The Prince and the Pauper

Nearly a decade later, Tom lives in a decrepit part of London called Offal Court in one room of a communal house with his family, which includes his grandmother; his father, John Canty; his mother; and Nan and Bet, his 15-year-old twin sisters. Tom’s grandmother and father are both abusive and have alcohol addictions. They force him to beg, and if Tom does not bring home enough money, they beat him. Tom knows no other life and assumes this is normal.

Also living in Offal Court is the priest, Father Andrew. He takes Tom under his wing, educating him and telling him fairy tales filled with royal heroes. These tales make an impression on Tom, and he begins to recognize the flaws in life at Offal Court.

As Tom grows up, he begins to take on more princely mannerisms; he organizes a pretend royal court around himself, with his friends positioned in various “high offices.” His wisdom leads to admiration by many, some adults even going to him for advice. Each night, Tom returns to his abusive father and grandmother and escapes to a make-believe world as a way of coping with his life. In the morning, though, his lofty dreams make him feel even worse about his sad reality.

Tom wakes up one morning, hungry and still focused on his dreams of a princely life. He wanders around London and finds himself in the neighborhoods of the aristocracy. There, he marvels at the stately homes and palaces until he reaches Westminster, the royal residence, where he hopes see a real prince. Arriving at the gate, Tom sees Prince Edward, a youth his own age dressed in opulent silks and jewels. As he tries to get closer to Edward, he is apprehended by guards and insulted by a crowd of onlookers. Edward notices him and invites him into the palace, rebuking the guards for their rudeness.

Once inside, Edward and Tom talk about their lives. Edward shows his ignorance of poverty, assuming that even average people enjoy the luxuries of royal life. He cannot believe that Tom gets beaten regularly and doesn’t know Greek or Latin well. When Edward asks what Tom does for pleasure, Tom tells him about puppet shows, mock battles, races, and swimming in the Thames. Edward is envious of these pleasures, saying that he wants to “revel in the mud once, just once” (25) without being scolded for it. Tom equally expresses a desire to be dressed in royal clothing just once, instead of his rags.

Once they have swapped clothes, they notice that they look identical. Edward notices a bruise on Tom’s hand, from when the palace guard shoved him. Furious, Edward decides to reprimand the guard. Still wearing Tom’s rags, Edward tells Tom to wait in the royal apartments while he confronts the guard outside the palace. Before he leaves, Edward hides the Great Seal of England, which his father has entrusted to his care.

When Edward gets to the gate, the guard hits him, assuming he is Tom. Edward’s outrage leads him to exclaim that he is the prince, which elicits laughter from the crowd. The guard yells, “Be off, thou crazy rubbish!” (27), and the crowd chases him away from the palace.

Edward is chased out of Westminster by a mob that continues to mock him for his claims to royalty. When he arrives at Grey Friar’s Church, he seeks shelter but is beaten by a gang of boys when he tells them to kneel before him as the prince. Edward tries to find Offal Court, hoping Tom’s family will realize he isn’t Tom and take him back to the palace.

He is found by John Canty, who believes him to be Tom, beats him and forces him to return home.

Tom begins to play in the royal chambers with the various extravagant items that are spread across the prince’s room. He thinks about what the people of Offal Court would say if they saw him. Once the novelty wears off, Tom becomes lonely and worries that he will be punished for being dressed as the prince. He does not believe that anyone thinks he is Edward, even when servants bow to him.

Edward’s young cousin Lady Jane Grey enters, and Tom bows to her and tries to tell her his true identity. When Tom kneels before her, Jane gets flustered and worries that Edward’s perception has broken from reality. She runs away, and soon the rumor of Edward’s “madness” spreads through the palace. This leads to the royal proclamation that no one may repeat this rumor under pain of death.

Tom is brought to King Henry VIII, who also thinks Tom is Edward. Tom again confesses his identity, but this only worries Henry more. Henry tests Tom by speaking to him in Latin; Tom responds, albeit poorly, because he learned some Latin with Father Andrew. He fails to respond to Henry’s questions in French, and the king takes this as a sign that Tom is burnt out from studying too hard. He orders the court to forbid Tom from studying, letting him play games and sports instead. This satisfies Henry, and he reconfirms that Edward is his choice as heir despite his perceptions of reality. Further, he confirms that the Duke of Norfolk, a government official suspected of treason, must die. Tom worries that the duke is being put to death so Tom can be crowned as prince, but Henry tells him not to worry about it. Henry feels unwell, so he sends Tom away with his courtiers. As Tom leaves, he realizes that pretending to be a prince is much more fun than actually being a prince. He feels trapped in a “gilded cage.”

The Earl of Hertford, Edward’s uncle, tells Tom he must hide his infirmity and stop denying that he is the prince. He instructs Tom in the royal protocols, in how to command other and allow others show him reverence. Tom’s make-believe comes in handy, helping him conduct himself more royally while Edward’s half-sisters, the Earl of Hertford, and Lord St. John guide him through the day.

Eventually, Tom retires, but while trying to take off his clothes, he is repeatedly interrupted by servants whose job it is to undress him. Not knowing how to properly dismiss servants, Tom is forced to rest uncomfortably and observed within a room.

The Earl of Hertford and Lord St John discuss the issue of Edward’s “madness” among themselves. They worry that Henry VIII is near death, and with the prince being “mad,” they are concerned for the country’s stability. St. John wonders if Edward might, in fact, be an impostor since his personality has changed so drastically overnight, but Hertford quickly rejects the idea, and they decide never to mention it again. Later, Hertford considers whether St John is right but decides that an impostor would not claim to be an impostor, as Tom does.

Tom is reluctantly dressed for an official dinner. He struggles through the royal protocols, repeatedly trying to eat and being interrupted by various officials and attendants.

The other guests have been warned of Edward’s condition and pity him when they see his differences in behavior, such as eating the food with his fingers, repeatedly asking what he is eating, and stealing handfuls of nuts to eat later. Tom asks if there is a “Hereditary Scratcher” for his nose, and he drinks water in which he was meant to wash his hands.

Following another breach of protocol—leaving when a chaplain was about to begin a blessing—Tom finally returns to his rooms for the night. Relishing the privacy, Tom plays with various items in his room before reading a book on royal etiquette.

Henry VIII wakes up feeling as if he is about to die. The Lord Chancellor announces that they need the king’s seal on the Duke or Norfolk’s death sentence. Henry is excited to comply, but being ill, he asks the Chancellor to use the seal in his stead. They then realize the king gave Edward the Great Seal two days prior and are afraid that now, in his mental state, he has lost it.

Henry tells the Chancellor to get his small seal, which Henry uses during his travels, since the Great Seal is missing. He emphasizes that the Duke of Norfolk must die before he does and sets the date of execution for the following day.

The next day, there is a large procession of boats down the Thames. Ornate stone steps that go to the river are cleared of bystanders while a parade of soldiers, musicians and civic officials accompanies Tom on his way to the river. Despite being “born in a hovel, bred in the gutters of London, [and] familiar with rags and dirt and misery” (64), Tom now becomes the center of a festival crowning him Lord Edward, Prince of Wales. He is dressed in sumptuous royal robes covered with diamonds and other jewels. He easily embodies his role as prince, bowing slightly to the crowd.

John drags Edward back to Offal Court, to the mockery of bystanders, and tries to hit Edward with a cudgel. Someone in the crowd steps in and tries to cover Edward, and he ends up taking the blow. John hits the man again, and he falls to the pavement.

When they arrive home, John tells Edward that he should repeat his lies to the family so that they can mock him too. Tom’s mother and sisters are heartbroken when Edward says that he has never seen them before. Tom’s mother thinks that all Tom’s reading has made him believe that he is really a prince, and now, he has lost touch with reality. John demands that Edward go begging the next day to earn their rent, which offends Edward’s sensibilities. This leads to both John and Tom’s grandmother assaulting him though Tom’s mother tries to stop it. John and Tom’s grandmother beat Tom’s mother and sisters as well until they get tired. Tom’s mother and sisters tend to Edward after the abusers go to sleep.

Tom’s mother suspects that Edward might not be Tom, and she tests his reactions by startling him awake to see whether he reacts in the way Tom does ever since he was young. When Edward does not startle awake in the same way, Tom’s mother grows worried but has trouble accepting that Edward is not Tom. In the morning, Edward wakes up sore from the previous day’s beatings and realizes that being at Offal Court is not a dream.

That morning, John is woken by the news that he killed Father Andrew—the man who tried to protect Edward from John’s beating the previous day. After hearing this, John decides they must flee. When they leave, the Canty family gets caught up in the crowds following Tom’s coronation parade. They get separated, and Edward is able to break free from John in the melee. When he sees the procession, he assumes that Tom has usurped him. Edward considers this treason, and as such, it is grounds for having Tom hanged, drawn, and quartered, which Edward plans to do.

The royal barges move down the Thames to an area called Barge Yard, where Tom disembarks and is led via procession to the Guildhall, where a large banquet begins. At midnight, lords and ladies come in dressed in “exotic” robes as foreign royalty, and minstrels, torchbearers, and other performers gather for a “wild” dance.

Outside Guildhall, Edward tries to denounce Tom as a false prince, but the guards receive this news with mockery. A crowd threatens to assault him until a man named Miles Hendon defends him with his sword. The fight is broken up by the royal messenger’s horseman, and Miles takes Edward and escapes from the crowd.

Inside the Guildhall, the royal messenger arrives and announces that King Henry VIII is dead, which leads the guests to declare Tom the new king. As his first act, Tom pardons the Duke of Norfolk and promises to rule with mercy, to the crowd’s applause.