Chapter XXX. Tom's progress. Practice Quiz — The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter XXX. Tom's progress.
What is happening to the true king Edward at the beginning of Chapter 30?
Edward is wandering the land poorly clad, poorly fed, being cuffed and derided by tramps, herding with thieves and murderers in jail, and called an idiot and impostor by everyone.
How has Tom Canty's attitude toward royalty changed since readers last saw him?
Royalty has become "almost all sunshine and delightfulness" for Tom. He has lost his fears, his misgivings have faded, and his embarrassments have been replaced by an easy, confident bearing.
What is the "whipping-boy mine" that Tom works to "ever-increasing profit"?
The whipping-boy is a servant who receives physical punishments in place of the prince. Tom exploits this arrangement to avoid personal consequences while maintaining royal discipline.
How does Tom treat Lady Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey?
He orders them into his presence when he wants to play or talk and dismisses them when done, with the air of someone accustomed to such performances. He no longer feels confused when they kiss his hand.
What daily ceremonies does Tom now enjoy?
He enjoys being conducted to bed in state at night, dressed with intricate ceremony in the morning, and marching to dinner attended by a glittering procession of officers and gentlemen-at-arms.
How many gentlemen-at-arms does Tom maintain in his guard?
Tom doubles his guard to one hundred gentlemen-at-arms.
What sound does Tom enjoy hearing in the corridors?
He likes hearing bugles sounding down the long corridors and distant voices responding, "Way for the King!"
How does Tom behave in council sessions?
He learns to enjoy sitting in throned state in council and seeming to be something more than the Lord Protector's mouthpiece.
How many servants does Tom have, and what does he do about that number?
Tom finds his four hundred servants too few for his grandeur and trebles them (increasing to about twelve hundred).
What positive qualities does Tom retain despite his growing love of luxury?
He remains kind and gentle, a champion of the oppressed, and wages tireless war upon unjust laws. He can also intimidate earls and dukes with a single look when offended.
What argument does Lady Mary make to Tom about his pardoning of prisoners?
Lady Mary argues against his pardoning, reminding him that Henry VIII's prisons once held sixty thousand convicts, and that during his reign seventy-two thousand thieves and robbers were executed.
How does Tom respond to Lady Mary's defense of Henry VIII's harsh justice?
Filled with generous indignation, Tom commands her to go to her closet and beseech God to take away the stone in her breast and give her a human heart.
How do Tom's feelings about the true prince Edward change over the course of the chapter?
Initially Tom has sincere longings for Edward's return, but over time Edward becomes an "unwelcome spectre" who makes Tom feel guilty and ashamed.
Why does Tom come to dread the thought of his mother and sisters?
He fears they might come in their rags and dirt, betray him with kisses, pull him down from his lofty place, and drag him back to penury, degradation, and the slums.
What emotional effect do Tom's memories of his family have on him by the end of the chapter?
When their mournful and accusing faces rise before him, they make him "feel more despicable than the worms that crawl."
What date is Tom's coronation set for?
Tom's coronation as King of England is set for February 20th (the chapter says at midnight on February 19th, Tom is going to sleep, and "tomorrow was the day appointed").
What is Edward doing at the exact moment Tom is falling asleep on coronation eve?
Edward is hungry, thirsty, soiled, and clothed in rags, wedged among a crowd watching workmen make last preparations for the royal coronation at Westminster Abbey.
What literary device does Twain use by ending the chapter with both boys at midnight?
Juxtaposition — contrasting Tom sinking to sleep in his rich bed surrounded by royal pomp with Edward standing hungry and ragged among the crowd outside Westminster Abbey.
What is ironic about the exclamation "O happy Tom Canty, late of Offal Court!"?
It is verbal irony: Tom's happiness is built on the suffering of the true king, and his contentment depends on suppressing his own guilt about the boy who showed him kindness.
What theme does Tom's transformation from reluctant impostor to willing king illustrate?
The corrupting influence of power and privilege — and Twain's argument that environment shapes character more than birth (nature versus nurture).