The Princess Bride
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Slipcase cover of the deluxe first edition of The Princess Bride
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| Author | William Goldman |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre |
Fantasy novel Romance |
| Publisher | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (USA) |
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Publication date
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1973 |
| Pages | 493 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 53223777 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3557.O384 P75 2003 |
The Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy romance novel written by William Goldman. The book combines elements of comedy, adventure, fantasy, romantic love, romance, and fairy tale. It is presented as an abridgment (or "the good parts version") of a longer work by S. Morgenstern, and Goldman's "commentary" asides are constant throughout. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, then later by Random House, while in the United Kingdom, it was later published by Bloomsbury.
The book was adapted into a 1987 feature film, whose screenplay was written by Goldman himself, and which was directed by Rob Reiner. Adam Guettel attempted to adapt it into a musical.
William Goldman said, "I've gotten more responses on The Princess Bride than on everything else I've done put together—all kinds of strange outpouring letters. Something in The Princess Bride affects people."
A segment of the book was published as "Duel Scene (From The Princess Bride)" in the anthology The Best of All Possible Worlds (1980), which was edited by Spider Robinson. In 2015, a collection of essays on the novel and the film adaptation was published entitled The Princess Bride and Philosophy.
In a Renaissance-era world, a beautiful young woman named Buttercup lives on a farm in the country of Florin. She delights in verbally abusing the farm hand Westley, whom she addresses as "farm boy", by demanding that he perform chores for her. Westley's response to her demands is always "As you wish." She eventually realizes that what he is really saying is, "I love you." After Buttercup realizes, as well, that she truly and strongly loves him and confesses her mutually strong romantic feelings, Westley leaves to seek his fortune, so they can marry. Buttercup later receives word that the Dread Pirate Roberts, who is notorious for killing all those whose vessels he boards, attacked his ship at sea. Believing Westley dead, Buttercup sinks into abject despair, declaring, "I will never love again." Some time later, she reluctantly agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck, heir to the throne of Florin, due to a law allowing the prince to choose any unmarried woman as his bride, though she makes it clear that she does not love him.
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