Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Perfect Hero?

Here's my question - is Westley the perfect hero?  Did you find Buttercup even a little bit annoying?  Is this the most perfect love story ever written? (Okay, so it was several questions, but they are all related!)

10 comments:

Hettie Betty said...

I think he just might be. He is smart, brave and strong, he loves her without fail... he is technically a zombie though since he rose from the dead. And that does put a bit of damper on our relationship.
Buttercup is more likeable in the film version, she'd a bit of a dumb broad in the book huh? In the film I don't think it really comes across so much her thoughts in the decision after the fireswamp. It doesn't seem like she's giving Westley up so much in the film. She can see fighting the situation is more or less futile at that point and I guess assumes that as long as Westley is ALIVE it's not the end of the story yet. But in the book it seems more like she's giving up on the idea of being with him altogether.
Although she's a bit dumb, I admire her resolve to 'never love again.' That's a bold move.

Lauviah said...

He is definitely my hero. He's witty, smart, brave, strong, loyal and so very entertaining to read.

Buttercup is self-absorbed, dim-witted, boring, bland and incredibly beautiful (although, I wouldn't have picked Robin Wright for the role). I think their roles have reversed. Lots of fairytales revolve around the 'Princess' being the underdog in search of and finding her true love. But here we have a Prince equivalent doing whatever it takes to keep his true love.

I think that the Princess Bride could be related to Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted in some ways as well.

"Syllabub".....sheesh

Nic said...

Here's my beef - he left her and didn't come back. Yeah, fair enough, he got pirated but he had to have been in charge for a while and he didn't come back. And Buttercup! She went off and let the prince become engaged to her!! But, I guess they learnt because she believed in him second time dead.

Also, I wish Westley wasn't blond.

Lauviah said...

True, but he left to seek his fortune so that he could provide everything for his love. He didn't come back until he was ready and she really needed him. I don't mind him being blonde because I imagine him as Cary Elwes, and that's okay :)

Buttercup didn't care what happened to herself. I mean, she promised herself she would never love again so what did it matter whether she was engaged or not. The arrangement suited them both.

I haven't finished the book yet, but getting there. Any idea when the meet up will be?

detecktive said...

I was talking about this recently with a fellow bookclubber and I don't know how the book version of the leaving in the fireswamp would have played on the big screen. I think they probably took a fluffier approach as Hettie Betty said and she just thought it was another parting until they could meet up again.

So in the movie when Buttercup says she will never love again, she just means she'll never love anyone else again. However in the book it seems much more hard core as my fellow book clubber pointed out - she would never LOVE again...not even Westley as she had been so devastated.

I thought it does seem ironic though that someone as 'self-absorbed, dim-witted, boring and bland' (as FunkyMonkey puts it), could be so filled with resolve and personal conviction. If the roles were reveresed there's NO WAY I would have given up my true love if they were 'back from the dead'.

detecktive said...

I finished the book and I have a horrible confession to make.

Yes I am a brabarian with little in the way of taste in arts and fashion.

But..I can't help it.

Theres no denying it.

I....

prefer the movie over the book. (ducks for cover as objects are hurled at me from afar).

bookworm said...

Not from me - I'm with you, brother!

爱书 said...

It probably goes a bit without saying that I loved the book more...Of course if you gave me the book version of The Crow or Lost Boys *shudder* all bets are off and I KNOW that the movie would rule them all

This leaves me with the theory that you can love something so dearly that even the original can be a poor carbon copy.

profound ;-)

Hettie Betty said...

Lost boys is a book? How craptacular!

爱书 said...

No...but if it WAS a book it would, by sheer necessity, suck