A King and His Court: Fact and Fantasy

In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain wrote a satiric fantasy about a 19th century Yankee master mechanic who wakes up in 6th century Britain. The observations of the main character, Henry Morgan, could be similar to those of a first-time foreign visitor to the White House and Congress. Through personal narration, the reader accompanies Morgan from mild amusement and curiosity to gradual recognition of the cruelty, ignorance and superstition which prevails in Camelot.

Through the course of the story, Morgan uses guile and his technical and scientific knowledge to unseat the wizard Merlin and force King Arthur to grant him authority over the kingdom second only to his. In this version of King Arthur's court, Merlin is depicted as a wicked old fraud. As the King's magistrate, Morgan begins to modernize the country. However, most of these endeavors were conducted in secret. He established schools and factories. With the help of his students, he secretly wired the country for telephone and telegraph. He instituted many inventions and organizations: a patent office, factories, soap, advertising, schools, mining, telegraph, telephone, bicycle, typewriter, phonograph, sewing machines, steam power, electricity, and newspapers.

` In the last four chapters of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, the church placed all England under an interdict while Morgan vacationed in Europe. When Morgan returne

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deference approaching worship. Such adulation will inevitably tempt presidents to assume they are superior. Kings become accustomed to feeling like divinity in such a heady atmosphere. Reedy writes describing this transformation: There is built into the presidency a series of devices that tend to remove the occupant of the oval room from all of the forces which require most men to rub up against the hard facts of life on a daily basis. Life in the White House can be analogous to life in a royal court. It is a structure designed for one purpose and one purpose only--to serve the material needs and desires of a single man. Even more important, he is treated with all of the reverence due a monarch. No one ever invites him to 'go soak your head' when his demands become petulant or unreasonable (26). According to Reedy, White House assistants are the greatest barrier between the president and reality. The primary goal of the presidential assistants is to gain, maintain, and control access to the president. All of this suggests the courtier-king relationship is inevitably corrupting to all parties. Receiving the recognition and approval of the king becomes an experience so powerful that even the strongest and most hone
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Approximate Word count = 1523
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)