The Prince and the Pauper

Synopsis

The Prince and the Pauper is the Mark twain’s first historic fiction work. The story is set in London, about two boys with identical appearance, named Tom Canty and Edward. While Edward is the son of King Henry VIII and Tom Canty, a Pauper who lives with his abusive father.

In an event Tom and Edward meet together and swap their dresses. Edward moves away from the palace and lives with Tom’s father.  During his life as a pauper, Edward realizes the harsh and punitive nature of the English judicial system where people are convicted on flimsy evidences. He vows to rein mercy when he regains his place in the palace. In the preceding incidents King Henry VIII dies and Edward becomes the king, after producing the “Great Seal of England”, which he had taken along with him when he flew away from the Royal Palace.

The story ends with happy notes of Edward changes the Judicial system with Mercy, Naming Tom as King’s Ward as a gratitude and rewarding Miles Hendon (a nobleman and soldier whom Edward met when he was acting like pauper) with the rank of Earl.

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