In Lieu of class on Monday May 9th

"'Who helpeth them undress at night? Who Attireth them when they rise?'

'None Sir. Wouldst thou have them take off their garment and sleep without - like the beasts?'

'Their garment! Have they but one?'

'Ah, good your worship, what would they do with more? Truly they have not two bodies each.'"

Page 17

The Prince and the Pauper

I chose this quote because I thought that the two characters only really showed distinctions because of their experiences and this seemed like an excellent example of their different upbringings. The prince cannot fathom that people live without servants and even with all his reading about Princes Tom does not understand why one would have use for more than a single garment. Both boys are nearly indistinguishable in appearance and neither Edward not Tom appears to have a strongly developed enough character, other than vague mention of being kind hearted, for those who know them to tell the difference between their personalities. Of course they behave differently because they were raised very differently, but this is just perceived as madness in both situations. The only one who believes that a switch was possible is Tom's mother.

"the suggestion began to creep into her mind that there was something about this boy that was lacking in Tom Canty, mad or sane. She could not describe it, she could not tell what it was, and yet her sharp mother-instinct seemed to detect it and perceive it. What if the boy were not really her son at all? O, absurd! she almost smiled at the idea, spite her griefs and troubles. No matter, she found that it was an idea that would not "down" but persisted in haunting her. It Pursued her, it harassed her, it clung to her, and refused to be put away or ignored. At last she perceived that there was not going to be any peace for her until she should devise a test that should prove, clearly and without question, whether this lad was her son or not, and so banish these wearing and worrying doubts." (49-50)

She remembers that he has an unusual habit of covering his face when he is scared with his palm facing outward instead of towards his face. She decides to scare him in his sleep to see if he will do it. He ends up not covering his face at all, let alone in his typical way. It is strange that although it implies she knows something is wrong because of her "mother-instinct" it is interesting that she cant define what is different about him as the manner of his speech or a look in his eye or something of the like. The way she aims to test it is through a physical habit he formed because of a specific fright he had when he was younger, and she still isn't even sure if it is him or not until much later when she sees Tom dressed as king.

One would think that an uncanny similarity in their appearances might have been noticed when the two were in close proximity of each other. However they are only mistaken as each other when they switch clothing. Which makes it seem like it is the clothing, which represents their station, that is most important. The guards who were present when Tom first saw the prince and when the prince was kicked out onto the street, did not make note of it and only showed disrespect to the one wearing Tom's rags. Even in the end when the true king appears at the coronation it takes some time for everyone to look past his clothes and notice the resemblance even though both boys are insisting he is the true ruler.