50 pages 1 hour read

Mark Twain

The Prince and the Pauper

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1881

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Essay Topics

1.

The Prince and the Pauper critiques Tudor England’s social hierarchy, but at the end of the novel, everyone returns to their original place. Discuss this outcome’s thematic significance. What role does class mobility play in the novel?

2.

Twain wrote The Prince and the Pauper in 1881. How do the novel’s lessons, particularly those concerning wealth and inequality, relate to the time in which Twain was writing?

3.

Discuss “the privilege of the Kents,” i.e., the right to sit in front of the king that Miles’s descendants receive. How long does it last, and how does it relate to the novel’s main themes?