It’s inconceivable that we have reached the end of blogging about The Princess Bride *wink*. Yet, here we are. I enjoyed this experience immensely, though sometimes more than others. During this time of creating my blog, I got to experiment with a new writing style, aesthetics, photography, and designing a website.
I also got to read an amazing book that was mostly wonderful, except for Goldman’s extremely long introductions. There is very little chance I would have read this book if not for this project, and so I’m grateful for the opportunity to dive into this book. Now I can’t wait to go back and rewatch the movie!
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Westley didn’t have many choices when he was battling Prince Humperdinck (and by that I mean when he was mostly dead but still convincing the prince that he would cut the prince’s limbs off easily and painfully). Westley couldn’t stand, so he used intrigue and suspense to keep Prince Humperdinck from killing him. However, it’s fairly unbelievable that the prince would have been able to get Humperdinck to drop his sword with only words. First, Humperdinck realizes that “[Westley] was baiting him.” (Goldman 351) Then, less than a page later, Humperdinck “dropped his sword” and lays on the ground, letting Buttercup tie him up (Goldman 352).
Of course, this is all good for Humperdinck, considering he wanted to kill Buttercup and blame it on the Guilderians, so that he could war with them again. Westley doesn’t know this, though, and so Humperdinck’s quick agreement should have set off some alarms for him, as he is a skilled pirate. If I was in Westley’s position, I would have probably done the same thing, because there really isn’t much else to do. However, I may have had Inigo re-tie the prince’s bonds before they left, just to make sure that he wasn’t going anywhere. All in all, Westley does what he can in order to save himself and Buttercup from Humperdinck, and it works. It also allows time for dialogue between the two characters, which creates some tension between the two and also takes away time for Westley’s life so that it is more dramatic. It makes sense what Goldman did and why he did it, but I feel like this scene is lacking. Under the restraints of the entire plot up until this point, however, it is done well and segues smoothly into their horse ride to the sea. Florin is a made up country, which makes it all the more important for Goldman to explain the history of Florin. As any author, he must also do so by incorporating it into the story in an interesting way. He tells us of the fights between Florin and their neighbors, he tells us of the Cliffs of Insanity, he tells us of the fire swamp. This is all setting, but there’s another piece of setting that is more important that the readers should pay attention to. He says, “This was before Europe… after Paris… after taste… before glamour” (Goldman 45-46). In this way, Goldman tells his readers that Florin is fictional. He tells that there isn’t really a place in time that Florin resides specifically in because Florin does not exist. He’s getting down to the reality of it. Yes, these words are strung together to make a story, but it is just a story. This is very different than what he says throughout both of the prologues, where he tells of how he visited Florin with his grandson and saw all of these works by Morgenstern. In this regard, he is hinting at the reality of Florin while also keeping his readers in the mystical world of The Princess Bride.
Inigo lost his father when he was ten, and Yeste takes him in. Yeste, doesn’t act like a father, though. Inigo then meets Vizzini and his life is different, he has a purpose again, he has a father of a different kind. Vizzini is similar to Domingo in many ways. Inigo mourns both of their deaths and feels lost without them. In addition, he turns to drinking after losing both of them. In addition, we know that Inigo’s father means very much to him, with the two famous quotes, “You killed my father. Prepare to die” and “I want Domingo Montoya back you son of a-” (Goldman 349). In both of these circumstances, we see how much Inigo leans on his father for support, and he takes Vizzini as a stand-in father figure.
Everyone knows the line. Most people will say it with an accent, if you ask them to. It’s an important part of The Princess Bride, especially if you haven’t read it before.
It starts with “Hello.” Inigo Montoya is angry at Count Rugen for killing his father, and when he finally meets him, he repeats his famous line over and over again. He tells Count Rugen “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” (Goldman 348-459) As readers, we should take note of this. The line, in its entirety, is repeated many times in quick succession. It builds up suspense for the reader and also . Even before he meets the count, however, he is practicing his words on page 139, deciding how he would introduce himself to his father’s killer. When the words are read the first time, we see that Inigo is angry and wants revenge. When he says it the second time, we know that he still harbors all of his resentment and is planning to kill Count Rugen. When Inigo says it the second time, we can infer that his meaning is true. Count Rugen is going to die. There’s no doubt about it. Many quotes in The Princess Bride stood out to me, particularly ones I had not heard before. They made me think or otherwise helped me understand my life and so I’ve included a list here for you. The page numbers are from my copy, the 30th edition, and may be different depending on your edition and copy of the book. I thought these might be cause for you to reflect, as well. Do you have any quotes you think I should add to this list?
“Excuses are the refuge of cowards.” (Goldman 115) “I must learn.” (Goldman 134) “Existence really was very simple when you did what you were told.” (Goldman 226) “Westley closed his eyes. There was pain coming and he had to be ready for it. He had to prepare his brain, he had to get his mind controlled and safe from their efforts, so that they could not break him. He would not let them break him.” (Goldman 230) “[The death scream] would not stop. It simply hung now below the sky, an audible reminder of the existence of agony.” (Goldman 253) “Fezzik--Fezzik-- that is the sound of Ultimate Suffering-- I know that sound-- that was the sound in my heart when Count Rugen slaughtered my father.” (Goldman 285) As I’ve said before, the princess bride is a classic. There are all the archetypes of a fairy tale (the damsel in distress, the captors, the rescuing lover, the evil stepmother, the list goes on and on), and they make me feel comfortable and right at home, just like the fairy tales I’ve grown up with. In addition, the love, especially father-to-son love, drives the story and reminds the reader that life really is about family.
Inigo’s whole plot is to revenge his father’s death. Count Rugen killed his father, so Count Rugen must prepare to die. He mentions his father often, and the most sincere he can get is to swear on his father’s life. Fezzik misses his own parents, and so he focuses on his strength as a way to block that out. In addition, Vizzini is like a father to Fezzik and Inigo. They both realize that they would be nowhere without him, and when he dies they realize that they do not know what to do. They are lost. He was their protector, their guidance, and he is dead. Much like most of the fathers in this book. The author, even, talks about his father and how they had a rocky relationship at times while reading the book. All this means is that these bonds that the characters share, the ones that aren’t necessarily infatuation but are love, and that can be the driving force of the novel. Buttercup’s love is made obvious, where, in the first chapter, she proclaims that she will no longer love because Westley is her one and only love. Each character is looking to not be lonely, they just do this with fighting, fire swamps, kidnapping, and much more. Buttercup makes the decision in chapter five that she can live without love and she would rather live and marry the prince than die with her love. However, she realizes this is a mistake. Goldman is trying to tell us something, and is being fairly obvious about it. Yes, this book is a fairy tale, and they always have love, but also, each of the characters with their backstory is just begging for the love of the other characters and the reader. It’s a story of love and a story of family, which is why The Princess Bride can feel so familiar from the moment you pick it up. Goldman really wanted to tell his readers to find what they do well in life and to love while they’re doing it. I liked reading The Princess Bride. It got off to a rocky start but once the action picks up it is a wonderful, exciting book. I’m interested in picking up other books by William Goldman. Have you read any books by Goldman? Let me know! Buttercup has been kidnapped.
In this chapter, we meet Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini. We follow the usual story format but in addition, we get to read the backstories of the three kidnappers. These tell of their childhoods and how they got to where they are now. I think this is a really interesting style of writing and I’d love to read more about each of their backstories because they are very well-written and intriguing. Usually I wouldn’t enjoy a story being interrupted with a scene that is in a different time and place. However, it fits into the piece much more fluidly than most flashbacks. The story is written in a third person omniscient format and so as each of the characters has their run in with the man in black we read their thoughts and then get to know them through their backstory. This gives us a chance to feel more familiar with their stories, just like a classic fairy tale. Goldman has done with each character as they come up in the story, but this time it is more apparent because it is woven into the current events. The time and setting jump around because of this, but it hasn’t had an impact on how riveted I am by this book, this chapter in particular. Honestly, I’ve been the most attentive in this chapter and I think it may be because the action is finally starting to pick up. I’ve been thinking: What is the best song to increase the drama of a fight scene? If you were remaking The Princess Bride as a movie, what song would you have to accompany the duel between Inigo and the Man in Black on the Cliffs of Insanity? Let me know in the comments! The characters are an essential part of any story. So far, only three chapters in, we have some very interesting people. Let me introduce you...
Prince Humperdinck is looking for a bride because he needs an heir. He says that this is the sole reason, and he says that she doesn’t care who she is “good with a knife” and “I wonder if she hunts”. (Goldman 82-83) Noreena is a princess from across the channel. I believe the author wrote her so you would hate her, at the very least find her a nuisance, and that this is because Humperdinck is from a rival country. However, Humperdinck is also standoffish when he says that he cannot marry her because part of her hair was singed off and she is now partly bald (this occurred because the wind fanned the flame that ends up burning Noreena’s hair). Of course, all of Noreena’s good qualities still pale in comparison to Buttercup. Buttercup ends up agreeing to a proposal by Humperdinck as long as she doesn’t have to love him, because she had promised herself she would never love again. Personally, I think she should have continued to decline Humperdinck’s offer until he at least came up with a better conversation starter than, “I am your prince and you will marry me.” (Goldman 90) In this chapter, the narrator focuses on Prince Humperdinck, the overdramatic prince who is on the hunt for a wife and likes to kill animals. I imagine Prince Humperdinck as somewhat similar in attitude to the annotations we have received from Goldman himself, and I think they’re both eccentric people. Now, I don’t hate either of them yet… but both of them are frankly, kind of annoying. We’ll see how they progress as the story develops. Also, Count Rugen seems creepy. His fascination with Buttercup is unsettling and his whole aura seems like he wants to overthrow Humperdinck and plot something evil. Someone has told me that there was never an extended version of the Princess Bride, that there was never any long commentary. I started to figure this out on my own in chapter four, where I found the idea of spending fifty pages on writing about hats excessive and unbelievable, but- I now have to come to terms with the fact that the Introductions (both of them, which were incredibly long and not particularly interesting) were not true.
I guess it makes sense that Goldman would try to make us all feel like we had grown up reading this book, like our parents had read this book and it was about adventure, like his annotations were from one reader to another. The fairy tale shield has been broken, however, and I see this book in such a different light. Well, his methods were effective. I believed him... somewhat. |
AuthorMy name is Katie. I love to read, write, and explore. I have a cat, dog, and one fish and am proud of my left-handedness. I love adventure and am always open to new things. Archives |