When Tom and Edward trade clothes, Edward prophesies several elements of the story’s plot in a moment of foreshadowing:
“Thou has the same hair, and the same eyes, the same voice and manner, the same form and stature, the same face and countenance that I bear. Fared we forth naked, there is none could say which was you, and which the Prince of Wales. And, now that I am clothed as thou wert clothed, it seemth that I should be able the more nearly to feel as thou didst [when the soldier struck you] [...]. ”
Edward remarks that the two boys are so similar in appearance and behavior that without their usual clothes, no one would be able to tell the two apart. Despite being raised to believe that he is exceptional by virtue of his status, Edward can recognize that he is materially no different from a peasant boy.
Edward also suggests that because he is now clothed as Tom, he can more easily imagine the way Tom felt when the soldiers abused him. Edward implies that he can only imagine what it is like to be Tom when his appearance is altered to match.
Both of these statements foreshadow the action of the plot. Edward and Tom are mistaken for one another, and manage to gain an understanding of the other’s experience through changing their appearance. Edward would never be able to imagine the realities of Tom’s life on his own (otherwise he would never have exited the gate in Tom’s clothes). Likewise, despite his many fantasies about royal life, Tom still finds many differences between his daydreams and the lived reality of a monarch.
