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
While Edward struggles to cope with life among England’s outcasts and being considered insane by everyone, Tom grows accustomed to palace life. He enjoys ordering people around, being dressed by others, having guards follow him, and even the council meetings. Tom orders more fine clothes and triples the number of palace servants. Although everyone considers him a wise and judicious king, if Tom gets offended then he can strike fear in anyone with a single look. One day, Lady Mary speaks of how many people King Henry VIII imprisoned and executed, so Tom orders her to ask God to give her a human heart. Tom has gradually forgotten Edward and he stops worrying about his sisters and mother (in fact, his greatest fear is that they’ll appear and embarrass him one day). While Tom sleeps on the 19th, Edward watches workers in Westminster prepare for the coronation.
Only a few weeks ago, Tom was determined to downsize the palace because the throne was in extreme debt. Now that he’s had a taste of the good life, however, he’s become a careless spender and he strives to create an image that he thinks is in keeping with his status as king. This includes having an excessive number of servants because, at that time, a person’s greatness and social rank could be determined by how many servants they could afford to employ.
Themes
