The Princess Bride by William Goldman is a tale that is rendered new into many different scenarios. William Goldman uses lovers and royalty to play the fairy tale role in this book while also using evil. In the book the Princess Bride there’s a beautiful young women named Buttercup who lives on a Farm with a servant named Westley. As Westley is leaving for America for a better life Buttercup admits her love for him and asks him not to leave for America. While Westley is sailing to America is ship is attacked by the pirate ship Revenge. They leave no survivors! Buttercup hears the news in goes into a deep depression for a little while. (While all of this is happening the Prince of Florin is looking for a bride because his father is very sick). The Prince hears of Buttercup and her beauty so he asks her to marry him even though they don't love each other. Buttercup has to say yes. Later that day she is kidnapped by Fezzik (the Turk), Inigo (the Spaniard), and Vizzini (the Sicilian). The three men then sail to Guilder to kill Buttercup so Prince Humperdinck can start a war. Inigo then realizes the Man in Black is following them. The Man in Black then has a sword fight with Inigo and a hand fight with Fezzik. After beating both of them he has a mind battle with Vizzini. Also after winning that battle the Man in Black rescues the Princess. Buttercup finds out that the Man in Black is Westley and that he was infact the new Captain of the ship The Revenge which had “killed” him. Prince Humperdinck has had time to track down Westley and Buttercup know and told Buttercup to come with him back to Florin and he will let Westley go. The Prince lied and has taken Westley to the fifth level off the Zoo of Death. Westley is then tortured by the ...
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...wamp shows Westley and Buttercups love for each other. The example is how they fall in love again. Westley didn't think that Buttercup still loved him because she told Westley about marrying Prince Humperdinck. Buttercup then thought that Westley was mad at her and didn't love her anymore. But in the end they realized they loved each other the whole time they spent together traveling through the Fire Swamp. This is rendered new because people fall in love by helping each other through hard times and by getting to know each other through the hard time.
As the reader these archetypes really help you understand the major parts of the story. Also the archetypes really help the story flow in between major parts. William goldman did an amazing job using all different types of archetypes to keep the fairy tale part in the story but also to add modern archetypes mixed in to!
Fairy tale is a story that features folkloric chapters and enchantments, often involving a far-fetching sequence of events. Fairy tales have been around for thousands of years, whether it comes from Grimm’s Fairy Tales which is what most people consider the “classic” or “traditional” fairy tales to Disney movies, the idea of the fairy tale fills our society with lessons and examples of how we should behave and live; fairy tales teach the same things in different ways, or teach different things with the same tale. A couple of these tales are “Beauty and the Beast”, by Jeanne-Marie Leprince De Beaumont and “The Pig King”, by Giovanni Francesco Straparola. They are both tales about falling in love with someone despite their appearance. The similarities and differences between “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Pig King” is captivating while still depicting a similar tale. They are similar in the way they find love and their love story but they also share a similar behavior pattern in the way the girls behave towards the prince. However, the two tales do display a difference in the attitudes of the princes and their actions towards their love
Westley is of a humble origin- a farm boy working on Buttercup’s farm. He loves her and she loves him. Whenever Buttercup ask Westley for a favor he replies with “As you wish.” He really means, I love you. However the mystery remains of what had happened to his parents, was he an orphan or did he leave his family. Westley had set sail in the seas to seek out his fortune to have enough money to marry Buttercup. His ship was attacked by Dread Pirate Roberts, which is why everyone assumed Westley was dead for five whole years. Since the love of his life was kidnapped, Westley set off to save Buttercup and on the way he encountered struggles/ trials, helpers, thresholds/tests and helpers along the
Westley’s dedication to Buttercup motivated him throughout the story. He admitted the following to her: "I have taught myself languages because of you. I have made my body strong because
The princess bride is an incredibly entertaining book. Although it was written mostly as a parody it contains many themes. The developments seen in the dynamic characters are astounding ones. The theme, or motif, which I'm going to follow through the story is that of Fezzik and his quest for self confidence and a good self image. From the time that the novel starts to the end, Fezzik achieves a good self image. He starts out with a very low self image and, by the end, he finds in himself talents that give him a better image of himself.
What drives the plot of a novel? A novels plot is driven by conflict. One such novel is the Princess Bride and it's plot is driven by the conflict of the characters. One of these characters is Fezzik. Fezzik overcomes a great internal struggle and this drives the novel and allows for a resolution. Fezzik is able to learn how to make decisions with his intelligence, strength, and his friends.
Satire with a funny twist. In the novel The Princess Bride, William Goldman satirizes both fairy tales and the standard literary process through his characters and their actions. Westley, a poor farmer, falls in love with the far from perfect maiden, Buttercup, but has to sail away in order to find his fortunes. Years later, Buttercup, thinking that Westley abandoned her, is forcibly engaged to Prince Humperdinck, a cruel and calculating man. Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo, three mysterious kidnappers, abduct the princess in hopes of causing war between the great nations of Guilder and Florin. These events and characters mirror those in a common fairy tale, but with many twists to them. The author, William Goldman, uses both his role as the editor and writer to bring the fairy tale to new light, in order to ridicule the traditional literary structure. He is not actually editing his own novel, in fact he is intentionally including annotations that perhaps would normally be part of an editing process, but are included in The Princess Bride to mock tropes of other fairy tales and the literary process as a whole. Through the portrayal of his characters as archetypes and their flaws, in addition to his unorthodox writing style which allows his to annotate directly in the novel, Goldman satirizes both the literary process and the standard fairy tale.
We have all heard the Cinderella story or its many variants. A beautiful girl falls into hard times due to the actions of cruel individuals. The girl works and works to try to fix her predicament herself but is ultimately unable. That is, at least, until she meets Mr. Wonderful, the godsend endowed with just the right amount of perfect to make all a helpless girl’s problems go away. The girl is immediately enchanted by Prince Charming and sets out to prove herself to the prince in order to earn his love and, of course, help. The man himself does little to reciprocate the passion that the poor girl displays for him until the girl’s troubles overcome her and the prince heroically rushes off to her aid. The prince marries the girl, now rid of
An archetype in literature is defined as a typical example of a certain type of person. A character in a poem or play can be placed into many different archetype categories. Archetypes help a reader to gain a better understanding of who a character in the work is on the inside. This deeper insight into the character allows the reader to follow the flow of the story easier and more effectively. There are many different archetypes that can help to advance the story. One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunningness this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”,
The Hero Journey undergoes different points in someone’s life. In 1949 a man named Joseph Campbell shared Mythic and Archetypal principals with the world. Christopher Vogler fulfilled all of the Hero Journey steps. In the Princess Bride film directed by Robert Reiner is based on the book written by William Goldman. In the film Westley the farm boy leaves the farm, and goes on an adventure to provide for his true love. Westley is a Campbellion a Hero because the story has Mythic and Archetypal principals and follows most of the twelve stages of the Hero Journey.Westley begins his Hero Journey with a call to adventure out of his ordinary world.Westley is a farm boy, who works for a beautiful girl named Buttercup. The farm is filled with animals, and orders from Buttercup. The only wodds Westley says is “As you wish” (Princess Bride). Westley shows that he loves Buttercup but does not want to live on the farm anymore so that he can get a better life for the both of them. When Buttercup realizes she truly loves Westley, and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Buttercup would tell Westley to do things just so he could say the magic words. “ Farm boy fetch me that pitcher” ( Princess Bride). This shows that Butercup loved Westley even though she did not show it, and this would send him on his adventure. Tom Hutchsion expressed in his article that “ There is a call to a new experience. This might appear like good news or bad news” (Hutchsion, Tom). Westley does not refuse the call because he wants to provide a better life for Buttercup. Westley entered his special world by getting on the ship, and starting his new life. While on the ship Dread Pirate Roberts keeps Westley on the ship as a passenger, and trains him, and he becom...
The Star-Crossed Lovers archetype is used to render the story of The Princess Bride new because, at the end of the book, it is now stated whether or not Buttercup and Westley will get to live happily ever after or not. In most stories the author writes a definite ending, but Goldman doesn't, he leaves the ending up to the reader when he writes “Did they make it? Was the pirate ship there? You can answer that for yourself, but, for me, I say yes it was" (Goldman 357). In some ways though, Goldman uses the Star-Crossed Lovers archetype more traditionally, in that Buttercup and Westley love each other and want nothing more to be together, but many obstacles stand in the way of that happening. One of those obstacles is that Prince Humperdinck will go to any length and do almost anything to prevent the lovers from being together including keeping the love letters that he told Buttercup to write to Westley, which results in Westl...
Moving towards the second tale “The Wife of Bath” love and death play a very large toll on the outcome of the story. We begin with a knight who rapes a woman and is given the death penalty. His “love” for her granted him a golden ticket to a death, but miraculously is spared to find the answer to question his life depended on. When introduced to the old woman, he is forced to pledge himself to her in order for help. She helps him and he lives but is now burdened with a woman he does not love. He has no love for her yet is forced to marry and remain miserable.
Unfortunately, The Princess Bride inaccurately represented love as a beautiful emotion, filled with love and passion towards someone very dear to you. In reality, love in the Middle Ages seemed rather unfair and somewhat emotionless. Throughout the Middle Ages, love never occurred to be like one’s thoughts of “true love”. Falling in love, sensing a compassionate attraction towards one another, and feeling as strongly as to perish for your partner was not a priority of love and rarely happened. Love during this time period was known as “courtly love”, which was primarily organized by the parents of the beings. Often, the young man or lady would not see eye to eye with whom their parents chose; however, the settlement wasn’t in his or her say. Meeting regularly accompanied by the parents, the two paired young adults would become more familiar with each other, and eventually bewed one another. There was a slim chance they may have actually fallen in love, but it was very rare. On the contrary, The Princess Bride displayed love in Medieval Times as very romantic, passionate, and sentimental in a person’s heart. The main characters, Buttercup and Westley, had a likewise relationship towards one another. After years of completing difficult labor for his most precious master, Westley soon developed feelings for her, which she eventually reciprocated back to him. During the Middle Ages, there
Adventure, true love, death, and a malevolent antagonist are all parts of an exciting fairytale. The Princess Bride incorporates all these qualities into a spellbinding story enjoyable for all readers. Buttercup and Westley are two characters in love with each other. They became separated and go on exciting adventures to reunite again. Torture, death, kidnapping, threats, injury, and suicide attempts don't stop their love. In the end, true love always prevails. Although it looks like true love cannot survive in the beginning of The Princess Bride, facts and events that happen throughout the story proves it otherwise.
Fairytales, the short stories that most children heard as they went to bed, are actually folktales from previous decades. The fairytales today are primarily adaptations of older versions recreated by Disney— the pioneers of this generation. With that said, the modern versions consistently display good triumphing over evil, a prince charming that constantly came to the rescue, and a happily ever after ending. However, the original folktale version didn’t always come with fortunate events, but often were more violent and gruesome. With the fairytale Cinderella, Disney maintains a similar theme as its Grimm version; however, the conflicts, events, and characters that support this idea are rather different.
It is this element of hope in a true fairytale that creates the support for a protagonist to overcome the opposing force that has been thrust onto them. A genuine fairytale is said to have the element of, “A innocent character [placed against] the evil character who normally loses somehow,” (Gokturk) which is seen as Cinderella is chosen by the prince over the evil step-sisters at the ball. As human beings with a developed moral system, it has been seen that the more deserving, mistreated character is favored to succeed in the story. Cinderella is seen as this “underdog” character in her quest to find love with the prince and overcome her step-sisters’ mistreatment. As Cinderella is mistreated by her new family, sympathy is built for the emerging protagonist and hope of her to conquer her situation follows. The underdog of this story grows in favorability to be picked by the prince due to the societal belief that the more deserving candidate should overcome their opposition. If there was no sense of hope thought the story of Cinderella, this story could not be categorized as a true embodiment of a