| How did the duke’s notice that women and children could not attend the play work out? | It worked very well and drew a large crowd |
| What part of the performance does the audience actually like? | During this performance of The Royal Nonesuch, the king comes out naked (wearing only body paint) and prances about |
| What infuriates the audience? | The king jumps about naked for a couple of minutes and then ends the show. The audience was angry that they were cheated out of their money and are ready to lynch the con men. |
| What does the audience decide to do about being tricked about The Royal Nonesuch? | The people in the crowd, embarrassed at having been ripped off, decide to protect their honor by making certain that everyone in the town gets ripped off. After the performance, they tell everyone else in town that the play was wonderful. The second night, therefore, also brings a capacity crowd. |
| What is the crowd like on the third night for The Royal Nonesuch? | As the duke has anticipated, the crowd on the third night consists of the two previous nights’ audiences coming to get their revenge. They sell out the performance but Huck and the duke flee to the raft before it starts. |
| How much money did the duke and the king acquire for their three-night run of The Royal Nonesuch? | $465 |
| What is Jim shocked about? What does Huck tell him? | Jim is shocked that the royals are such “rapscallions.” Huck explains that history shows nobles to be rapscallions who constantly lie, steal, and decapitate, but his history knowledge is factually very questionable. Huck does not see the point in telling Jim that the duke and the dauphin are fakes. |
| What story does Jim tell Huck about his daughter, Lizabeth, after he hears a thud? | Jim is torn apart when he hears a thud in the distance that reminds him of the time he beat his daughter Lizabeth for not doing what he told her to do (close the door to the house). When he was beating her, Jim didn’t realize that Lizabeth couldn’t hear his instructions because a bout with scarlet fever had left her deaf. |
| What does Jim complain about in chapter 24? What do the duke and the king do about it? | As the duke and the dauphin tie up the raft to work over another town, Jim complains about having to wait, frightened, in the boat, tied up as a runaway slave in order to avoid suspicion, while the others are gone. In response, the duke disguises Jim in a calico stage robe and blue face paint and posts a sign on him that reads, “Sick Arab—but harmless when not out of his head.”Jim is dressed as an Arab so that he can accompany them on their journey and not have to wait alone on the raft. |
| The two con men want to try The Royal Nonesuch again. What do they decide to do? | The king decides to drop into the next village and “trust in Providence.” |
| What do Huck and the king board to make a big entrance into the next town? | A steamboat docked several miles above the town |
| Who tells the king about a recently deceased, wealthy local man, Peter Wilks? | A young man on the steamboat who is headed to South America |
| Who had Peter Wilks apparently sent for before he passed away? | Wilks had recently sent for his two brothers from Sheffield, England—Harvey (a preacher), whom Peter had not seen since they were boys, and William, who is deaf and mute. Wilks left much of his property to these brothers when he died, but it seems uncertain whether they will ever arrive. This perks the king’s attention and he wheedles information about the Wilks family out of the man. |
| What plot do the king and the duke make? | The king pretends to be Harvey Wilks and the duke pretends to be William Wilks. They travel to town and weep over the loss of their loved one, Peter Wilks. The king even feigns sign language to the duke. The whole scene makes Huck sick and “ashamed of the human race.” |
Huck Finn – Chapters 23-24
June 6, 2020