The Princess Bride
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- ''This article is about the novel.
Story
Buttercup, the most beautiful woman in the world, lives on a farm with her parents in Florin. One day, they are visited by the Count and Countess. The Count claims that the milk they are producing is uncommonly good, and his wife asks to see how the farm boy, Westley, feeds the cows. Buttercup's parents are confused by this, as they only received many complaints about their milk -- at least until Westly came along, but the milk was still, by no means, the best in all the land. When it dawns on Buttercup that the Countess may be interested in Westley rather than the milk, she becomes jealous, and realizes to her astonishment that she is in love with Westly.
Before this, Westly had said nothing more to Buttercup than, "As you wish," and Buttercup had never shown him any affection, nor respect for she was always been ordering him around, calling him by the name "Farm Boy".
She tells him she loves him, and tells him that she knows she is nothing near the Countess, but she would anything to please him. He closes the door in her face, which makes her feel so stupid that she goes upstairs and cries until there's a knock on the door. It is Westley, saying goodbye. Buttercup lies, saying she was just joking. But he says he loves her, too, and that he's moving to America to earn money so they could buy a farm in England and have children. (He also tells her many things that he did in order to attempt an impression on her.) He leaves--but not without a kiss. Later she is told that Westly was killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts while on his way to America. Meanwhile Prince Humperdink knows he needs a wife to become king, so when he finds Buttercup, he asks her to marry him. She says no, for she said she doesn't want to love again. He says he'll otherwise kill her, but she refuses, and he tells her that he doesn't need love, but a wife so he can become king. That's when Buttercup agrees. Several years passed, mostly about wedding plans, Buttercup's princess training, and Prince Humperdinck's love of hunting and war. His father, King Lotharon, is also dying. Later on, Buttercup is kidnapped by 3 criminals: a Spaniard swordsman named Inigo Montoya, seeking revenge after a 6 fingered man killed his father; the timid giant named Fezzik who doesn't think he has a right to think; and the leader of the group, Vizzini, a genius Sicilian. They take Buttercup on their boat headed for Guilder and discover that another boat is pursuing them. They reach the Cliffs of Insanity and begin scaling it with Fezzik's strength pulling all four of them up on a single rope. Their pursuer, a man in black, catches up and climbs after them. When the bandits reach the top, they chop off the rope, hoping the man in black dies, but it turns out he managed to grab on the face of the cliff on time. When the man in black reaches the top, he wins a swordfight with Inigo, beats Fezzik with his strength and speed, and outsmarts and poisons the clever Vizzini. He takes Buttercup who, after pushing him off the ravine, discovers that it is her Westley. The couple is reunited and they enter the Fire Swamp, where Westley explains to her that the Dread Pirate Roberts made him his valet, and eventually turned over his title to Westley who was becoming a great pirate. At the end of the fire swamp, they meet Prince Humperdinck. Buttercup surrenders them both and Westley is supposedly taken back to his ship.
Context
The book affects to be an abridgement of an older version by "S. Morgenstern", which was originally a satire of the excesses of European royalty. Goldman "remembered" the book as it was narrated to him by his father as an exciting adventure tale, without the complex political overtones. His work is a recreation of the abridgement of his father. The book, in fact, is entirely Goldman's work, and Morgenstern and his "original version" never existed. Nor is Goldman's family accurately described in the book. He has two daughters, not a son, and his wife is not a psychologist. The countries Florin and Guilder do not exist and never have, although both were units of currency – the same unit of currency, in fact – from The Netherlands and a common term for a 2 shilling piece in pre-decimal Britain as well as other countries in the Commonwealth. They remain legal currency in the Netherlands Antilles to this day. Goldman carried the joke further by publishing another book called The Silent Gondoliers (about why the gondoliers of Venice no longer sing to their passengers) under S. Morgenstern's byline. The Vizzini family from The Princess Bride also makes an appearance in this book.
The device of claiming that a book is a pre-existing work that the author merely discovered and edited is an old one, which continues to be used by authors as widely separated as Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, Italian literary novelist Umberto Eco, British fantasy writer Mary Gentle, American detective fiction author Laurie R. King, and The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. (See also false document, frame tale.)
Reunion scene
In addition to the "original Morgenstern" passages that Goldman says he cut, he also claims in the book to have written a new scene: a loving reunion between Buttercup and Westley after they have been apart for many years. In the novel, the Goldman character says that there was an objection to his adding text that was not written by Morgenstern to the book (Goldman was only allowed to excise text) but any reader who wants to read the Reunion Scene may write to the publisher (formerly Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; now Random House) and receive one for only the cost of a self-addressed stamped envelope. Many readers wrote in to the publisher and did receive a letter,[link] but instead of an extra scene, the letter detailed the (obviously fictitious) legal problems that Goldman and his publishers encountered with the Morgenstern estate and its lawyer, Kermit Shog. This letter was revised and updated periodically; the 1987 revision mentioned the movie, while the 25th Anniversary Edition publishes the letter with an addendum about Kermit's lawyer granddaughter Carly.
Buttercup's Baby
The epilogue to some later editions of the novel mentions a sequel, Buttercup's Baby, that was having trouble getting published because of legal difficulties with S. Morgenstern's estate. This sequel seems to be just as fictional as S. Morgenstern's unabridged edition, though later editions actually reprint Goldman's "sample chapter" of this book. The most recent, 30th anniversary edition of the book, included hints to the sequel's plot, and a promise to have the full version completed before a 35th anniversary edition (2009).
See also
- The Princess Bride (film) — feature film made in 1987
- Elisabeth of Bavaria — Archduchess of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, and Queen of Hungary (1837–1898)
External links
- [Reconstructivist Art]: The Princess Bride
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