The Prince and the Pauper

by Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens. His humorous tales of human nature, especially "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884), remain standard texts in high school and college literature classes. Twain was born and died in years in which Halley's Comet passed by Earth: 1835 and 1910.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816718733
• ISBN13: 9780816718733
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Troll Associates
• Length: 48 Pages
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

The Prince and the Pauper

The Prince and the Pauper was written by Mark Twain in 1882. Although 33 chapters and 209 pages are sandwiched between this book's covers, it is a work that is meant to be chewed slowly, and digested carefully. The Prince and the Pauper is a literary feast, but if you aren't careful, you will get indigestion. Set in England, during the reign of Henry the Eighth, this tale is enticingly sweet. Twain's story begins in not one place, but in two utterly diverse locations: the king's palace, and the lowly, cramped rooms of Offal Court. In one situation, a lofty lord is born, but in the other, humble Tom Canty arrives to trouble his family with another mouth to feed. The entire nation rejoices with the birth of the prince, but no one heeds the pauper. Later in the story, lovable, loyal characters such as Miles Hendon and princess Elizabeth are brought out of Twain's vast menagerie of actors. The protagoni, the Prince Edward and Tom Canty, act entirely different from one another, but look exactly alike. Trouble first begins when Tom and Edward playfully switch places, and Tom is left in the palace as the real prince leaves seeking entertainment. When he is harassed, a heroic warrior jumps to the misplaced monarch's defense. Meanwhile, poor Tom Canty of Offal Court is belabored by the wearisome customs of the court. Without warning, the King Henry the Eighth dies, leaving his "son" to the throne. Back in the streets of London, the prince is captured by Tom Canty's father, who takes him for his own son. With Miles Hendon hounding his steps, Canty falls in with a band of vagabonds. Fortunately, the prince escapes, but only to be attacked by a crazed hermit who thinks that he is a "mere archangel" with a claim to the papacy. Slowly the time passes for poor, nervous Tom Canty, with his coronation drawing closer. After a while, he develops a taste for life at court, and begins to fear the possibility of the real prince's return. Recaptured by John Canty, Edward re-escapes to Miles Hendon, who is on a journey to recover his rightful lands from his treacherous brother, Hugh Hendon. In all of his travels, the prince, (who now considers himself king because of his father's death) realizes how cruel English punishment really is, especially when Miles is put to the pillory, and bears the lashes of the whip. Finally, the day of coronation is at hand, and Tom Canty is actually looking forward to the pomp and glory of the ceremony. Proudly he greets his people, without a thought to his old family, until he spots his mother with the crowd. At Westminster Abbey, he was about to accept his crown, when the actual prince shouted out: "I forbid you to set the crown of England on that forfeited head. I am the king!" In a moment of truth, Tom Canty proves that Edward is really all that he claims to be, explaining their foolish exchange of clothing. The populace is amazed, and Edward inherits the crown of England. Twain seizes one with a gentle j

The Prince and the Pauper

(...)This book is about two boys who were born on the same year, same day, but are still very different. One was the prince of England, while the other was a peasant. One day, the prince was taking a walk around his castle, when he saw a peasant being kicked around by a gaurd. the prince brought the boy into his castle. Then they noticed how similar they looked, and decided to see how they would look in each other's clothes. Thats how the problem began. The prince mistakenly was kicked out of the castle, and the peasant remained trapped within the castle.(...)The things I liked about this book were when the prince and the pauper were at the ceremony being asked questions, when the pauper changed clothes, and when the royal adviser thought that the prince has gone mad.The events that I didn't like about this book were when Miles Hendon was being tortured, when the prince was forced to steal, and when the prince was about to be killed by the hermit.My favorite part of this book was when prince Edward and the pauper Tom got back together.

A Great Timeless Novel

This novel by Mark Twain is truly a timeless piece of literature. It's story line is one that any young boy would love to live. It depicts the situation of a young pauper and a prince who accidentally switch places. It is a easy read, and the dialect is shown very well through out Mark Twains writings. I very much enjoyed reading the book, and I feel that most people would find the book humorous, full of adventure, and fun to read.

"The Prince and the Pauper" was a great book!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this great classic. It was very interesting and had me hooked onto it through the whole story. This story is about how the beggar named Tom Candy and Prince Edward meet and discover that they were both completely identical, except for their clothes. They switch their clothes and change places. Then, each of the two boys have to live through a terrible life of each other. The Prince is beaten, called names, starved, and has to live the life of a beggar. Tom or the Pauper has to go through laws, diplomacy, languages, and royalty. Both of them are considered mad as they try to tell the truth to everyone. Suddenly, the little tiny thing of switching places turns out to be a humongous problem as Prince Edward's father, Henry VIII dies. Tom, who is thought as the Prince, is naturally supposed to be the next king. Both boys has to find each other or else the Pauper would become the wrong king of the nation.This book is very interestingly written. I started reading this once, but I had a better book(or I thought it was a better book) to read so I stopped. Then, I decided to just finish reading "The Prince and the Pauper" and thought that it was just a great and interesting book! I think that this is a great book to read because it's quite witty, interesting, great, and very well written.

A wonderful classic for intelligent and imaginative kids.

This story has been a favorite of mine since I first read it as a child. I have re-read it many, many times, most recently to two of my children (who also enjoyed it), and it continues to be rich and engaging. Since the language is true to the era of the story, however, it may put some readers off. Others will find that the archaic language enhances the tale. A beggar (Tom Canty) and a prince (Edward Tudor), who look so alike as to be twins, meet and swap clothes for a lark. But an accident of judgment stretches the lark into an adventure, and the adventure into a nightmarish struggle of life and death, honor and dishonor. Hasn't everyone wished to be royalty at some point in their lives? And especially if you were the poorest of the poor, like Tom Canty, wouldn't it be your dearest wish as a child? This is a great and yet fearful adventure, superbly detailed and believable. It was carefully written in such a manner that genuine history leaves it possible. One of Twain's best ever.