The Princess Bride is a film set in what would be considered a modern Middle Age. The Princess Bride is a film about love and fantasy. Westley, a boy from a poor family, and Buttercup, a woman from a wealthy family, play romantic roles in the movie. The film is directed with a hint of medieval characteristics such as swords, royal families, and ongoing battle between kingdoms. Nonetheless, the picture is loaded with fantasy fashion features that give it a sense of modernism.
Furthermore, the film depicts medieval practices such as the use of the portrayal of heroes and magic potions. The author tackles and ridicules these assumptions, offering bizarre explanations for some events and promising the audience that nothing unpleasant will happen. He disregards character standards, but he nevertheless involves politeness, revenge and sorrow that can outlast death (Gale, 2016). Throughout the novel, the main characters confront challenges that put their fate and how far they will go to be together to the test.
The Princess Bride was a one-of-a-kind play in which each character fit into a certain character type, with some fitting into more than one. In my view, I believe Wesley is the protagonist, Prince Humperdinck is the antagonist, and Indigo Montoya is the dynamic character. Though others may disagree, I believe there is a compelling case to be made. Wesley is Buttercup’s love interest, and he is a fairly shallow character in my opinion.
At the start of the film, Wesley is depicted as humble and quiet. He is seen as “missing and found” as the story progresses. Wesley has become an entirely different, masked guy, with a significant change in his personality. He’s gone from being a quiet figure to being outspoken. He has a purpose in mind: reuniting with Buttercup, and he is a true protagonist as a result. A protagonist has a distinct personality and a self-motivation to complete the story.
The other characters in the firm do not possess the Extroverted, Intuitive Judging personality traits and Feelings needed to qualify to be protagonists. These warm, forthright types of love owned by protagonist characters help others, and they tend to have strong ideas and values. These characters fail to back up their standpoint with the creative vigor to attain their goals which greatly disqualifies them as protagonist characters.
The foil to Wesley is Prince Humperdinck because he can also be seen as the main antagonist. Though not shown until further in the movie, we see his true intentions with Buttercup, revealing the contrast between the two characters. While Wesley wants to save her and have her back to himself, treating her well and loving her, Humperdinck intends to keep her to himself to use her and then kill her (Reiner et al., 1987). Their personalities are also very different. Though both bold, Wesley is rooted in humbleness and kindness, and Humperdinck is rooted in pride for himself only. The foil matched him well in that their qualities are anything but equal.
On the other hand, Indigo Montoya is a perfect example of a dynamic character. He starts off running with Vizzini, one of the temporary antagonists and is presented as one too through, he is not. Throughout the story, his backstory is revealed, and his intentions are not as bad as they seem. He grows throughout the story and accomplishes the goal he has. We also get to see his personality throughout the story. A dynamic character is someone who changes throughout the story, having personality and background.
References
Gale, C. L. (2016). A Study Guide for William Goldman’s” The Princess Bride”. Gale Cengage Learning.
Reiner, R., Goldman, W., Knopfler, M., Elwes, C., Patinkin, M., Sarandon, C., … & Crystal, B. (1987). The princess bride. Warner Bros.
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