The Princess Bride Blog 1

Blog of Blah

(The Princess Bride Blog)

Buttercup, the local milkmaid of the Kingdom, nothing as bright, or as physically appealing; however, not repelling as well; after all, she is one of the top twenty beautiful woman in the Kingdom of Florin.  In contrary to her beauty, she is, indeed, not very lady-like.  With personal hygiene that are under expectations, Buttercup isn’t as demanding as the girls in her town, who would surly done anything for a man; especially for a dazzling one, such as her family servant, Westley.   Buttercup soon grew conscious of her love for the farm boy.  In return, a single kiss, before fate shattered their bond.  Only in the very first chapter of the novel, William Goldman, the author of the book dropped a bomb shell upon the ignorant readers.  One, and only one reaction can be driven towards the impossibly uncanny phrasing of words, “whaaa?!”  Reading this novel is like liking the outer coat of sweetness, later, only to learn the truth: this is not a candy, it’s a sugar covered pill, another one of your parents’ smart tricks.  Aside the confusion and uncertainties of being The Princess Bride’s reader, there is also a mixed, thick emotion of love and hatred between its paper-thin pages. 

Considering the novel was written during the 1900’s, it is common for woman’s prejudiced treatment.  Although introducing the vows Buttercup and Westley made the misunderstanding of Westly reasonable, it is still not necessary for him to be so cruel.  And moreover, instead of addressing Buttercup as an “traitor” herself, Westly broadly addressed all females.  For example, “‘you promise?  You?  I should release you on your promise?  What is that worth?  The vow of a woman?’”  Exactly!  Such insult should not be allowed in a wildly distributed text, which commoners have access to.  Let me tell you, Westly, a woman’s vow have the exact worth as a man’s vow.  As such, females do deserve to be treated as mighty as a male.  However, after such barb, Buttercup still managed to love the mysterious outlaw, as soon as she discovered his true identity.  And that, was truly full of generosity, even if her love is being unreasonable and aggressive.  Or is it that the author contributed his personal opinion into his book, that women are arrogant fools, who take a man as their master? 

Let’s all agree on that there is the sugar coating.  How much courage does Buttercup need for the declaration of love?  How many nights does Westlylay awake in the hay-stack dreaming about an impossibility of her love?  But tragedy broke the fragile, little thing.  And fate reunites them, Buttercup and Westly.  Let the sweet melody of love ring; let it bloom like maggots in the dump. 

What the book symbolizes is not only a love story with adventure, but a failure with potentials.  I truly hope the novel will have a conclusion that is all but a failure, a replica of the first a hundred pages.  And an expectable ending will calm the storm in my mind, of how William Goldman lied to everyone (Simon Morgenstern is fictional!!).