Mark Twain spins a Shakespearean tale of two young men who share the same face: one a prince, the other a pauper. After a chance encounter one day, the two decide to switch places for a short time. The comedy of errors that follows includes not only a royal case of mistaken identities, but also biting political commentary cloaked in Twainian humor.
 
Tom Canty, London pauper, struggles to maintain a monarchical facade, while Edward Tudor, heir to the throne of England, explores the dismal underbelly of the London slums. From these two opposite settings, sixteenth-century England comes to life in sharp contradiction, confronting the reader with the complexities of courage, compassion, and mercy.