Literary Devices in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court opens and closes in modern times, which for Twain was the late 19th century. The narrator meets Hank in Warwick Castle (in the town of Warwick, England)...
Narrator Point of View
The bulk of the story is told from Hank's point of view, and as the main character, he's right in the middle of all the action. This also means that we see things filtered through his perceptions,...
Genre
On first reading, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is fantasy, with the Yankee whisked away through unknown means to a far off land. It also carries shades of adventure, what with all th...
Tone
We explore in some detail why this book falls into satire category in the "Genre" section, so you probably want to read that before we get going with tone. We're happy to wait while you hop on over...
Writing Style
The writing style is vital in conveying the main ideas of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Since it's told in the first person, it comes almost entirely from Hank's point of view, and t...
What's Up With the Title?
Like Hank himself, the title gets to the point. There's a Yankee. From Connecticut. And he has adventures in King Arthur's Court. Clearly, Twain didn't want anyone missing the point. On a slightly...
What's Up With the Ending?
The ending stands out because it goes against the entire thrust of the rest of the book. Hank goes from triumph to triumph, turning the medieval world into an advanced society in the process. And t...
Tough-o-Meter
Twain wrote to entertain his audience as much as to inform them, and his sharp, clever writing style makes the book a lot of fun. Some of the 19th-century language gets tough—and the last few cha...
Plot Analysis
Hank the Yank Wakes Up in Merry Olde EnglandAfter some storytelling somersaults setting up the situation—including changing narrators and otherwise shuffling the point of view around like a game...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court follows a Voyage and Return plot, as discussed by Christopher Booker. However, Twain is also writing a satire, so he up-ends a lot of established conve...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
To Infinity and Beyond (or, Time Travel and an Eclipse)The first act sets up the basic format of the Yankee's adventures, as well as establishing his dilemma: how to survive in the medieval world....
Trivia
Horror movie fans will detect a lot of A Connecticut Yankee in Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness (the third in the Evil Dead trilogy). (Source.) Twain had a unique affinity for astronomical phenomenon l...
Steaminess Rating
The sex in this book is pretty chaste and bound in tradition. Hank falls in love with Sandy and they have a baby, while Launcelot dallies with Guenever like he has in every other Arthurian book eve...
Allusions
Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory (0.2, 0.3, 19.2, 19.3) Hello Central (appears throughout)—Back in the dark days before cell phones, this is what people said when they picked up the telephone....