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
Edward rushes into the woods to put distance between himself and John. Occasionally Edward stops and listens, imagining he can hear voices, but he starts walking again to keep warm. Edward heads deeper in the forest, hoping to come out onto a road, but he’s soon lost. Eventually he notices a sort of hut with a light on inside and he sneaks up. Peeking through a window, Edward sees a small fire, some furniture, and a man in sheepskins praying at an altar. This gives Edward confidence and he knocks on the door. The hermit tells Edward to come in and he asks him his name. Edward says he’s a king and the hermit praises him for having the strength to leave a life of luxury behind in favor of dedicating himself to worshipping God. The hermit says he can keep Edward hidden from anyone there while Edward prays and studies the Bible.
Edward believes he can trust the hermit because the hermit is apparently religious. The hermit also unquestioningly accepts that Edward is a king. This is ironic because it soon becomes clear that the hermit is insane; similarly, other characters think Edward is insane. The hermit’s madness makes it easier for him to accept ridiculous ideas, like that a dirty boy dressed in rags is actually a king and not just a beggar. In this way, Twain suggests that madness is not necessarily a negative thing—sometimes, it allows people to perceive and accept the truth more readily that sane people.
Themes
The hermit begins muttering and pacing through the house. Edward tries to speak, but before he can share his story, the hermit says he wants to share a secret: he is actually an archangel and has been for five years. at this, Edward nearly wishes he was with the criminals again because it’d be safer than being with a madman. The hermit claims that although heaven’s angels all bowed to him as he walked among them, he considers his status as an archangel a small thing because he should’ve been Pope. The hermit says that 20 years earlier, a voice from heaven told him he’d be Pope one day, but then the king dissolved his religious house and cast him out. The hermit rambles on like this for an hour before he calms down and makes supper. After Edward and the hermit finish their supper, the hermit gently puts Edward to bed.
The hermit was apparently a Catholic monk or priest once, but now he is one of the thousands of Catholics whose religious houses were raided and who were forced into poverty. Some were even executed or mutilated for not taking an oath to recognize King Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church and pledging loyalty to him even before God. This period was called the Reformation, during which King Henry VIII reformed the official religion in England. It used to be Catholicism, but Henry broke from the Pope and created the Church of England instead.
Themes
The hermit sits by the fire and thinks for a while. Suddenly he goes into where Edward’s sleeping and he asks what king he is. Edward drowsily says he’s King of England. The hermit asks if King Henry VIII is dead and Edward says yes, and that Henry was his father. The hermit asks if Edward knows his father is the one who cast him out of his religious house, but Edward is already deep in sleep. The hermit goes into the next room, finds a butcher’s knife and whetstone, and begins sharpening the knife. Occasionally he thinks out loud, saying that Henry is in the “eternal fires” and has escaped the hermit’s wrath. The hermit blames Henry for the fact that he’s an archangel instead of a pope. At dawn, he ties Edward up and covers his mouth to keep him from screaming and attracting the attention of passersby.
Edward initially decides to trust the hermit because the man is obviously religious. As it turns out, the hermit’s religion is the exact reason why Edward shouldn’t trust him. In real life, Edward VI was a staunch Protestant, so he probably wouldn’t have sought shelter with a Catholic hermit. This hermit clearly believes that Henry has gone to hell for his actions against the Catholic Church, but he’s still thirsty for vengeance. To the hermit, killing Edward and thus ending the Tudor lineage that Henry VIII cared so much about would be the ultimate revenge for his religious persecution and lost livelihood.
Themes
