How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He seemed to know so much! and he could do and say such marvelous things! and withal, he was so deep and wise! Tom's remarks, and Tom's performances, were reported by the boys to their elders; and these, also, presently began to discuss Tom Canty, and to regard him as a most gifted and extraordinary creature. Full-grown people brought their perplexities to Tom for solution, and were often astonished at the wit and wisdom of his decisions. (2.8)
He might have been a nobody in the grand scheme of things, but Tom was the most respected person in his own neighborhood. Why do you think people started to respect him after he began acting like a prince?
Quote #2
The soldier that had maltreated Tom obeyed promptly; and as the prince burst through the portal, half smothered with royal wrath, the soldier fetched him a sounding box on the ear that sent him whirling to the roadway, and said:
"Take that, thou beggar's spawn, for what thou got'st me from his Highness!" (3.68)
All it took for the prince to lose his reputation was for him to change his clothes. Think that couldn't happen? Imagine how beautiful Angelina Jolie would look if she were wearing a burlap sack instead of a designer dress, and if she had been sleeping in the street for the past week. If she walked up to you on the street and said she was Angelina Jolie, would you believe her?
Quote #3
"Let the show go on!" shouted Canty. "What, Nan! what. Bet! Mannerless wenches! will ye stand in the prince's presence? Upon your knees, ye pauper scum, and do him reverence!" (10.17)
In this scene John Canty is abusing the prince after they've met for the first time. Many people believe that people of a certain status should only behave in a certain way, and if they act differently or above their stations, they should be made fun of or abused. We are going to guess that John Canty is one of those people. What role do people like John Canty play in upholding the status quo, even if the status quo is bad for them?
Quote #4
And while Tom, in his high seat, was gazing upon this "wild" dancing, lost in admiration of the dazzling commingling of kaleidoscopic colors which the whirling turmoil of gaudy figures below him presented, the ragged but real little Prince of Wales was proclaiming his rights and his wrongs, denouncing the impostor, and clamoring for admission at the gates of Guildhall! The crowd enjoyed this episode prodigiously, and pressed forward and craned their necks to see the small rioter. Presently they began to taunt him and mock at him, purposely to goad him into a higher and still more entertaining fury. (11.8)
Why do you think the crowd is so amused by Edward? What's so funny about him? Does it have something to do with what we found in the previous quote?
Quote #5
"Invoking this precedent in aid of my prayer, I beseech the king to grant to me but this one grace and privilege—to my more than sufficient reward—and none other, to wit: that I and my heirs, forever, may sit in the presence of the majesty of England!" (12.55)
This might seem like a little thing, but it's actually a big deal. No one is supposed to sit in the presence of the king, because he ranks higher than everyone else. So you have to be pretty important for the king say you are cool enough to sit with him. It's like Beyoncé saying it's totally okay for you to sing on her album.
Quote #6
The elderly heads nodded recognition of Tom's wisdom once more, and one individual murmured, "An the king be mad himself, according to report, then it is a madness of a sort that would improve the sanity of some I wot of, if by the gentle providence of God they could but catch it." (15.82)
This is one of the few times in the whole novel when someone gets respect for something that they actually did, instead of just for their appearance. Why is this such a rare occurrence?
Quote #7
"Foo-foo the First, king of the Mooncalves!"
The title "took" at once, every throat responded, and a roaring shout went up, of:
"Long live Foo-foo the First, king of the Mooncalves!" followed by hootings, catcalls, and peals of laughter.
"Hale him forth, and crown him!" "Robe him!" "Scepter him!" "Throne him!" (17.55)
No, we're not talking about that creature in Harry Potter known for making crop circles: a mooncalf is a fetus that has been miscarried by a farm animal, in particular a cow. Yeah, that's a kind of weird insult, but it basically just means "stupid or crazy person."
Quote #8
The boy smiled, and said, "Poor fool, why so fearful? I am as forlorn as thou. Twould be a shame in me to hurt the helpless, who am myself so helpless. Moreover, I owe you thanks for a good omen; for when a king has fallen so low that the very rats do make a bed of him, it surely meaneth that his fortunes be upon the turn, since it is plain he can no lower go." (19.1)
This Edward and the Edward from the beginning of the novel are like two entirely different people. By now, Edward has finally given up his obsession with his rank and is even willing to share a bed with a rat. The old Edward probably would have had it sent to the Tower to be beheaded or boiled alive.
Quote #9
The king was cheerful and happy now, and said to himself, "When I am come to mine own again, I will always honor little children, remembering how that these trusted me and believed in me in my time of trouble; whilst they that were older, and thought themselves wiser, mocked at me and held me for a liar." (19.21)
It's interesting that two little girls are some of the only people who trust Edward. But after all, what do little kids care about reputation? All they care about is if you're fun to play with. Why is it that it's those people least focused on reputation who are able to see things as they truly are?
Quote #10
"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. And as for thee, my good uncle, my Lord Protector, this conduct of thine is not grateful toward this poor lad, for I hear he hath made thee a duke"—the Protector blushed—"yet he was not a king; wherefore, what is thy fine title worth now? To-morrow you shall sue to me, through him, for its confirmation, else no duke, but a simple earl, shalt thou remain." (32.63)
Just as quickly as the Lord Protector turned on Tom, the new King Edward has stripped him of his title. It doesn't seem that this whole reputation-and-respect business is particularly stable.