Colonel Cecil Essex, descendant of the First Families of Virginia and an adherent to a gentleman's code of conduct, is revealed to be the father of Roxy's baby. How does this fit into the portrayal of Essex as a “gentleman”?

What is the function of the "Whisper to the Reader" that opens the novel? How does Twain signal to the reader his intentions for the novel by introducing both the failed lawyer, Hicks, and the corner where Dante used to watch Beatrice?

How do Pudd'nhead Wilson's almanac entries at the top of each chapter illuminate the meaning of each chapter?

The full title of Twain's novel is The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson. How does the novel represent the five classic elements of a literary tragedy: peace of mind, disruption/difficulties, escalation, powerlessness, sorrowful ending?

Luigi and Angelo Capelli are, by their own admission, former sideshow performers. Are they credible characters? What evidence supports the claims they make about their origins? What evidence refutes those claims?

Twain, who took his own pen name from his experience working on the steamboats on the Mississippi River, has fun with names in Pudd'nhead Wilson: Hicks, Macaroni Vermicelli, the Capello twins, Valet de Chambre, and Thomas à Becket Driscoll. Research and explain the significance of these names as they relate to the novel's characters.

In the 1890s, when Pudd'nhead Wilson was written and published, Reconstruction and the attempt to fully integrate formerly enslaved people slaves into free society, was failing. How does Twain anticipate this failure in Pudd'nhead Wilson?

Do you think Twain’s use of dialect contributes to the text or detracts from it? How do you believe the 21st century reader's view of dialect differs from the text’s original audience?