Princess Bride Assessment

Major Conflict

How Buttercup and Westley manage to find each other against all odds (pg.186-344)

Climax

Humperdinck cranks the Machine up to 20, killing Westley (pg.283-286)

Characterization of Westley

-Always responds to Buttercup's orders with, "As you wish," showing his respect and dutifulness (pg.42) -Westley acts like the complete opposite of the man in black by showing his love for Buttercup and trying to make her happy (pg.198) -Westley shows his courageousness and true love for Buttercup by letting go of the vine to find Buttercup in the Snow Sand (pg.205) -Westley's usual courageous behavior dissappears when he realizes that he is pretty much helpless and may not be able to save Buttercup (pg.331)

Exposition

-Buttercup is introduced as the protagonist (pg.42) -The setting is in the country of Florin and is before the time of Europe, but after the invention of blue jeans (pg.45) -Westley is introduced as a main character and possible love interest for Buttercup (pg.45) -Buttercup and Westley begin their romantic relationship (pg.64) -Prince Humperdinck is introduced as a main character (pg.73) -Buttercup and Prince Humperdinck agree to marry knowing that no love will be involved in their relationship (pg.90) -Fezzik is introduced as a main character (pg.112) -Inigo is introduced as a main character (pg.119) -Vizzini is introduced as a main character (pg.172)

Rising Action

-Buttercup is kidnapped by men (pg.102) -The man in black begins to chase the kidnappers (pg.110) -The man in black defeats Inigo (pg.152) -The man in black defeats Fezzik (pg.172) -The man in black defeats Vizzini (pg.179) -The man in black reveals that he is Westley by saying, "As you wish!" (pg.185) -Prince Humperdinck begins his search for the man in black (pg.186) -Buttercup falls into Snow Sand (pg.203) -Westley rescues Buttercup from the Snow Sand (pg.206) -Westley reveals that he is the Dread Pirate Roberts (pg.208) -Buttercup surrenders to the Prince (pg.217) -Inigo starts to drink and soon becomes drunk in the Thieves' Quarter (pg.225) -The Prince makes a marriage deal with Buttercup (pg.243) -Westley begins being tortured, although he has trained himself to not feel the pain (pg.245) -The Machine is used on Westley for the first time (pg.262) -Fezzik finds Inigo in the Thieves' Quarter (pg.269) -Inigo finds out that he is near the 6-fingered man (pg.271) -The Prince orders 100 guards to guard the castle doors during the wedding (pg.278) -Buttercup insults Humperdinck and he is sent into a fit of rage (pg. 280)

Characterization of Vizzini

-Extremely intelligent Sicilian that started his criminal organization with Inigo and Fezzik (pg.141)

Falling Action

-In order to get into the Zoo of Death to find Westley, Fezzik knocks the albino unconscious (pg.288) -Inigo and Fezzik find the 5th level of the Zoo of Death after surviving all of the traps (pg.303) -Miracle Max agrees to try to resurrect Westley (pg.316) -Miracle Max reveals that he mixed up the amounts in Westley's pill, and says it will only work for 40 minutes (pg.326) -The pill works and Westley is alive again (pg.329) -Fezzik, Westley, and Inigo trick the guards in front of the castle gate by pretending to be the Dread Pirate Roberts (pg.353) -The trio gets the castle key and can now enter the castle(pg.337) -Prince Humperdinck tries to speed up the marriage ceremony in order to have time to murder Buttercup (pg.339) -Inigo finds Count Rugen and prepares to fight him, but the Count runs away (pg.340) -Fezzik loses Westley in the castle (pg.343) -Westley finds Buttercup just before she is about to kill herself, solidifying their true love (pg.344) -Count Rugen stabs Inigo with a dagger (pg.345) -Inigo hears his father's voice and manages to get back up and fight Count Rugen (pg.346) -Inigo kills Count Rugen by cutting out his heart because of Rugen cutting Inigo's heart out by killing his father (pg.349) -It seems like Westley is about to die again, but he manages to stay alive and then calls on Buttercup to tie Humperdinck up so he can be tortured (pg.352) -Fezzik finds Westley, Inigo, and Buttercup and they all attempt to escape from the castle (pg.354) -Buttercup scares the Brute Squad and causes them to leave so the group can escape (pg.355)

Characterization of Inigo

-Inigo set out to become the greatest fencer ever after his father was murdered by a 6-fingered man (pg.131) -Inigo is told that he is the best fencer in the world, beyond a wizard (pg.139) -Inigo was introduced to the Sicilian and used his fencing skills to help kidnap people (pg.141) -Due to his defeat, Inigo succumbs to his alcoholic ways and becomes quickly intoxicated in the Thieves' Quarter (pg.225) -Inigo manages to regather his humility after being defeated by the man in bllack and begins to seek the man in black for assistance in finding Count Rugen (pg.276)

Characterization of Fezzik

-Introduced as a giant baby who loved to rhyme, but was not intelligent (pg.156-157) -Started to wrestle and was booed because of his immense strength (pg.163) -Fezzik found Vizzini and used his strength to help kidnap people (pg.167) -Fezzik proves his loyalty to Inigo by helping to save him from being arrested and nursing him back to health (pg.269-270) -Fezzik overcomes his fear and manages to save Inigo from the snake in the Zoo of Death (pg.298)

Characterization of Buttercup

-Introduced as a very beautiful girl living on a farm with no interest in anything except riding her horse (pg. 42) -Buttercup loses her disgust felt towards boys and confesses her love to Westley (pg.58) -After Westley dies, Buttercup falls into a state of depression, stating that she will never love again (pg.69) -Buttercup shows her humility by walking among the commoners, even when Prince Humperdinck orders her not to (pg.98) -She shows her bravery by jumping out of the kidnappers'' boat (pg.105) -Buttercup disregards her fear and shows her bravery by helping Westley to care for his injured arm (pg.214) -Buttercup shows her love for Westley by surrendering to Humperdinck to ensure Westley's safety (pg.217) -Buttercup shows her devotion to Westley by telling Humperdinck that she will kill herself if Westley does not return before her marriage (pg.242) -Buttercup emerges as a powerful woman to scare the Brute Squad and proves that she is more than just a pretty face (pg.355)

Characterization of Prince Humperdinck

-Large man that loves to hunt more than anything (pg.73-74) -Created the Zoo of Death to create the most suffering for the animals he hunts (pg.74-75) -While searching for Buttercup, the Prince seems to genuinely care about her, even though he said he didn't love her (pg.191) -Humperdinck shows his dishonesty and evil mind by saying that HE will not hurt Westley, but someone else will (pg.217) -Humperdinck reveals that not only did he hire the trio to kidnap Buttercup, but he plans to murder her on the wedding night in order to start a war with Guilder (pg.244) -After being humiliated by Buttercup, Humperdinck shows his insecurity by letting the Machine up to level 20, resulting in Westley's death (pg.283)

Characterization of Miracle Max

-Seems very vengeful and bitter after being fired by Humperdinck (pg.309) -Refuses to take Fezzik's money, even though his wife told him to, proving his greediness (pg.312)

Characterization of Count Rugen

-The Count seems very sadistic and creepy. He also created the Machine, proving his passion for pain (pg.258) -After Inigo prepares to fight him, the Count shows his cowardice by running away (pg.341)

Characterization of the Albino Zookeeper

-The albino seems to want Westley to not have to suffer and tries to give him advie (pg.247)

Characterization of the Man in Black

-The man in black seems respectful as he is waiting to fight Inigo (pg.144) -The man in black defeats Inigo, proving he is a great fencer (pg.151) -The man in black manages to defeat Fezzik, proving his nimbleness (pg.172) -The man in black defeats Vizzini, proving his intelligence, and is able to save Buttercup (pg.179) -The man in black is incredibly sexist towards Buttercup and acts very rude towards her (pg.181)

Themes

-True love will always prevail -Good triumps over evil -Being pretty doesn't mean you are weak

Resolution

Goldman leaves the reader wondering whether the group escaped successfully or not (pg.357)