Mark Twain - The Prince and the Pauper

As I've said before, Mark Twain's work has always intrigued me so I bought a collection of his stories in one book, one of which I reviewed in February and while I didn't enjoy it as much as I have other books, his work still intrigues me so I have continued reading this book every so often.

Mark Twain's novels are American Classics and are rooted in the South and a lot of his work is influenced by his experiences and where he has lived; Twain worked as a riverboat pilot which is said to be the influence behind The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well his living in the town that these stories are set in.  The Prince and the Pauper, however, was Twain's first attempt at historical fiction and differed from his other works greatly due to it being set in a different place to his other work and the time in which it was set.

Rating: 6

Recommended To: American classic fans

Favourite Characters: The prince - reluctantly adapted well

Favourite Part: "Now were he imposter and called himself prince, look you that would be natural; that would be reasonable.  But lived ever an imposter yet, who, being called prince by the king, prince by the court, prince by all, denied his dignity and pleaded against his exaltation?  No!  By the soul of St. Swithin, no!  This is the true prince gone mad!" - Page 217

Good Points: The two narratives working simultaneously; found it funny; enjoyed this more than Tom Sawyer

Bad Points: Could have more interaction between characters; combination of the two languages was a bit weird

Set in 1547, the year of Henry VIII's death, The Prince and the Pauper focuses on two young boys who identical to the point that their own parents can't tell them apart but come from completely different backgrounds - Tom Canty, a boy who lives in the dregs of society but aspires for a better life and Edward VI, Henry VIII's only son and heir to the throne.  Tom is found wandering around the palace gates one day and the Royal Guard attempt to beat him until Edward intervenes and takes Tom into the palace.  Inside, they get to know one another and are completely fascinated by each other's lives and how much they look alike - to the point where they switch clothes just for fun.  However, this leads to Edward being chased out of the palace before he and Tom can switch back and they each have to live one another's life.

I didn't know what to expect from The Prince and the Pauper so I went in with an open mind and found a number of points that I enjoyed about this story.  One was the dual narratives that worked simultaneously because it showed the struggles that both young men go through at the same time and what they both learnt over the course of the story.  Edward learns what the lives of his subjects is truly like and Tom learns that there is more to life than money as he misses his sisters and mother; both these lessons, morals if you would like, are excellent ones for children and could only really be taught through dual narratives, and after reading this, The Prince and the Pauper is my favourite Twain story at the moment.

There were some clever, witty moments which made me laugh over the course of The Prince and the Pauper which is always a good thing in my opinion because sometimes, you need something light hearted.  The moments where everyone questioned the boys' sanity and the boys argued to the contrary always made me laugh and they brought some lighter, more amusing moments to a sometimes dark story.

Due to The Prince and the Pauper being less episodic than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I enjoyed it a lot more because I was able to follow the boys through a more straight-forward timeline.  Tom and co. were all over the place while our young protagonists were just trying to get through their new lives and fight for survival in the prince's case.  Part of me wishes this had been my introduction to Mark Twain not The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

I actually pondered for a while on which of the characters was my favourite and eventually decided that ultimately, it had to be the prince because out of him and Tom Canty, he learnt more from his experience out amongst his subjects while Tom learnt what it meant to be the prince/king.  Our young prince had to fight for his own survival and freedom while Tom lived in the lap of luxury; and whilst the young prince did this, he adapted extremely well, he didn't protest, wouldn't allow anything to break him, and was determined to get back to his rightful place.  Through his actions, he was a much more interesting character.

Though I enjoyed The Prince and the Pauper in the end, I found the combination of the two language styles - the Tudor style of speaking and the style that Twain normally uses - were so different at first that at first, it took a while to get used to it.  It was something I didn't like about this story because I couldn't connect with it easily until I got further into the story unfortunately but I was able to eventually get over it because the story became enjoyable in the end.

What would have made The Prince and the Pauper even better for me would be more interaction between the characters in comparison to the narrative surrounding the dialogue.  It started to feel long winded at points with the amount of description given which, while set the scene, bored me at points so I began to skim read over these parts until something grabbed my attention.

"Now were he imposter and called himself prince, look you that would be natural; that would be reasonable.  But lived ever an imposter yet, who, being called prince by the king, prince by the court, prince by all, denied his dignity and pleaded against his exaltation?  No!  By the soul of St. Swithin, no!  This is the true prince gone mad!" - Page 217

I loved how Twain basically poked fun at the plot of his own story because it does sound absurd out loud, how can a peasant boy trick the entire royal family and their servants into thinking he is in fact the prince, even if they are strikingly similar in appearance.  It's so ridiculous that they just think that the young prince has gone mad and yet they would still let him be the heir to the throne and that's why I love it; they make fun of this fact, but it is in fact true, this young peasant has tricked them.

Part of me wishes that The Prince and the Pauper had been introduction to Mark Twain because I enjoyed this story more than I did The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, even if it was just a little bit more.  The two language styles which Twain used made this story difficult to connect with at first for me because my brain struggled to process it fast enough but eventually, I was able to delve into the pages and I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to get into Twain's work because it was funny and witty and the dual narratives keep you involved in both boys' lives as they try to adapt to one another's life.

Other Books by Mark Twain