The Prince and the Pauper

by

Mark Twain

Tom Canty’s father. John is abusive toward everyone in his family and he forces Tom to go out and beg for money every day. John’s mother, Grammer Canty, is also a beggar and she helps John beat Tom, Tom’s mother, Bet, and Nan. John finds Edward Tudor wandering through the streets and—because Edward is dressed in Tom’s clothes and he looks identical to him—John mistakes Edward for his son, drags him home, and beats him. When someone tries to intervene, John knocks them down. The next day, he learns that the person was actually Father Andrew and that he’s died from the injury. John is afraid of being arrested and so he forces his family to abandon their house and run, dragging Edward along with him. Edward escapes and finds shelter with Miles Hendon, a recently returned soldier with a kind heart. However, John spots them, kidnaps Edward, and drags him out to the middle of the forest where a band of thieves—John’s former comrades—are gathered around a fire. John tells Edward that they’re changing their last name to Hobbs to avoid suspicion. The Ruffler, the leader of the gang, doesn’t like how John treats Edward and so he assigns Hugo to watch over Edward. When Edward escapes, John tracks him down to the hermit’s house and he carries him away again. Hugo frames Edward for theft to get rid of him, thus separating John and Edward from that point on. John never finds his wife, daughters, or mother after running away; he’s never heard from again.

John Canty / John Hobbs Quotes in The Prince and the Pauper

The The Prince and the Pauper quotes below are all either spoken by John Canty / John Hobbs or refer to John Canty / John Hobbs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

All Offal Court was just such another hive as Canty’s house. Drunkenness, riot and brawling were the order, there, every night and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard time of it, but did not know it. […] When he came home empty handed at night, he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again and improve on it; and that away in the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with any miserable scrap or crust she had been able to save for him by going hungry herself, notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort of treason and soundly beaten for it by her husband.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Tom’s Mother, Grammer Canty
Page Number: 6-7
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“O my poor boy! thy foolish reading hath wrought its woful work at last, and ta’en thy wit away. Ah! why didst thou cleave to it when I so warned thee ‘gainst it? Thou’st broke thy mother’s heart!”

Related Characters: Tom’s Mother (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs
Page Number: 55-56
Explanation and Analysis:

In a moment all the heavy sorrow and misery which sleep had banished were upon him again, and he realized that he was no longer a petted prince in a palace, with the adoring eyes of a nation upon him, but a pauper, an outcast, clothed in rags, prisoner in a den fit only for beasts, and consorting with beggars and thieves.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Grammer Canty
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

To the rest of the world the name of Henry VIII brought a shiver, and suggested an ogre whose nostrils breathed destruction and whose hand dealt scourgings and death; but to this boy the name brought only sensations of pleasure, the figure it invoked wore a countenance that was all gentleness and affection. He called to mind a long succession of loving passages between his father and himself, and dwelt fondly upon them, his unstinted tears attesting how deep and real was the grief that possessed his heart.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, Miles Hendon, John Canty / John Hobbs, Tom’s Mother, King Henry VIII
Page Number: 122
Explanation and Analysis:

“I am Yokel, once a farmer and prosperous, with loving wife and kids—now am I somewhat different in estate and calling; and the wife and kids are gone; mayhap they are in heaven, mayhap in—in the other place—but the kindly God be thanked, they bide no more in England! My good old blameless mother strove to earn bread by nursing the sick; one of these died, the doctors knew not how, so my mother was burnt for a witch, whilst my babes looked on and wailed. English law!—up, all, with your cups!—now altogether and with a cheer!—drink to the merciful English law that delivered her from the English hell! […] I begged, from house to house—I and the wife—bearing with us the hungry kids—but it was crime to be hungry in England—so they stripped us and lashed us through three towns. Drink ye all again to the merciful English law!—for its lash drank deep of my Mary’s blood and its blessed deliverance came quick. She lies there, in the potter’s field, safe from all harms. And the kids—well, whilst the law lashed me from town to town, they starved.”

Related Characters: Yokel (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, John Canty / John Hobbs, King Henry VIII
Page Number: 126-127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

It was a meal which was distinguished by this curious feature, that rank was waived on both sides; yet neither recipient of the favor was aware that it had been extended. The goodwife had intended to feed this young tramp with broken victuals in a corner, like any other tramp, or like a dog; but she was so remorseful for the scolding she had given him, that she did what she could to atone for it by allowing him to sit at the family table and eat with his betters, on ostensible terms of equality with them; and the king, on his side, was so remorseful for having broken his trust, after the family had been so kind to him, that he forced himself to atone for it by humbling himself to the family level, instead of requiring the woman and her children to stand and wait upon him while he occupied their table in the solitary state due his birth and dignity. It does us all good to unbend sometimes.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, John Canty / John Hobbs
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 144-145
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“His father wrought us evil, he destroyed us—and is gone down into the eternal fires! Yes, down into the eternal fires! He escaped us—but it was God’s will, yes it was God’s will, we must not repine. But he hath not escaped the fires! no, he hath not escaped the fires, the consuming, unpitying remorseless fires—and they are everlasting!”

[…]

“It was his father that did it all. I am but an archangel—but for him, I should be Pope!”

Related Characters: The Hermit (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, John Canty / John Hobbs, King Henry VIII, Hugo
Page Number: 153
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

Tom’s poor mother and sisters travelled the same road out of his mind. At first he pined for them, sorrowed for them, longed to see them, but later, the thought of their coming some day in their rags and dirt, and betraying him with their kisses, and pulling him down from his lofty place, and dragging him back to penury and degradation and the slums, made him shudder. At last they ceased to trouble his thoughts almost wholly. And he was content, even glad; for, whenever their mournful and accusing faces did rise before him now, they made him feel more despicable than the worms that crawl.

Related Characters: Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Tom’s Mother, Bet Canty, Nan Canty
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 210
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

At this point, just as he was raising his hand to fling another rich largess, he caught sight of a pale, astounded face which was strained forward out of the second rank of the crowd, its intense eyes riveted upon him. A sickening consternation struck through him; he recognized his mother! […] In an instant more she had torn her way out of the press, and past the guards, and was at his side. She embraced his leg, she covered it with kisses, she cried, “O my child, my darling!” lifting toward him a face that was transfigured with joy and love. The same instant and officer of the King’s Guard snatched her away with a curse, and sent her reeling back whence she came with a vigorous impulse from his strong arm. The words “I do not know you, woman!” were falling from Tom Canty’s lips when this piteous thing occurred; but it smote him to the heart to see her treated so; and as she turned for a last glimpse of him, whilst the crowd was swallowing her from his sight, she seemed so wounded, so broken-hearted, that a shame fell upon him which consumed his pride to ashes, and withered his stolen royalty. His grandeurs were stricken valueless: they seemed to fall away from him like rotten rags.

Related Characters: Tom’s Mother (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Father Andrew
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis:
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John Canty / John Hobbs Quotes in The Prince and the Pauper

The The Prince and the Pauper quotes below are all either spoken by John Canty / John Hobbs or refer to John Canty / John Hobbs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Appearances vs. Reality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

All Offal Court was just such another hive as Canty’s house. Drunkenness, riot and brawling were the order, there, every night and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard time of it, but did not know it. […] When he came home empty handed at night, he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again and improve on it; and that away in the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with any miserable scrap or crust she had been able to save for him by going hungry herself, notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort of treason and soundly beaten for it by her husband.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Tom’s Mother, Grammer Canty
Page Number: 6-7
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“O my poor boy! thy foolish reading hath wrought its woful work at last, and ta’en thy wit away. Ah! why didst thou cleave to it when I so warned thee ‘gainst it? Thou’st broke thy mother’s heart!”

Related Characters: Tom’s Mother (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs
Page Number: 55-56
Explanation and Analysis:

In a moment all the heavy sorrow and misery which sleep had banished were upon him again, and he realized that he was no longer a petted prince in a palace, with the adoring eyes of a nation upon him, but a pauper, an outcast, clothed in rags, prisoner in a den fit only for beasts, and consorting with beggars and thieves.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Grammer Canty
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

To the rest of the world the name of Henry VIII brought a shiver, and suggested an ogre whose nostrils breathed destruction and whose hand dealt scourgings and death; but to this boy the name brought only sensations of pleasure, the figure it invoked wore a countenance that was all gentleness and affection. He called to mind a long succession of loving passages between his father and himself, and dwelt fondly upon them, his unstinted tears attesting how deep and real was the grief that possessed his heart.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, Miles Hendon, John Canty / John Hobbs, Tom’s Mother, King Henry VIII
Page Number: 122
Explanation and Analysis:

“I am Yokel, once a farmer and prosperous, with loving wife and kids—now am I somewhat different in estate and calling; and the wife and kids are gone; mayhap they are in heaven, mayhap in—in the other place—but the kindly God be thanked, they bide no more in England! My good old blameless mother strove to earn bread by nursing the sick; one of these died, the doctors knew not how, so my mother was burnt for a witch, whilst my babes looked on and wailed. English law!—up, all, with your cups!—now altogether and with a cheer!—drink to the merciful English law that delivered her from the English hell! […] I begged, from house to house—I and the wife—bearing with us the hungry kids—but it was crime to be hungry in England—so they stripped us and lashed us through three towns. Drink ye all again to the merciful English law!—for its lash drank deep of my Mary’s blood and its blessed deliverance came quick. She lies there, in the potter’s field, safe from all harms. And the kids—well, whilst the law lashed me from town to town, they starved.”

Related Characters: Yokel (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, John Canty / John Hobbs, King Henry VIII
Page Number: 126-127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

It was a meal which was distinguished by this curious feature, that rank was waived on both sides; yet neither recipient of the favor was aware that it had been extended. The goodwife had intended to feed this young tramp with broken victuals in a corner, like any other tramp, or like a dog; but she was so remorseful for the scolding she had given him, that she did what she could to atone for it by allowing him to sit at the family table and eat with his betters, on ostensible terms of equality with them; and the king, on his side, was so remorseful for having broken his trust, after the family had been so kind to him, that he forced himself to atone for it by humbling himself to the family level, instead of requiring the woman and her children to stand and wait upon him while he occupied their table in the solitary state due his birth and dignity. It does us all good to unbend sometimes.

Related Characters: Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, John Canty / John Hobbs
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 144-145
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“His father wrought us evil, he destroyed us—and is gone down into the eternal fires! Yes, down into the eternal fires! He escaped us—but it was God’s will, yes it was God’s will, we must not repine. But he hath not escaped the fires! no, he hath not escaped the fires, the consuming, unpitying remorseless fires—and they are everlasting!”

[…]

“It was his father that did it all. I am but an archangel—but for him, I should be Pope!”

Related Characters: The Hermit (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, John Canty / John Hobbs, King Henry VIII, Hugo
Page Number: 153
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30 Quotes

Tom’s poor mother and sisters travelled the same road out of his mind. At first he pined for them, sorrowed for them, longed to see them, but later, the thought of their coming some day in their rags and dirt, and betraying him with their kisses, and pulling him down from his lofty place, and dragging him back to penury and degradation and the slums, made him shudder. At last they ceased to trouble his thoughts almost wholly. And he was content, even glad; for, whenever their mournful and accusing faces did rise before him now, they made him feel more despicable than the worms that crawl.

Related Characters: Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Tom’s Mother, Bet Canty, Nan Canty
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 210
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

At this point, just as he was raising his hand to fling another rich largess, he caught sight of a pale, astounded face which was strained forward out of the second rank of the crowd, its intense eyes riveted upon him. A sickening consternation struck through him; he recognized his mother! […] In an instant more she had torn her way out of the press, and past the guards, and was at his side. She embraced his leg, she covered it with kisses, she cried, “O my child, my darling!” lifting toward him a face that was transfigured with joy and love. The same instant and officer of the King’s Guard snatched her away with a curse, and sent her reeling back whence she came with a vigorous impulse from his strong arm. The words “I do not know you, woman!” were falling from Tom Canty’s lips when this piteous thing occurred; but it smote him to the heart to see her treated so; and as she turned for a last glimpse of him, whilst the crowd was swallowing her from his sight, she seemed so wounded, so broken-hearted, that a shame fell upon him which consumed his pride to ashes, and withered his stolen royalty. His grandeurs were stricken valueless: they seemed to fall away from him like rotten rags.

Related Characters: Tom’s Mother (speaker), Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales / King Edward VI, Tom Canty, John Canty / John Hobbs, Father Andrew
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis: