Themes in The Prince and the Pauper

Mark Twain had said that The Prince and the Pauper was a tale for young people of all ages. Primarily, it is a children's book, and the dominant themes running through the books are of childhood fairy tales: death of a parent, cruel substitute parents, abandonment, lost identity, and injustice. However, the two most major themes represented by the book are that of lost identity and confronting injustice with righteousness and mercy.

Mark Twain starkly contrasts the two worlds from which the two boys come from and hence the tattered brown paper on one side, and shiny glossy wrapper on the other side. The Pauper hales from Offal Court, a crowded slum, and the Prince from a spacious palace. Mark Twain describes two central characters as "Prince of Poverty" and Prince of Limitless Plenty" Tom Canty, the pauper, and Edward Tudor, the prince of England are exact doubles. The most crucial scene of the book is obviously when they encounter each other.

Mrs. Edwards & Frl. Kussin [boxing] (LOC)

[Edward McCall presents a silver basket of flowers...

Phil Edwards of Canda (centre) competing in the me...

Edward says "O, prithee, say no more, 'tis glorious! If that I could but clothe me in raiment like thine, and strip my feet, and revel in the mud once, just once, with none to rebuke me or forbid, meseemeth I could forgo the crown!" That scene is in the center of the collage. As the book progresses, the reader realizes that Tom Canty is the smarter the one. He is the one who is trying to adapt to the situation. Edward Tudor always refers to his father in times of danger. He is very pompous.

Both of the boys are described as being mad. But Tom Canty, who is mistaken as the prince is taken great care of just because he is a prince and wears splendid clothes. Edward Tudor, who is in rags, is...