The Princess Bride Literary Analysis

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William Goldman’s The Princess Bride is an entertaining and creative satirical tale. The protagonists include Buttercup and Westley, two beautiful people with many talents. As these characters experience the trials and tribulations that accompany most fairytales (such as the evil Prince Humperdinck, death, various hazardous environments, friendships, etc), each character’s strengths and weaknesses meld to form a spirited cast of engaging individuals.
In The Princess Bride, the primary conflict involves the struggles that Buttercup and Westley face in their quest to reunite and reignite their true love. Throughout all of this, countless obstacles are in their way (for example, Westley dies at one point), and their journey towards overcoming …show more content…

Buttercup and Westley are on their way to escaping from Humperdinck towards freedom. However, the events of the end of the story are summed up very briefly and appear ambiguous. The story takes on a “The Lady or the Tiger” style conclusion, in which the reader is unsure of exactly what has happened, but then the author implies that he personally believes that the characters survive.
A prominent theme in The Princess Bride is the suspension of belief for the sake of storytelling. This theme is constantly expressed through the satirical nature of the novel. For example, Goldman’s treatment of time and chronology is very nonstandard; he cites the time period to be before Europe but after Paris, and he frequently interrupts the story to reference other sections of the plot.
As a satirical and humorous fairy tale, The Princess Bride is delightful to read. Despite its unrealistic premise, I enjoyed the novel and took interest in the unconventional method William Goldman employed to tell the story. Goldman’s witty comments throughout the book made the reading pleasurable. I would recommend this book to younger audiences, due to the fact that I struggled a little bit with the perceived immaturity of the content. However, this should not deter readers from experiencing the entertaining and satirical value of The Princess

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