The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper is a treasured historical satire, played out in two very different worlds of 16th-century England. It centers around the lives of two boys born in London on the same day. One is Edward, Prince of Wales. The other, Tom Canty, a street beggar.
During a chance encounter, the two realize they are identical and, as a lark, decide to exchange clothes and roles. This situation briefly, but drastically, alters the lives of both youngsters.
The Prince, dressed in rags, wanders about the city’s boisterous neighborhoods among the lower classes, enduring many hardships. Meanwhile, poor Tom, living with the royals, is constantly filled with dread of being discovered for who he really is.
Brimming with gentle humor and discerning social scrutiny, this timeless tale of transposed identities remains one of Twain’s most popular and best-loved novels.
- About the author: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (known by his pen name Mark Twain) was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Critics praised him as the “greatest humorist the United States has produced”. His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
