The Prince and the Pauper · Chapter
Tom as King explained
Tom Canty, now acting as king, struggles with the burdens of royalty and the loneliness of his new role.
What happens
Tom Canty, now acting as king, struggles with the burdens of royalty and the loneliness of his new role. He receives foreign ambassadors, endures ceremonial duties, and longs for freedom. When a mob is halted outside the palace, Tom learns they are following three condemned prisoners to execution. Moved by compassion, he orders them brought before him. He recognizes the male prisoner as the man who once saved a drowning boy, but the man is accused of poisoning. Despite the prisoner's plea of innocence, the evidence seems damning. Tom grants the man's desperate request to be hanged rather than boiled alive, and vows to reform the cruel law.
Themes in this chapter
Compassion and Empathy
Tom's deep compassion drives him to intervene in the executions, grant the prisoner's plea for a less cruel death, and vow to reform the law, showing his innate humanity despite his false kingship.
Justice and Injustice
The chapter highlights the flaws in the justice system: the use of flimsy evidence, reliance on superstition, and the barbaric nature of punishments, prompting Tom to question and seek change.
Power and Corruption
Tom experiences the power of kingship, but also its isolating and burdensome nature. The contrast between his desire for freedom and the ceremonial constraints illustrates the corrupting and confining aspects of absolute power.
Characters to notice
- Tom Canty
Tom continues his uneasy reign, feeling the weight of captivity and ceremony. He shows compassion by intervening in the prisoners' fate and is moved by the man's plea for a merciful death.
- Lord Hertford
Hertford advises Tom during the audience and is gratified by Tom's merciful impulse to change the law against boiling alive, recognizing it as a noble act.
- Henry VIII
Though deceased, the harsh laws of Henry VIII's reign are referenced in the context of the prisoner's sentence and Tom's desire for reform.
- Miles Hendon
Not directly present, but the prisoner Tom recognizes is the same man who saved Giles Witt, linking to Miles Hendon's earlier encounter.
- Giles Witt
Mentioned as the boy whose life was saved by the prisoner, establishing the prisoner's prior heroic act.
Key passages
“O my lord the king, an' thou canst pity the lost, have pity upon me! I am innocent—neither hath that wherewith I am charged been more than but lamely proved—yet I speak not of that; the judgment is gone forth against me and may not suffer alteration; yet in mine extremity I beg a boon, for my doom is more than I can bear. A grace, a grace, my lord the king! in thy royal compassion grant my prayer—give commandment that I be hanged!”
The prisoner begs the king for mercy, claiming his innocence and that the evidence against him is weak. He accepts that the verdict cannot be changed, but pleads to be hanged instead of being boiled alive, asking for a more merciful death.
This plea reveals the prisoner's desperation and the horrific nature of the punishment, prompting Tom's compassionate response.
“My lord, is it believable that there was warrant for this man's ferocious doom?”
Tom asks Lord Hertford in disbelief whether such a cruel punishment is actually legal.
Tom's shock at the law shows his innate sense of justice and humanity, setting the stage for his later reform.
“I beseech your good lordship that order be taken to change this law—oh, let no more poor creatures be visited with its tortures.”
Tom urges Hertford to have the law changed so that no one else will suffer such a painful execution.
Tom's command to reform the law demonstrates his growing use of royal power for compassionate ends.
