The First Newspaper explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Technology vs. Superstition

  The newspaper represents modern technology and rational communication, contrasting with the superstitious reverence for the king's touch and the monks' awe of the printed page.

• Progress and Modernization

  Hank's reforms (nickel coins, newspaper) demonstrate his drive to modernize Arthurian society, though the flippant tone of the paper reveals the cultural clash.

• Power and Corruption

  Hank's manipulation of the king's-evil appropriation (watering the gift) and the treasury shows how power can be used for personal or political gain.

• Religion and Hypocrisy

  The ceremony of the king's-evil is portrayed as a superstitious and exploitative practice, with many feigning illness for coin, highlighting religious hypocrisy.

Characters to notice

• Hank Morgan

  Disguised as a petty freeman, Hank plans to explore the countryside and reforms the king's-evil ceremony by substituting gold coins with nickels. He is thrilled by the arrival of the first newspaper but feels a discordant note in its flippancy, realizing his own change.

• King Arthur

  Eager to join Hank in disguise, the king performs the ceremony of touching for the king's-evil. He is saddened when reminded of Queen Guenever's indifference due to Launcelot's presence.

• Sir Launcelot

  Mentioned as the reason Queen Guenever does not notice the king's absence, and appears in a newspaper item about an encounter with King Agrivance of Ireland.

• Queen Guenever

  Described as beautiful but slack, more concerned with Launcelot's whereabouts than the king's.

• Merlin

  Referenced in a newspaper headline as 'Brer Merlin' who works his arts but gets left behind in the miracle of the well.

• Clarence

  Not directly mentioned in this chapter, but implied as part of Hank's inner circle; no explicit appearance.

• Sir Sagramor

  Mentioned in a newspaper item about an expedition searching for Sir Sagramour le Desirous.

• Marco

  Not present in this chapter.

Key passages

• “When I told the king I was going out disguised as a petty freeman to scour the country and familiarize myself with the humbler life of the people, he was all afire with the novelty of the thing in a minute, and was bound to take a chance in the adventure himself—nothing should stop him—he would drop everything and go along—it was the prettiest idea he had run across for many a day.”

  Hank informs the king of his plan to travel incognito as a commoner to learn about the common people, and the king is immediately excited and insists on joining him, calling it the best idea he's heard in a long time.

  Shows the king's enthusiasm for adventure and Hank's role as a catalyst for change.

• “I covered six-sevenths of the appropriation into the treasury a week before starting from Camelot on my adventures, and ordered that the other seventh be inflated into five-cent nickels and delivered into the hands of the head clerk of the King's Evil Department; a nickel to take the place of each gold coin, you see, and do its work for it.”

  Hank secretly diverted most of the budget for the king's-evil ceremony into the treasury and replaced the gold coins with cheaper nickels, effectively watering down the gift.

  Illustrates Hank's pragmatic and somewhat corrupt approach to modernizing the kingdom's finances.

• “One greater than kings had arrived—the newsboy. But I was the only person in all that throng who knew the meaning of this mighty birth, and what this imperial magician was come into the world to do.”

  The newsboy's arrival with the first newspaper is more significant to Hank than the king, as he alone understands the revolutionary power of the press.

  Highlights Hank's perspective as a modern man in a medieval world, valuing information and media.

• “It was delicious to see a newspaper again, yet I was conscious of a secret shock when my eye fell upon the first batch of display headlines. I had lived in a clammy atmosphere of reverence, respect, deference, so long that they sent a quivery little cold wave through me.”

  Hank enjoys seeing a newspaper but is startled by its flippant headlines, realizing he has become accustomed to the respectful tone of Arthurian society.

  Shows Hank's internal conflict and his gradual assimilation into the medieval mindset.

• “I knew, then, how a mother feels when women, whether strangers or friends, take her new baby, and close themselves about it with one eager impulse, and bend their heads over it in a tranced adoration that makes all the rest of the universe vanish out of their consciousness and be as if it were not, for that time.”

  Hank compares the monks' fascination with the newspaper to a mother's pride when others admire her newborn baby, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction and contentment.

  Reveals Hank's emotional connection to his creation and his sense of achievement.