The Prince and the Pauper

Tom Canty is a London street urchin who dreams of becoming a king while Edward Tudor Prince of Wales dreams of escaping his royal confinement. By a sudden twist of fate they find themselves in each others circumstances.Thus a bedraggled Prince of Poverty is raised to royalty while a pampered Prince of Wales finds himself tossed into a world of filthy beggars and villainous thieves. The Prince and the Pauper originally published in 1881 is one of Mark Twains earliest social satires. With his tongue-in-cheek irony Twain satirizes the power of the monarchy unjust laws and barbaric punishments religious intolerance and superstitions. Although originally written as a story for children The Prince and Pauper is a classic novel for adults as well offering critical insight into a people and time period not really all that different from our own.