“Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death.” (Goldman 358) That was said by William Goldman at the end of his novel The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride is a book about a girl named Buttercup who learns throughout the book, about the difficulties of life. Buttercup learns about love, adventure, and truthfulness of life, and people. Buttercup lived in a farm in Florin opposite from the land of Guilder. Her family owned a boy she called “Farm boy.” Buttercup teased Farm boy and told him what to do. One day, the Count and Countess of Florin show up at Buttercups families farm, and asks for their cows milk, which was said to be the best milk around. The Countess takes an interest in Westly, the farm boy, and Buttercup realizes her love for him. When Buttercup admitted to her love for Westly, he told her he was moving to America to build a future for the both of them. Soon, Buttercup got a call that informed her of Westly’s death, she was petrified. Later in the book, the Prince of Florin decided he needed a princess because his father, the king, was very ill. Soon, he would become king, and there must be a queen. Prince Humperdinck went to Buttercups farm to gather her so she could become his wife. Buttercup did so and the marriage was soon to be. One day, when Buttercup had been living in the Princes castle, she decided to go for a ride on her horse. Buttercup was kidnapped by three men, Inigo, Vizzini, and Fezzik. They were planning on taking Buttercup to Guilder to kill her so there could be a war between Florin and Guilder. The group was followed by a “man in black” who turned out to be Westly Buttercups love. Westly defeated each man and planned on taking Buttercup to...
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...) This archetype is rendered new because the color of black is supposed to be evil or bad, but the “man in black” ends up being Westly who is good and saves the princess. The color of black can actually be good or bad depending on which character is wearing or seeing it. The Princess Bride actually does contain archetypes such as colors (black) that render the story new to be unlike other stories.
The Princess Bride contains many archetypes that render the story new within the color of black, the unhealable wound, and the friendly beast. The story supports the quote “Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death.” Which is shown throughout the book within the relationships with Buttercup, Westly, the prince, Inigo, and Fezzik along with the other characters.
Works Cited:
Goldman, William. The Princess Bride. London: Bloomsbury Children's, 2008. Print
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
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
Humperdink did not love Buttercup, he just did not want anyone else to love his property.
The Princess Bride’s humorous take on satire. In The Princess Bride, a novel by William Goldman, satire is used to showcase a character’s actions and personalities whilst bringing out a fairy tale’s flaws. The Princess Bride is a satire because it makes fun of the fact that a fairy tale portrays its characters with only one purpose. It does this by making changes to its characters halfway through the story and then building on that change. The fact that the novel is a satire matters because whether the reader thinks the story is a satire or fairy tale can change the reader’s perspective on a specific point in the story. This perspective determines if the reader should interpret part of the story literally or figuratively, which can change the
...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.
During her entire rule, Elizabeth I allowed for England to reach an equilibrium in its religious affairs through “The Elizabethan Settlement”, or her religious compromise. The Book of Common Prayer, issued by the Edward VI’s advisor Thomas Cranmer, was restored by Elizabeth....
a maiden all my life; I never want to be either a beloved or a wife." This is so
Maya Angelou once remarked, “I think that a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” Depending on who the inquiry is posed to though, diverse answers may result from the question of, “what is a hero?” I believe that a hero is someone who inspires through their phenomenal precedents, benevolent behaviors, and possesses qualities not ordinarily seen in our culture. Angelou aspired to convey the idea that kindness and heroism are not mutually exclusive, but instead fit together effectively to produce the heroes held in high regard in our society. No matter what one might admire about a certain hero-- bravery, patience, or strength-- kindness lacks not in these traits, but rather encompasses them. For why
As many of us know, our world today is not short of sarcasm. Many times sarcasm can be funny but other times it can cause harm. But in Anne Sexton’s poem, she uses sarcasm to throw her audience back to actuality, even a midst a fairytale element. In Anne Sexton’s poem, Cinderella she uses sarcasm and a basis of the true tale to make what many would call a “mockery” of the original Grimm Tale. Sexton does not refer to the Grimm brothers in her poem, for she considers this re-telling her own creation, uniquely by using irony to her advantage. As an audience we can relate to how and why Sexton takes much from the original versions, but we find that her interpretation brings a different approach. Sexton felt the original versions held no light to reality, so she changed the shallow premise of the original Cinderella bringing all the unrealistic morals in the story to the surface. The author's style, tone, and language helps to convey her sarcastic approach and differentiate between gritty reality and the ideal of fairy tale endings.
He says, “ I don’t think you would accept my help since I am only waiting up here to kill you.” (Goldman 143). This is the case because instead of Inigo getting rid of the man in black and getting it over with, he waits until the man in black scales the cliff and is well rested. He does this because it is the noble thing to do, thus changing his motive and personality. This is ironic because he cares about doing what is noble, while aiding in the kidnapping and murder of an innocent woman. Not only is this novel is a satire is because of its characters changing personalities, but also because of the way William Goldman references beauty and those within its ranks. Goldman references it as a competitive field where women compete to be on top while placing the main character at the bottom of the spectrum, unlike most fairy tales. He states, “ Buttercup at this time was nowhere near that high, barley in the top twenty.” (42). This ridicules the way society views a woman's beauty and also humours the fact that the main character was not born to be the fairest in all the land, but climbed the ranks because everyone above her lost their beauty, in another way, be default. This is ironic because although Buttercup, the main character, never cared for her beauty she ended up being the most beautiful. All these circumstances caused for her characteristics and personality to be altered. All in all, this all shows why The Princess Bride is a satire of a fairy
Queen Elizabeth the First took on the formidable task of becoming queen at the young age of twenty-five. Despite her age, she ruled over England with all the wisdom of grace that one should. It has been argued that Queen Elizabeth I was a big part in Europe not being involved in the religious wars that tore apart many European states during the 1500’s.
2. The witches say, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair. (1,1,10)" This gives off the impression that playing fair is no good, and you must play foul and dirty to be truly fair.
Jane Austen is known for her never ending satirical criticism towards England’s social stratification in “Pride and Prejudice” along with her other works. We see the difficulties Elizabeth Bennet faces with the marriage system and her social class rank that was faced by women all over the world. Elizabeth Bennet’s personality complexity breaks the women stereotype in this novel, showing how independent and logical they could be. “Pride and Prejudice” is a reflection of gender oppression and social roles influenced by Jane Austen’s life during eighteenth century England.
The narrator says this to further the idea that the character of Cinderella evolves during the entire tale. She begins being this beautiful girl to this bottom-feeder only bossed around by her own family. This is significant when the stepmother takes “her beautiful clothes away” and dresses Cinderella “in an old gray smock” with “wooden shoes” (Grimm 1). This change makes the character more vulnerable in which it can make the other characters push her around more. The taking away of beauty can also show the true colors of the other characters because it shows that they are insecure. They are scared of Cinderella and by changing a simple look, it can give them the confidence to rule over her. Another personality trait that Cinderella has is the “damsel in distress” princess. This was very common in older princesses like The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel. All of these characters engulf this idea that princesses are passive, naive, innocent, easy targets, and always wanting to be rescued. For example, Cinderella never speaks up to her stepmother. Many older princesses were commonly known for doing nothing and letting stuff happen around them. As a result, the quote illustrates certain personality traits that are common in
The chosen garment that will be discussed in detail in this essay is the Royal wedding dress designed for Catherine (Kate) Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge made by the English designer Sarah Burton creative director of the fashion label Alexander McQueen. This essay will cover the topics of this dress in terms of historical and cultural context, the formal elements and its meaning.