While I admire the intent of the novel, and enjoyed the story as historical fiction to some extent, the theme of injustice came across as overly didactic—and of course the whole plot relies on the absurd coincidence that there exists a literate pauper who looks like the twin brother of the heir to the throne of Henry VIII.
Still, the story is a powerful reminder that, as they say, The clothes make the man. See below for more thoughts on this theme, and a bit more information on the premise, including a sample of the Shakespearean-esque dialog of the novel.
The Clothes Make the Man
Modern people in developed countries have easier access to clothing (and a lot of other things we take for granted) than probably anyone, rich or poor, in the 1500s did.
IDK when I first saw this tumblr post, but I think about it a lot:
The relevant point is, in the past, you only have a few clothes, maybe only one set. And those clothes reflect and define who you are. You’re a fisherman? You dress like a fisherman. You’re a priest? You dress like a priest. You’re a baker? You dress like a baker. It’s not a work uniform that you can put aside, it’s all you’ve got. If you’re a nobleman, you’ve got more clothes, but they all reflect your status. You can no more wear a baker’s clothes than he can wear yours.
Clothing that signals occupation or status is still pretty common. After all, we find it plausible that in movies, the heroes (and/or their antagonists) can sneak into places they’re not supposed to be by dressing as “invisible” janitors or, alternatively, impersonating authority figures and bluffing loudly. That’s because in real life, if you saw someone wearing rubber boots, a high-vis vest, and helmet go into a construction site, you would assume they belonged there, not that they were, say, planting a bomb. And statistically, you’d be right.
Today, even though we can choose to dress up or dress casually, and sometimes it’s thus a little difficult to tell right away what people’s jobs are (or how much money they make) by how nicely they’re dressed, we still make assumptions about people based on what they’re wearing, and treat them accordingly.
I don’t think it’s possible, psychologically, to entirely stop doing that. Like, of course we use visual information to guess who someone is and calibrate our attitude accordingly! Not that anyone deserves actual, well, undeserved abuse. We should all default to some basic level of politeness when we deal with innocent strangers. Still, rank feels like an inherent part of a lot of human interactions: an employee and a manager, a parent and child (even an adult child), a cashier and a customer… none of these relationships are symmetrical, and it would be at least a little weird to act as if they are.
We’re lucky to the extent that inherently arbitrary class distinctions are weaker than they once were, and to the extent that standards of living are generally higher. The characters in The Prince and the Pauper lived amid huge injustices, and Twain’s purpose seems to have been to point these out, so that similar contemporary injustices could be alleviated.
How did he go about it?
Premise
The story kicks off when Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII rescues a pauper named Tom from being beaten by his palace guards, invites him in and asks him about his life:
Tom: “We dance and sing about the Maypole in Cheapside; we play in the sand, each covering his neighbour up; and times we make mud pastry—oh the lovely mud, it hath not its like for delightfulness in all the world!—we do fairly wallow in the mud, sir, saving your worship’s presence.”
Edward: “Oh, prithee, say no more, ’tis glorious! If that I could but clothe me in raiment like to thine, and strip my feet, and revel in the mud once, just once, with none to rebuke me or forbid, meseemeth I could forego the crown!”
Tom: “And if that I could clothe me once, sweet sir, as thou art clad—just once—”
Edward: “Oho, would’st like it? Then so shall it be. Doff thy rags, and don these splendors, lad! It is a brief happiness, but will be not less keen for that. We will have it while we may, and change again before any come to molest.”
After they change clothes and notice that they are alike enough to be twins, Edward notices a bruise on Tom’s hand, and rushes out to scold the guard who hurt him, not realizing he’s still wearing Tom’s clothes—or possibly not realizing that the clothes would make such a difference. Naturally, he’s treated by the guard and everyone else as if he is the sort of person who wears peasant clothes (i.e., a peasant), and Tom is left in the palace, surrounded by people who believe that he is the prince but has suffered some sort of mental breakdown and is thus acting a little strangely.
(It’s a stretch.)
When and Why I Read The Prince and the Pauper
Time to read some Mark Twain.
Genre: American literature
Date started / date finished: 21-Mar-25 to 22-Mar-25
Length: 226 pages
ISBN: B075CMK533
Originally published in: 1881/2017
Amazon link: The Prince and the Pauper
