The Princess Bride Research Paper

“Is this a kissing book?” the young boy asks his grandfather in disgust as he lies ill in bed. Unfortunately for the boy, there is a fair amount of kissing in this story, but there’s also sword fighting, revenge, and daring rescues. It is these elements that make The Princess Bride, based on the book by William Goldman, such an enjoyable film. In fact, viewers still love watching it today, despite the fact it was made in the late 1980’s. The continued enjoyment of the movie makes it a timeless story. One that endless generations can watch and still relate to. This beloved film has touched many hearts and continues to do so. It is my personal favorite movie and has been since I was a little girl because there is some kind of magic in it that

This theme is evident throughout Westley and Buttercup’s relationship. In fact, the love Westley felt for Buttercup saved his life not only once, but twice. When the Dread Pirate Roberts attacked Westley’s ship, his life was only spared when he told the pirate of his love for Buttercup. This caused the pirate to keep Westley on his ship for years until he decides to pass on his legacy and makes Westley the next Dread Pirate Roberts. Love also becomes Westley’s savior after is tortured by Humperdinck to the point of death. Inigo and Fezzik take him to Miracle Max, who asks him what he continues to live for. Westley’s response is, of course, “true love.” After escaping death multiple times, love still pushes Westley forward. He invades Humperdinck’s castle and saves Buttercup from the clutches of the cruel prince. Romantic love is not the only form of love shown in The Princess Bride, however. In addition to the main love story, there is also a side story dedicated to Inigo looking for his father’s murderer. When Inigo was young, a man with six fingers on his right hand murdered his father and left Inigo with a scar on each side of his face. From that moment, Inigo dedicates his life to swordsmanship so that one day, he can face the six-fingered man, and kill him to avenge his father. Inigo gets his revenge at the end of the film. The man, it turns out, works for Humperdinck, so Inigo is able to find and kill him

Sure, there are plenty of movies with a third-person narrator, but that narrator is often not shown nor given their own story. However, The Princess Bride breaks these unspoken rules. In fact, the film even dares to tell us that what we are watching is just a story. It’s only a book being read to a sick little boy by his grandfather, which somehow makes it extremely relatable. There isn’t a lot of cultural references pertaining to the time period the film was made in, so it seems that the boy could be living in any time frame. You feel like you are just sitting in the room with this boy and his grandfather, listening to the story being read. As the film goes on, the grandson often interrupts the grandfather when he’s bored or when the believes the story gets too lovey dovey for him, which seems like something a boy his age would do. The grandfather just tries to calm his grandson, even telling him to “keep his shirt on” on one point, and continues reading the story. By the end of the story, however, the grandson asks to hear his grandfather read about Buttercup and Westley’s closing kiss. Who would have known that this character’s development would be so interesting to watch? In fact, witnessing the interaction between these two characters who are not included in the main story is extremely enjoyable, and I’m glad they choose this method of narration. It shows us that when we read a book, we become narrators of a