has purposely usurped his position and he decides he must punish Tom later.
After experiencing just a few hours living as Tom, Edward is easily convinced that Tom has somehow forced this switch to happen so that Tom can enjoy palace life while Edward is forced to degrade himself in the slums. Despite Edward’s kindness throughout the story thus far, this desire for vengeance suggests that he does have at least a bit of his father’s vindictive nature in him. The riotous revelry in the streets also tells Edward that, as yet, he is not missed—if the people are celebrating and toasting the prince, it’s because nobody realizes that the rightful prince (Edward) is missing.
Themes
Literary Devices
Get the entire The Prince and the Pauper LitChart as a printable PDF.
