Edward Tudor

Character Analysis

Ignorant, Proud, and Selfish

Admit it. You don't like Edward much, do you? It's okay. We mean, he's kind of a terrible person when we first meet him. His pride, ignorance, and selfishness are constantly getting him into trouble.

Actually, it's his pride that gets the whole ball rolling to begin with, when that guard is assaulting Tom: "The crowd jeered and laughed; but the young prince sprang to the gate with his face flushed, and his eyes flashing with indignation, and cried out: 'How dar'st thou use a poor lad like that! How dar'st thou use the king my father's meanest subject so! Open the gates, and let him in!'" (3.8) Now, you might interpret this as kindness, but Edward does refer to Tom as one of his father's subjects. In other words, what he is saying to the guard is, "How dare you do that to my property?" It's interesting how pride can ruin even seemingly nice things.

Or take this example: when he finds out the royal court has mistaken Tom Canty for himself, he thinks:

He easily concluded that the pauper lad, Tom Canty, had deliberately taken advantage of his stupendous opportunity and become a usurper. Therefore there was but one course to pursue—find his way to the Guildhall, make himself known, and denounce the impostor. He also made up his mind that Tom should be allowed a reasonable time for spiritual preparation, and then be hanged, drawn, and quartered, according to the law and usage of the day, in cases of high treason. (10.63)

Instead of wondering how Tom is doing, or anything else, he instantly jumps to the conclusion that he would like to sentence Tom to death. And not just any kind of death: he wants Tom hanged, drawn, and quartered, the gruesome punishment for treason.

Let's not even talk about how he seemed happier about becoming king than sad that his dad died. But we shouldn't be surprised by all of this. Edward is Henry VIII's son, after all. He's grown up privileged, with hundreds of servants at his command. Anyone who bothered him would simply be killed. This doesn't sound like the kind of person we would want to be our king.

You Must Humble Yourself

Lucky for us (and for England), suffering has a way of teaching people humility. While he is out in the world, Edward manages to get many up close and personal experiences with the suffering of his subjects. At first, he reacts to everything by saying he will fix it with a royal edict, but eventually he seems to realize that things are not as simple as that.

Edward learns pretty quickly that he has to take things as they come and learn from them. Eventually, he even starts to seem sorry for his brash early actions. He realizes that ranting and raving won't solve anything, and that people's problems are actually pretty complicated. Take this quote from him, for example:

"Peace! What are thy paltry domains, thy trivial interests, contrasted with matters which concern the weal of a nation and the integrity of a throne!" Then he added, in a gentle voice, as if he were sorry for his severity, "Obey and have no fear; I will right thee, I will make thee whole —yes, more than whole. I shall remember, and requite." (26.11)

It's not quite an apology, but we'll take it. Earlier on, Edward would never have been sorry for anything he did, no matter how ridiculous. So this is a serious step forward.

While Tom is mostly busy being awesome, The Prince and the Pauper is a tale of transformation for Edward. He transforms from a royal brat into the kind of person you might actually want ruling your country. It's a long journey, but he finally makes it.

A Reformed King

That leads us to King Edward VI of England. This guy is pretty different from the prince we met in the beginning of the novel. He's gone through suffering, made his way back, and reclaimed his title. He comes through it a changed man—uh, we mean boy.

Remember when he wanted to have Tom Canty hanged, quartered, and drawn? Well, when the royal court suggests the same thing at the end of the novel, it goes down a little differently. The court says: "'Let the small varlet be stripped and flung into the Tower.' But the new king, the true king, said: 'I will not have it so. But for him I had not got my crown again—none shall lay a hand upon him to harm him. [...]" (32.63)

Edward's actually uses his royal powers for good instead of just threatening to punish people. Who would have seen that coming?

Not only that, but Edward never forgets the lessons he learned. It seems that he even likes to remind other people who get out of hand, saying: "What dost thou know of suffering and oppression? I and my people know, but not thou" (34.11). In other words, his experience with poverty has given him a perspective that most other nobles lack.

In his final transformation, Edward brings Tom Canty's humility together with his own royal blood in order to create the perfect king. Now if only he could have managed to live a little longer.