What Is The Pauper

Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper depicts the struggles of two young boys as they swap their niches in society. One child, a beloved prince, and the other an unwanted pauper. Despite living opposite lifestyles, their unlikely paths cross. Tom Canty, the young pauper, endures a life of abuse and poverty, yet somehow remains content, by often drifting into dreams and fantasies of being a prince. Edward Tudor, the Prince of Wales, lives a life of extreme wealth and good fortune, and knows his future includes becoming the king of England, but he has no understanding of a different lifestyle. Tom trying to escape the tortures of his home embarks on a journey, which will change his life. When he reaches Buckingham palace, he grasps the fence
The prince invites Tom into the palace, and when they are alone, they adorn themselves in each other's garments. As Edward returns to reprimand the guard further for causing physical harm to Tom, Edward forgets to return to his original adornments, so he is removed from the palace and disallowed to enter. One of Tom’s first events as king is the River Pageant, in which he and the royal party are paraded upon a vessel to Guild Hall, where Tom learns of King Henry VIII’s death, which means Tom is king. John Canty’s mob plays in integral role in teaching Edward the harshness of the society, in which Edward must learn to live. Eventually, Tom becomes accustomed to his new role as King, while Edward struggles to comprehend his transition into poverty. The challenges faced by Edward inform him of the troubles endured by his subjects; they also show how challenging it is for a man, let alone a boy, to stand against a sixteenth century English
For example the guard, who harmed Tom before he enters the castle believes, that the prince adorned in the pauper's clothing, is the pauper who got him in trouble with the prince. So he angrily struck him and infuriatingly stated, “Take that thou beggar’s spawn, for what thou got’st me from his highness!” (p.10). Further proving the brutality of the period, as Edward is only a mere child, yet the guard strikes him out of anger, and the crowd reacts as though this is a normality and even responds with laughter. Edward questions the sincerity of the populace, as they mock the true king, rather than restoring him to his rightful position. Edward plans to retake his throne during the River Pageant, but he is denied access to Guild Hall. When he claims to be the king, he is mocked by the surrounding vagrants, then they form a mob and plan on reprimanding him for lying. The recurring theme of mobs, usually indicates the mockery of an individual by a large group, but also represents the brutality of the time period. John Canty’s mob is critical of Edward and considers him to be delirious, as he repeatedly claims to be the King of England.He is mocked for these “arbitrary” claims, and is not believed by any, even those closest to him. The mobs are always present when a violent form of