Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper

Max Lester Loges (Lamar University)
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The origin of

The Prince and the Pauper

(

PAP

) probably lies in

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

, which is the story of a boy like Tom Canty who dreams of and plays at being a king. The story line of the book was likely shaped by Charlotte Yonge’s

The Little Duke

, which Clemens read in 1876. Here the Duke of Normandy “profits from his experiences at the corrupt court of Louis IV to become a just and merciful ruler” (Emerson, 119). We know that by 1878 Clemens was well into writing

The Prince and the Pauper

and was reading selections from it at the Young Girl’s Club he sponsored. By 1880 he had completed the first draft of the novel and had requested several of his close friends to review it (Camfield, 445).

One of his major incentives to write the book was to demonstrate his skill at

2196 words

Citation: Loges, Max Lester. "The Prince and the Pauper". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 December 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7454, accessed 19 March 2024.]

7454 The Prince and the Pauper 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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