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STUDYWORLD STUDYNOTES

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Comprehensive Summary and Review of Chapters 23-25

Summary:

The new performance plays to a capacity audience and the people are delighted when the Dauphin appears on stage in the nude. Since there is no story attached to this performance, the show ends after a few moments. Even though the people are furious and almost attack the Duke and the Dauphin, they are too embarrassed at having been taken in by scam artists and don't reveal the incident to the rest of the town. As a result, the town considers the show to be a hit and the second performance is a sell out as well. The third performance takes on a different scenario as the audience comes to get revenge. The Duke realizes the situation and the group makes a quick getaway on the raft before the show starts. From the three-night run, they took in four-hundred sixty-five dollars. Even though Huck isn't overly comfortable with this, he doesn't share his misgivings with Jim.

The men spend some the money on getting a new wardrobe for everyone in preparation for their next scheme. They plan to make a grand entrance by steamboat into the next town and see whom they might meet. They encounter a young man who was just leaving town for Rio de Janeiro. He tells them a story about a well to do man who has recently died and left his property to two brothers who were coming from Sheffield, England.

After finding out more details, The Duke and the Dauphin decide to pretend that they are Wilks' brothers and try to claim the fortune. They have a tearful reunion with the three Wilks daughters and Huck feels that, "It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race." They then get down to business and discuss the terms of the letter which Wilks left instead of a will. He divided his fortune between his daughters and his brothers. When the men hear this, they give their share to the Wilks girls to make a good impression on everyone. At that moment an old friend steps forward to warn Mary Jane, the oldest Wilks daughter, that in his opinion the men were frauds and that they should not be trusted. She disregards this warning and shows her trust by giving all the money to the Dauphin with the request to invest it however he sees fit.

Review:

The antics that are performed by the duke and the dauphin and the scams that they perform, allow Twain to express his aversion to royalty and what it represents.