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 and Hugo bring Edward back to the gang of thieves from which Edward had just escaped. While everyone likes to poke fun at Edward, only Hugo and John genuinely dislike him. Whenever the Ruffler isn’t looking, Hugo taunts Edward to get a rise out of him and make the rest of the gang laugh. One day, Hugo keeps stepping on Edward’s toe until Edward grabs a cudgel and knocks Hugo to the ground with it. Hugo grabs a cudgel to fight back, but thanks to Edward’s training in fencing, he easily beats and humiliates Hugo. Furthermore, Edward refuses to help the gang pull off their crimes. In fact, he thwarts them whenever possible, such as trying to rouse the people in a house he’s supposed to rob. By night, Edward dreams of being back in his palace and far away from the gang.
Hugo taunts and baits Edward because he wants to get a rise out of him that would justify using violence against Edward. Hugo’s anger at Edward can be explained by Hugo’s first attempt to get Edward to help him beg, when Edward told the man who was giving Hugo money outright that Hugo was lying. Edward continues to refuse to engage in immoral behavior. Edward’s sense of moral superiority angers Hugo, which reveals that he is insecure about his own moral character and his criminal actions as a member of the gang.
Themes
Hugo plans to get revenge on Edward. He wants to humiliate Edward by smearing a poultice made from lime, soap, and rust to create an artificial sore on Edward’s leg, thus making the boy look diseased. This fails when someone catches and stops Hugo. The Ruffler decides that Edward should be stealing instead of begging and he sends Edward back out with Hugo, who plans to frame him for theft so he’ll be arrested. Edward, however, plans to escape. Hugo spots a woman with a basket on the street and he tells Edward to wait in an alley. Hugo runs out, grabs a package out of the basket, tosses it at Edward, and runs away. Edward throws the package down just as the woman finds and grabs him. A crowd forms, but suddenly a man intervenes and says the law must be notified. Edward recognizes Hendon and he tells him to fight the crowd.
Hugo knows that he only needs to make it look like Edward stole something because, according to the law, anyone can be convicted of a crime just for looking guilty—there doesn’t need to be hard evidence, and the law favors the alleged victim over the accused unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Just the act of being near the woman’s package is enough to accuse and convict Edward of theft. Even the law, then, seems to value what appears to be true over the underlying reality of a given situation.
Themes
