The Princess Bride Analysis

In the novel “The Princess Bride”, William Goldman presents an abridgement of what is proposed to be the classic fairy tale by S. Morgenstern but is actually a novel created entirely on his own. The text is of a romantic love story between two protagonists in the country of Florin, a country which existed before Europe yet after the discovery of the Americas and Australia. Over the course of the novel, Goldman writes a story which strays from the normal parameters of a fairytale. Character design conflicts with the stereotypes and the word choice (Evil Stepmother, etc) is not typical. The timeframe set for the novel and the subplots within are rather ridiculous at times, even for a work of fiction.

To present the novel as an abridgement,

Buttercup is born with potential but is not the “fairest in the land”. The very first sentence of the tale states that “the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette.” Annette’s fall from beauty is due to chocolate which caused her to go “from delicate to whopping”. Her plight is followed by Aluthra of Bengal with skin “of a dusky perfection” being ruined by the pox plague. Adela Terrell then assumes the title until “she had begun to fret”. Buttercup was “barely in the top twenty, and that primarily on potential” for she is an absolute ragamuffin as a child. “She hated to wash her face” or any part of her body which left the “smell of stables” lingering on her constantly. Buttercup only starts to become more beautiful after the visit from The Countess causes her to have a fit of jealousy “rated a close fourth on the all-time

The term fairy tale should literally refer to stories about fairies but is “normally used to refer to a much wider class of narrative, namely stories about an individual, almost always young, who confronts strange or magical events.” Buttercup is eighteen when she developes into “the most beautiful woman in a hundred years” and twenty one once she reunites with Westley.

It is not revealed if Westley and Buttercup lived “happily ever after”. The abrupt ending to the tale has the group fleeing from Humperdinck and his men and “the night behind them was filled with the crescendoing sound of pursuit.” Goldman labeled this as “a ‘Lady or the Tiger?’ type effect”, referencing the short story by Frank R Stockton. The unresolved climax at the end is the complete opposite of a quintessential