The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson

Author

Mark Twain

Publication

11/28/1894

Overview

The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain is a sharp and unsettling story set in a small Mississippi river town where appearances often matter more than truth. It follows a quiet outsider whose careful observations go unnoticed by a community that prides itself on certainty and tradition. Beneath its humor and wit, the novel explores identity, reputation, and the fragile boundaries between social roles that people take for granted. Twain gradually reveals how easily judgment can be shaped by prejudice and how quickly lives can be altered by hidden decisions, all while maintaining a tone that is both ironic and thought provoking.

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Content

A Whisper TO THE READER
CHAPTER I. Pudd’nhead Wins His Name.
CHAPTER II. Driscoll Spares His Slaves.
CHAPTER III. Roxy Plays a Shrewd Trick.
CHAPTER IV. The Ways of the Changelings.
CHAPTER V. The Twins Thrill Dawson’s Landing.
CHAPTER VI. Swimming in Glory.
CHAPTER VII. The Unknown Nymph.
CHAPTER VIII. Marse Tom Tramples His Chance.
CHAPTER IX. Tom Practises Sycophancy.
CHAPTER X. The Nymph Revealed.
CHAPTER XI. Pudd’nhead’s Startling Discovery.
CHAPTER XII. The Shame of Judge Driscoll.
CHAPTER XIII. Tom Stares at Ruin.
CHAPTER XIV. Roxana Insists Upon Reform.
CHAPTER XV. The Robber Robbed.
CHAPTER XVI. Sold Down the River.
CHAPTER XVII. The Judge Utters Dire Prophecy.
CHAPTER XVIII. Roxana Commands.
CHAPTER XIX. The Prophecy Realized.
CHAPTER XX. The Murderer Chuckles.
CHAPTER XXI. Doom.
CONCLUSION
Dialect used in Pudd’nhead Wilson