Use Of Satire In William Goldman's The Princess Bride

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Why The Princess Bride is a Satire : William Goldman’s Take on Satire
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 fairytales 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 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 their perspective on a specific point in the story. This perspective determines if the reader should interpret part of …show more content…

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

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