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Moral and culture in fairy tales
Gender stereotypes in the film the princess bride
Sociology aspect of fairytales
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Although the Princess Bride is the classic fairy tale, Westley and Buttercup defy the gender roles set up by feminist theory. In this particular novel, some characters live up to the stereotypes set by society. However, most characters defy these particular stereotypes. Take Fezzik, for instance. He is strong in body but not mind. Or Westley. He defies this stereotype by being tender and kind-hearted toward Buttercup, even when Buttercup gets tired of waiting for him and marries Prince Humperdinck. The Princess Bride is an example of how typical gender roles were defied by people even back then. Then even everyone wasn’t the same, everyone didn’t act they same way or even conform to a stereotype. It is a modern fairy tale set in a typical fairy tale setting: a kingdom before a lot of …show more content…
Before she marries, well, she is dirty, unkempt, and a tomboy, unlike the beautiful women that hold themselves properly and keep themselves groomed in her time. But, when she finally cleaned herself up, she started getting noticed by all of the village boys. Buttercup, of course, didn’t pay any attention and so was the object of the boys’ obsession. The village girls didn’t like her because they couldn’t catch husbands while she was around, so it’s probably safe to say that the village girls were happy whenever she got married to Humperdinck. However, the girls at least talked to her and nodded to her while she was in the village. They didn’t completely loathe her. Buttercup after also defies the stereotypes. She stands up to Humperdinck, and also recognized the one time when he was lying that he let it show in his eyes. She stood up for herself, which isn’t what stereotypical females do. Stereotypical females are generally weak, whiny, and dumb. Buttercup is strong, smart, and has courage. She doesn’t care what other gossipy women say,
In Princess Bride, Westley's quest is to return to his true love, Buttercup, whom he has loved since a young worker on her family's farm. With no money to marry, Westley decides to strike out for his fortune but is taken prisoner; he is mistakenly reported as dead to Buttercup, who is promised to Prince Humperdink as his bride. In his quest, Westley must first survive being taken prisoner by the Dread Pirate Roberts which he is able to do by showing no fear when Roberts announces daily "Tomorrow you will die" (Princess Bride n.p.). Roberts in fact is so impressed that he retires and names Westley as his successor. Upon
In James Poniewozik's "The Princess Paradox" (323-325) the author explains how the idea of a feminist, independent woman becoming a fairy tale princess is a paradox and that society is engaging in a paradox through the belief of it. He utilizes the recent bout of Cinderella retellings to show the paradox of how girls cannot be both completely independent and a fairytale princess, and yet society perpetuates the paradox through believing that this is not only possible, but realistically attainable as well. Poniewozik exposes the contradictions that surround these new Cinderellas to defy these "realistic" stories that society has come to embrace. By showing how truly constrictive and illogical these fantasies are, Poniewozik also shows how hypocritical society has become for idolizing them and why this new princess is a true paradox.
“As you wish,” said by the Farm boy,westley, a main character who ties the story of love,romance,and action together. The book The Princess Bride by William Goldman is a story of two lovers, Buttercup and Westley. After Westley dies on a boat by The Dread Pirate Roberts, the King of Florin, Prince Humperdinck, started searching for love. After a visit from the count and countess they decide that Buttercup is worthy of being the queen. Even though Buttercup says she will never love The Prince, she still agrees to the marriage. Soon after Buttercup is introduced to Florin she gets kidnapped by the Turk, the Sicilian, and the Spaniard. They all figure out that they are being followed by the man in black, which leads to the adventure part of the story. In The Princess Bride, William Goldman uses many different archetypes like the damsel in distress, the task, and the magic weapon which are archetypes that have been used for centuries and renders them new to make the story flow together and more interesting.
Humperdink did not love Buttercup, he just did not want anyone else to love his property.
It is not often that a strong and significant female character is introduced in a movie and/or book as the main character. Pan’s Labyrinth, though not the typical fairy tale, introduces the viewer to three females that prove controversial and necessary to the plot, which passes the Bechdel Test, designed to identify gender bias in the media. There is Carmen, the loving mother, Ofelia, the supposed princess/innocent girl, and then there is Mercedes, Captain Vidal’s maid and rebel spy. These three women show different portrayals, different characterizations, of how women should defy the gender bias in films.
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
In the movie, at the beginning, Westley (known as farmboy) has a secret love for Buttercup. They never end up confessing and he leaves and it had been said that he was killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. As the story goes on he finds Buttercup kidnapped by three men and fights to save her from an awful marriage to a prince. They notice a man in black following behind them, so they try to fight him off thinking he is the bad guy. From this point he looks like the bad guy, but is really the hero that saves Buttercup. Just like in other love moves we can see the villain turning nice slowly and trying to fight to do the right thing. When he and Vizzini are sitting across from each other with the drinks, one is poison and the other isn't. Buttercup is there and Westley has to go play the hero and save her. “You’re trying to kidnap what I’ve rightfully stolen.”(The Princess Bride, Vizzini to Westley) The only way to save her is to win the game, so he tricks Vizzini and the man ends up dying. That’s when he really plays hero and takes Buttercup, they ...
Almost every single book that has ever been written teaches at least one life lesson; children’s books and fairy tales, in particular. Matilda teaches us that knowledge is power, The Little Engine That Could teaches us that anything is possible if we believe that it’s possible, and The Three Little Pigs teaches us that a solid foundation is important. The Princess Bride is a fractured children’s fairy tale. I have found five life lessons in The Princess Bride that are relatable, and fit into the book as well as life.
...tisfy Westley and his needs in order to impress and be good enough for him. However, in the beginning, Buttercup is less susceptible; not concerning herself with Westley at all. Finding out that she loves Westley changes her life. Her transformation from tom-boy to an elegant lady only happens because of Westley; her change has only one purpose and that is to meet up to Westley’s standards. In conclusion, it is clear that The Princess Bride displays a lot of the same issues and conflicts. Whether the characters deal with themselves, others, or the general public, they all grow and develop because of these struggles. Beyond this, the readers of this novel can easily learn a few lessons from the characters of the book. Learning from these lessons, and learning to deal with conflict is a skill that will make a better person out of anybody willing to take the action.
Carl Jung argued that an archetype is in the collective unconscious of mankind; therefore, archetypes show common themes of life (“Archetype” n.p.). Since an archetype displays common themes of mankind, the damsel in distress archetype enables The Princess Bride to be considered art due to its universal aspect: gender roles apply to everyone. The universality of unequal gender roles is seen by the unequivalent statuses of women through history. The inequalities of gender roles originate in ancient times: “Within the Roman empire, for example, women had a role defined by staying at home and staying out of politics. The Greeks may have invented democracy but they didn't give women the vote” (McKeown n.p.). The unequal roles of men and women were prevalent in ancient times and continued into modern times. Inequalities span from unequal treatment to uneven pay: “IWPR’s report on sex and race discrimination in the workplace shows that outright discrimination in pay, hiring, or promotions continues to be a significant feature of working life” (“Discrimination” n.p.). Unequal gender roles are common throughout history. Because the damsel in distress archetype shines a light on the universality of misogynistic gender roles, The Princess Bride should be considered a piece of
Periodically, the movie will change scenes to show the boy becoming more and more wrapped up in the story despite the romance that he initially disliked while his grandpa smiles knowingly and continues to read. These two characters were not present in the original novel, yet they add such a warm, familiar feeling to the tale that I could not imagine the princess bride without these scenes. The movie is greatly impacted as the stories of Westley and Buttercup are intertwined by a young boy who is worried that Buttercup will be killed by shrieking eels or is grossed out by a kissing scene allowing a more modern connection to be made for the lovers of the Princess Bride that was not present in the original
Even when she believes that Wesley is dead, she is set on loving only him for the rest of her life. Humperdinck’s proposal obviously comes with an unspoken threat of death, for there would be no other reason for Buttercup to accept the idea so readily. The light pink and gold shade of the dress we see her in at the marriage announcement hints at her close relationship with the royal family. While still keeping her innocence in some ways, the lighter shade of what is really just red, bonds her with the people standing at the tower above the crowd. The iconic red tunic dress that Buttercup wears for a lot of the story is the exact same shade the prince is wearing in the story before. This allows the audience to make the connection when they see the panning shot of her making her way outside of the main city. As the wedding between Buttercup and Humperdinck gets closer to happening, Buttercup’s clothing changes drastically. Alone, she wears her flowing tunic dress, that while red, allows her room to move. Once she is back in the castle, she wears lots of cooler shades. Blues and creams make up a majority of her wardrobe, right up until we see her in the final dress; her wedding dress. Constantly mixing together the royal shades with whites and creams symbolises her innocence despite being pulled into the world of the evil royal family. While wearing the red dress she is the object of desire for all of the men
In a society unbridled with double standards and set views about women, one may wonder the origins of such beliefs. It might come as a surprise that these ideals and standards are embedded and have been for centuries in the beloved fairy tales we enjoyed reading as kids. In her analytical essay, “To Spin a Yarn: The Female Voice in Folklore and Fairy Tales”, Karen Rowe argues that fairy tales present “cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self-sacrifice as a female’s cardinal virtues.” Rowe presents an excellent point, which can be supported by versions of the cult classics, “Cinderella” and “Snow White”. Charles Perrault’s “ The Little Glass Slipper” and the Brothers Grimm’s “ Snow White” exemplify the beliefs that females are supposed to be docile, dependent on the male persona and willing to sacrifice themselves. In many cases, when strong female characters are presented they are always contradicting in these characteristics, thus labeled as villainous. Such is the case of the Cinderella’s stepsisters in Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the stepmother in the Brothers Grimm’s “Snow White.” These female characters face judgment and disapproval when they commit the same acts as male characters. With such messages rooted in our beloved fairy tales it is no wonder that society is rampant with these ideals about women and disapprove of women when they try to break free of this mold.
Austen observes through the female characters of Pride and Prejudice that the perfect woman, by 19th century standards, doesn’t seem to exist, and when she does there is some degree of misfortune in her path. She explores this notion chiefly through satire and irony, as the type of woman the female characters strive for is not always the most desirable. Through indirect characterization and tone, it becomes apparent that each female character is characterized positively or negatively, which allows for each character’s conclusion to be fully explained and understood.
Shrek, an enormous, disgusting green ogre falling in love with a beautiful princess (later turning into a nasty ogre) is a perfect example of a stereotypical fairytale, right? Well in the movie Shrek, the voice over in the trailer talks about a “hero” attempting to rescue a “fair princess” with the help of “his trusty companion." Besides the fact that the hero is a voluptuous green ogre and the companion is a donkey, everything fits in normally to the definition of a traditional fairytale (Diaz). Also according to Mary Kunimitsu, in fantasy films “There may be characters with magical or supernatural abilities such as witches, wizards, superheroes, mythical creatures, talking animals, and ghosts” (Kunimitsu). In Shrek, there are many of these different characters. Therefore, by explanation, a traditional fairytale with the beautiful princess getting saved by the prince and falling in love is exactly what happens in the movie Shrek, just with a twist. The voice over in the trailer for Shrek states it perfectly as he says “Shrek is a highly irreverent take on the classic fairytale” (Adamson). As an untraditional fairytale, and a parody, the movie Shrek poses the breaking of stereotypes of gender and film fairytales all the while keeping the criteria of a fairytale.