A Fairy T
ale?Is The Princess Bride a fairy tale or not? This is a question I'm sure a teacher has asked their students. Well, it depends on what they think. A fairy tale can be defined as a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands, denoting something regarded as resembling a fairy story in being magical, idealized, extremely happy, or a fabricated story, especially one intended to deceive.
I'm going to start with the first definition, "A fairy tale can be defined as a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands." "My father read it to me...I mean when you're a kid, you don't think"(Goldman 41 98) this probably means that the author was young when this story was read to him, taking part of the definition, "a children's story".
The Princess Bride is also a story "about magical and imaginary lands and beings" This story takes place in Florin, as stated on page 47. When you look up whether or not Florin is real, you are taken to William Goldman's Wikipedia page, he is the man who "abridged" the story. The page states, "He not only treats Morgenstern and the countries of Florin and Guilder as real, but even claims that his own father was Florinese and had immigrated to America."
The statement above shows that Florin and Guilder aren't real places because Goldman only claims for them to be real. This takes part in "imaginary lands". Another thing which makes this story not believable is the time it takes place, "before Europe but after Paris"(Goldman 42). Goldman says "it was the author's way of telling the reader stylistically that this isn't real"(Goldman 42), but then tells you that "it did happen"(Goldman 42) right after.
The Turk
Inconsistent time and places aren't the only things that make this a fairy tale, it's also the imaginary beings. The character Fezzik is introduced as a "giant Turk" on page 94. "The only happy newborn ever to weigh over twenty-four pounds upon entrance was the production of a southern Turkish union...they lost three to four ounces" (Goldman 143) after birth. The only baby to not lose that was Fezzik. Instead,"His first afternoon he gained a pound."(Goldman 143) It shouldn't be possible for a baby to be around twenty-five pounds.
"A baby doubles his birth weight in about six months and triples in a year. When Fezzik was a year old, he weighed eighty-five pounds."(Goldman 144). Weighing eighty-five pounds at five is not normal at all. You can only imagine how big Fezzik must look. On top of that "He was pretty hairy for a one-year old."(Goldman 144) It isn't specified how much hair he had, but, "By the time he reached kindergarten, he was ready to shave. He was the size of a normal man by this time." (Goldman 144) Again, I'm saying that there shouldn't be kindergartener the size of a real man.
Miracles and Magic
Many people will say that The Princess Bride isn't a fairy tale, Cinderella is. If they want to compare the two stories then here it is. Sure, Buttercup wasn't raised by a step-mother who treated her like a slave, didn't have evil step-sisters or a fairy god mother. But, there was Miracle Max. After Inigo and Fezzik found Westley dead, they decide to go find Miracle Max.
Miracle Max is a miracle man who worked for Prince Humperdinck. He gave Westley a pill to keep him alive for an hour. This pill isn't specified as magic, but it is a miracle. A miracle is an "event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws" while the definition of magic is "the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." When you look up the definition of supernatural, you get " a force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature." Aren't the meaning of supernatural and miracle the same? This shows that Miracle Max's miracles are equivalent to Cinderella's fairy god mother's magic.
Happily Never After
Another thing that fairy tales are said to usually have is a happy ending.
The Princess Bride doesn't have a happy ending (Inigo's wound reopened, and Westley relapsed again, and Fezzik took the wrong turn, and Buttercup's horse threw a shoe. And the night behind them was filled with the crescendoing sound of pursuit." (Goldman 327), but fairy tales don't necessarily have happy endings either. Don't believe me? Yes, by the end of every story the hero gets what they want.
What happens to the villain? Don't they get a happy ending? No, as a matter of fact, villains always get a penalty for what they've done in the story. The villain is usually the antagonist in the story being told, but, they have their own stories as well. From the way I see it, villains are the good guys too. So basically, a fairy tale doesn't have to have a happy ending. This brings me back to The Princess Bride. "Yes they got away... But that doesn't mean I think they had a happy ending either."(Goldman 32) Even though Goldman doesn't really eleaborate in the end, you could say that The Princess Bride is a fairy tale.
I'm going to start with the first definition, "A fairy tale can be defined as a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands." "My father read it to me...I mean when you're a kid, you don't think"(Goldman 41 98) this probably means that the author was young when this story was read to him, taking part of the definition, "a children's story".
The Princess Bride is also a story "about magical and imaginary lands and beings" This story takes place in Florin, as stated on page 47. When you look up whether or not Florin is real, you are taken to William Goldman's Wikipedia page, he is the man who "abridged" the story. The page states, "He not only treats Morgenstern and the countries of Florin and Guilder as real, but even claims that his own father was Florinese and had immigrated to America."
The statement above shows that Florin and Guilder aren't real places because Goldman only claims for them to be real. This takes part in "imaginary lands". Another thing which makes this story not believable is the time it takes place, "before Europe but after Paris"(Goldman 42). Goldman says "it was the author's way of telling the reader stylistically that this isn't real"(Goldman 42), but then tells you that "it did happen"(Goldman 42) right after.
The Turk
Inconsistent time and places aren't the only things that make this a fairy tale, it's also the imaginary beings. The character Fezzik is introduced as a "giant Turk" on page 94. "The only happy newborn ever to weigh over twenty-four pounds upon entrance was the production of a southern Turkish union...they lost three to four ounces" (Goldman 143) after birth. The only baby to not lose that was Fezzik. Instead,"His first afternoon he gained a pound."(Goldman 143) It shouldn't be possible for a baby to be around twenty-five pounds.
"A baby doubles his birth weight in about six months and triples in a year. When Fezzik was a year old, he weighed eighty-five pounds."(Goldman 144). Weighing eighty-five pounds at five is not normal at all. You can only imagine how big Fezzik must look. On top of that "He was pretty hairy for a one-year old."(Goldman 144) It isn't specified how much hair he had, but, "By the time he reached kindergarten, he was ready to shave. He was the size of a normal man by this time." (Goldman 144) Again, I'm saying that there shouldn't be kindergartener the size of a real man.
Miracles and Magic
Many people will say that The Princess Bride isn't a fairy tale, Cinderella is. If they want to compare the two stories then here it is. Sure, Buttercup wasn't raised by a step-mother who treated her like a slave, didn't have evil step-sisters or a fairy god mother. But, there was Miracle Max. After Inigo and Fezzik found Westley dead, they decide to go find Miracle Max.
Miracle Max is a miracle man who worked for Prince Humperdinck. He gave Westley a pill to keep him alive for an hour. This pill isn't specified as magic, but it is a miracle. A miracle is an "event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws" while the definition of magic is "the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces." When you look up the definition of supernatural, you get " a force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature." Aren't the meaning of supernatural and miracle the same? This shows that Miracle Max's miracles are equivalent to Cinderella's fairy god mother's magic.
Happily Never After
Another thing that fairy tales are said to usually have is a happy ending.
The Princess Bride doesn't have a happy ending (Inigo's wound reopened, and Westley relapsed again, and Fezzik took the wrong turn, and Buttercup's horse threw a shoe. And the night behind them was filled with the crescendoing sound of pursuit." (Goldman 327), but fairy tales don't necessarily have happy endings either. Don't believe me? Yes, by the end of every story the hero gets what they want.
What happens to the villain? Don't they get a happy ending? No, as a matter of fact, villains always get a penalty for what they've done in the story. The villain is usually the antagonist in the story being told, but, they have their own stories as well. From the way I see it, villains are the good guys too. So basically, a fairy tale doesn't have to have a happy ending. This brings me back to The Princess Bride. "Yes they got away... But that doesn't mean I think they had a happy ending either."(Goldman 32) Even though Goldman doesn't really eleaborate in the end, you could say that The Princess Bride is a fairy tale.