The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot concerns the accession of nine-year-old Edward VI to the throne of England in 1547 and his interactions with look-alike Tom Canty, a London pauper who lives with his abusive, alcoholic father.
Plot
Tom Canty, the youngest child of a very poor family living in Offal Court, located in London, England, has been abused by his father and his grandmother but is encouraged by the local priest, who taught him to read and write. Loitering around the Palace of Westminster gates one day, Tom sees Edward Tudor, the Prince of Wales. Coming too close in his intense excitement, he is caught and nearly beaten by the royal guards. However, Edward stops them and invites Tom into his palace chamber. There, the two boys get to know one another and are fascinated by each other's lives. They have an uncanny resemblance to each other and learn they were even born on the same day, so they decide to swap clothes "temporarily". Edward hides an item, which the reader later learns is the Great Seal of England, and goes outside to confront the guards who abused Tom; however, dressed as Tom, he is not recognized by the guards, who drive him from the palace.
Tom, dressed as Edward, tries to cope with court customs and manners after being mistaken for the prince. Edward's father, King Henry VIII, his fellow nobles, and the palace staff think the prince has an illness that has caused memory loss and fear he will go mad. After King Henry dies, Tom is repeatedly asked about the missing Great Seal of England, but he knows nothing about it. However, when Tom is asked to sit in on judgments, his common-sense observations reassure them that his mind is sound.
Edward eventually finds his way through the streets to the Canty home, where the Canty family believes him to be Tom. There, he is subjected to the brutality of Tom's alcoholic father, from whom he manages to escape, and meets Miles Hendon, a soldier and nobleman returning from war. Although Miles does not believe Edward's claims to royalty, he humors him and becomes his protector. Meanwhile, they receive news that King Henry has died and Edward has become king.
As Edward experiences the brutal life of a London pauper firsthand, he becomes aware of the stark class inequality in England. In particular, he sees the harsh, punitive nature of the English judicial system, under which people are burned at the stake, pilloried, and flogged. He realizes that the accused are convicted on flimsy evidence and branded or hanged for petty offenses, and he vows to reign with mercy when he regains his rightful place. When Edward declares to a gang of thieves that he is the king and will put an end to unjust laws, they assume he is insane and hold a mock coronation.
After a series of adventures, including a stint in prison, Edward interrupts the coronation as Tom is about to be crowned king. The nobles are shocked at their resemblance but refuse to believe that Edward is the rightful king wearing Tom's clothes until he produces the Great Seal of England that he hid before leaving the palace. Edward and Tom switch back to their original places, and Edward is crowned King Edward VI of England. Miles is rewarded with the rank of Earl and the family right to sit in the king's presence. In gratitude for supporting the new king's claim to the throne, Edward names Tom the "King's Ward", a privileged position he holds for the rest of his life. The novel ends stating that Tom lived a long life, while Edward died at the age of 15.
Themes The introductory quote—"The quality of mercy is . . . twice blest; / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: / 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes / The throned monarch better than his crown"—is part of the "quality of mercy" speech from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
While written for children, The Prince and the Pauper is both a critique of social inequality and a criticism of judging others by their appearance. Twain wrote of the book, "My idea is to afford a realizing sense of the exceeding severity of the laws of that day by inflicting some of their penalties upon the King himself and allowing him a chance to see the rest of them applied to others..."
History Having returned from a second European tour, which formed the basis of A Tramp Abroad (1880), Twain read extensively about English and French history. Initially intended as a play, the book was originally set in Victorian England before Twain decided to set it further back in time. He wrote The Prince and the Pauper having already started Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
The "whipping-boy story", originally meant as a chapter to be part of The Prince and the Pauper, was published in the Hartford Bazar Budget of July 4, 1880, before Twain deleted it from the novel at the suggestion of William Dean Howells.
Ultimately, The Prince and the Pauper was published by subscription by James R. Osgood of Boston, with illustrations by Frank Thayer Merrill, John Harley and Ludvig Sandöe Ipsen.
The book bears a dedication to Twain's daughters, Susie and Clara Clemens, and is subtitled "A Tale For Young People of All Ages".
Adaptations
Theater
The Prince and the Pauper was adapted for the stage during Twain's lifetime, an adaptation that involved Twain in litigation with the playwright. In November 1920, a stage adaption by Amélie Rives opened on Broadway under the direction of William Faversham, with Faversham as Miles Hendon and Ruth Findlay playing both Tom Canty and Prince Edward.
A studio-cast musical adaptation with book/lyrics by Verna Tomasson and music by George Fischoff was recorded in 1963 on London Records (AM 98001/AMS 98001), with Joan Shepard as Tom Canty, Carol Blodgett as Prince Edward, John Davidson as Miles Hendon, Flora Elkins as Lady Anne, Joe Bousard as John Canty and Robert McHaffey. Another version of this musical was recorded on Pickwick Records (SPC-3204) with the misleading cover blurb stating that it was the "Original Soundtrack from the New Movie".
An Off-Broadway musical with music by Neil Berg opened at Lamb's Theatre on June 16, 2002. The original cast included Dennis Michael Hall as Prince Edward, Gerard Canonico as Tom Canty, Rob Evan as Miles Hendon, Stephen Zinnato as Hugh Hendon, Rita Harvey as Lady Edith, Michael McCormick as John Canty, Robert Anthony Jones as the Hermit/Dresser, Sally Wilfert as Mary Canty, Allison Fischer as Lady Jane and Aloysius Gigl as Father Andrew. The musical closed on August 31, 2003.
English playwright Jemma Kennedy adapted the story into a musical drama, which was performed at the Unicorn Theatre in London between 2012 and 2013, directed by Selina Cartmell, and starred twins Danielle and Nichole Bird as the Prince and the Pauper and Jake Harders as Miles Hendon.
A musical adaptation has been produced by the Shiki Theatre Company in Japan. In 2025, it was revived under the title "The Prince and the Boy", because the word used as a translation for "pauper", "kojiki", was considered insulting. It has music by Toshihiko Sahashi and Izumitaku, and lyrics by Yutaka Watanabe and Koji Ishizaka.
Comics
In 1946, the story was adapted into comics form by Arnold L. Hicks in Classics Illustrated ("Classic Comics") #29, published by Gilberton.
In 1962, Dell Comics published Walt Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, illustrated by Dan Spiegle, based on the three-part television adaptation produced by Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.Walt Disney's The Prince and the Pauper #01654-207 (Dell, May–July 1962).
The British comic Nipper had a regular strip called Will and Bill that updated the concept to be about the young Prince William regularly swapping places with a working-class boy who looked identical to him.
In 1990, Disney Comics published Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, by Scott Saavedra and Sergio Asteriti, based on the animated featurette starring Mickey Mouse.Disney's The Prince and the Pauper (Disney Comics, Nov. 1990).
Film The novel has also been the basis of several films. In some versions, Prince Edward carries identification when he assumes Tom's role. While animations such as the Mickey Mouse version retell the story, other cartoons employ parody (including an episode of the animated television show Johnny Bravo in which Twain appears, begging cartoonists to "let this tired story die").Johnny Bravo season 2, episode 3 (Hanna-Barbera Productions, 21 August 1999). Film critic Roger Ebert suggested that the 1983 comedy film Trading Places (starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy) has similarities to Twain's tale due to the two characters' switching lives (although not by choice).
A much-abridged 1920 silent version was produced (as one of his first films) by Alexander Korda in Austria entitled Der Prinz und der Bettelknabe.
The 1937 version by Warner Bros. was its biggest hit for the year and starred Errol Flynn (as Hendon), Claude Rains, Alan Hale, and twins Billy and Bobby Mauch (as Tom Canty and Edward Tudor, respectively).
A 1977 film version of the story, starring Oliver Reed as Miles Hendon, Rex Harrison as the Duke of Norfolk, Mark Lester as Edward/Tom, Ernest Borgnine as John Canty, Charlton Heston as Henry VIII, and Raquel Welch and directed by Richard Fleischer, was released in the UK as The Prince and the Pauper and in the US as Crossed Swords.
In 1990, Walt Disney Feature Animation released an animated featurette inspired by the novel and starring Mickey Mouse. In this version, Mickey "plays" both of the title roles, with a cast of other Disney characters.
It Takes Two, starring twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, is another loose adaptation of this story, in which two look-alike girls, one the wealthy daughter of a wireless service tycoon and the other an orphan, switch places in order to experience each other's lives. Similarly, 2000's Model Behavior, which originally aired on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney, stars Maggie Lawson as a teenage model and an ordinary high schooler who also decide to switch places.
A 2000 made-for-TV film directed by Giles Foster stars Aidan Quinn (as Miles Hendon), Alan Bates, Jonathan Hyde, and identical twins Jonathan and Robert Timmins.
In 2004, The Prince and the Pauper was adapted into an 85-minute animated musical, Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, with Barbie playing the blonde Princess Anneliese and the brunette pauper Erika. In 2012, a second animated musical adaptation was released, titled Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar. In it, Barbie plays a blonde princess named Victoria (Tori) and a brunette pop star named Keira. Both crave the life of another; one day, they meet and magically change places.
Garfield's second live-action film, 2006's Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, is another adaptation of the classic story, although its title references Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities.
A 2007 film, A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper, stars identical twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse.
Another loose adaptation, Monte Carlo, was released in 2011 by 20th Century Fox and stars Selena Gomez.