The Prince and the Pauper
A prince and a look-alike pauper swap places in Tudor England, letting Twain skewer the arbitrariness of rank and the cruelty of the law.
Twain’s first historical novel imagines two identical boys in Tudor England, the young Prince Edward and a pauper named Tom Canty, who trade places and discover each other’s worlds. As the prince endures the cruelties of the streets and the pauper fumbles through court, Twain skewers the arbitrariness of rank and the harshness of English law. Written for younger readers but pointed in its social criticism, it turns a fairy-tale premise into an argument about justice and mercy.
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