The Prince and the Pauper Plot Diagram
You can find this storyboard in the following articles and resources:
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Lesson Plans by Bridget Baudinet
The Prince and the Pauper tells the story of the historical King Edward VI who switches lives with a young pauper for a few weeks. As Edward experiences the difficulties of life as a commoner, he recognizes the injustices of English law and later works to right them as king. The story is an exciting tale of mistaken identity and a wonderful introduction to sixteenth century English history.
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Storyboard Description
The Prince and the Pauper Summary / Plot Diagram
Storyboard Text
- EXPOSITION
- CONFLICT
- Be off, thou crazy rubbish!
- Thou shalt hang for laying thy hand upon me!
- RISING ACTION
- Young Tom Canty lives with his mother, sisters, and abusive father in Offal Court, a poverty-stricken London neighborhood. Tom faces hunger, cold, and beatings every day, but dreams of life as a prince. Just a few miles away, young Prince Edward Tudor lives in the palace with his father, King Henry VIII. The same age as Tom Canty, Edward’s life is entirely different: he is wealthy, spoiled, and powerful.
- CLIMAX
- I forbid you to set the crown of England upon that forfeited head. I am the King!
- Prince Edward meets Tom at the palace gates and shows him kindness after a guard beats him. Inside the palace, Tom and Edward trade stories and swap clothes, noticing their identical appearances as they do so. When Edward leaves the palace in Tom’s clothing, the guards do not let him back in, and Tom and Edward get stuck living each other’s lives.
- FALLING ACTION
- ?
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- Where lieth the Great Seal?
- In an arm-piece of the Milanese armour!
- Both struggle to adapt to new lives. Though they each protest that they are not who they appear to be, no one believes them. Tom comes to enjoy life as a prince and uses his power to change unjust laws. Edward detests life with John Canty and faces poverty, pain, and death at every turn. He survives his trials only with the help of a kind-hearted noble, Miles Hendon.
- RESOLUTION
- Edward escapes his enemies and appears at Tom’s coronation just in the nick of time. Tom is about to be crowned king in Westminster Abbey when Edward walks up the aisle and declares he is king. When Tom agrees with him, the onlookers and royal representatives are bewildered.
- The Lord Protector questions the boys to determine who is the true king. When he asks for the location of the long-missing Great Royal Seal, Edward identifies its location, proving that the boy in rags is the true King Edward VI.
- Edward is made king and deals mercifully with his subjects. He rewards Miles and Tom for their service and rights the wrongs he noticed while living as a pauper. His time outside the palace opened his eyes to the injustices of the law, and he works to make life less brutal for his subjects.
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