Type: Romantic
Film: The Princess Bride
Featured Characters: Westley and Buttercup
A princess and a farm boy. A princess and a pirate—a timeless love story that still stands as an achingly perfect romantic blueprint in every way. He has no fortune, and therefore, he leaves, promising that he’ll always come for her, which he does. She waits for him, fully in heart, even when she agrees to marry Humperdinck to save Westley after discovering that he’s the Dread Pirate Roberts.
Countless TV shows and films use The Princess Bride as an archetype for storytelling. Once Upon a Time, for instance, draws numerous parallels between Westley and Buttercup through their main couple, Emma Swan and Killian Jones. Parks and Recreation’s principal romance, Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt, even dress as Westley and Buttercup during Halloween. Their relationship is revered for a reason, and much of it boils down to this idea of true love conquering all.
Westley and Buttercup’s Love Story Is a True Fairytale
When viewers meet them, there’s a significant class difference dividing the two. He’s the farm boy she bosses around. Would it ever truly work out? Why does he do everything she asks him to? Well, the grandfather reading the story tells us. He loves her. It’s plain as day. While we don’t know much about either of their families, we understand immediately that they love each other more than anyone else has. They trust each other. They want to be together.
And through them, we get one of the most iconic quotes of all time:
That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying, “As you wish,” what he meant was, “I love you.” And even more amazing was the day she realized she truly loved him back.
That’s why Westley leaves to find his family and some sort of a lineage because he doesn’t want to be the poor boy forever. He needs to have something outside of Buttercup so that he can be a better partner to her. So he can be somewhat of an equal, if not in rank, rather than in motives and heart (where he’s already there, really). But the Dread Pirate Roberts kills him, or so Buttercup thinks that’s what happens.
She meets him later. He knows, but she obviously doesn’t. So, he mocks her, anger naturally taking over as he thinks she’s moved on and their love didn’t mean as much to her as it did to him. That’s where she tells him, “I died that day,” and Robin Wright delivers the scene with such fervor that it’s still breathtaking no matter how many times I’ve watched. It’s such a visceral reaction, but her declaration is full of passion, vulnerability, and truth. She did die that day. No matter who she married or what she did, she would never be the same because she wouldn’t have Westley. It also makes sense that she pushes him off the cliff because she’s so riled up by someone questioning her love for Westley, let alone the person she believes killed him.
And then it happens: he screams “as you wish” one more time, making her instantly realize it’s him. Westley is alive and well, and he’s beside her. “Death doesn’t stop true love,” he tells her, and he’s right because, with them, it doesn’t. It delays it—three times—until they finally get their happy ending. One of the most interesting things about The Princess Bride, at least in the film version, is that we see a lot more telling. For some of their most crucial moments, we get an explanation of what’s happening, yet it’s so precise and so distinctly memorable that we see it all, too. This is a testament to Wright and Cary Elwes as partners. They understand the characters and they understand that they’re telling a fantasy story that should be universal for all ages and generations.
It’s largely why it stands the test of time: because it gives us a romance that people still look to as one of the most poignant versions of love conquering all. Westley and Buttercup face everything together—they fight, and they push beyond every barrier because when they promised each other their hearts, they meant it. He believes in her zeal and bravery. She loves him despite his lack of title. None of that matters to her beyond his gentleness.
And that’s just it—while we don’t know much about her past, we can decipher that perhaps men haven’t always been kind. There’s a fire in her that feels honed to steal. She wears it as armor and protects herself fully. But she doesn’t have to defend herself around Westley. She’s safe with him. She can not only be her best and truest self, but she can be free of armor. She can believe that kindness and a gentle spirit can exist in men. There’s also something to be said about how his kindness never falters, even when he becomes this fearsome pirate. It multiplies with her.
In the end, their relationship stands as a unifying example of how edges and softness can intermingle to create something genuinely wholesome. They become an example of love because the fight to get to one another and stay together is a beautifully rewarding showcase of what it means to hold on. (Maybe this is where my love of second chance romances comes from.)
Westley and Buttercup are what Romeo and Juliet wish they could be—two people who not only love one another fully but who understand the depth of adoration and sacrifice. They know what they’re capable of because they know what it’s like to lose each other. No matter how many obstacles come their way, they won’t ever lose each other a second time.
They’re going to survive everything because their motivations are fully driven by love. Along the way, they’ll help whoever they can, entertain themselves, and go about their lives knowing that whatever the other person wishes, they will find a way to make it a reality. Westley, especially, but everything we see proves that there’s nothing Buttercup wouldn’t do for him. There’s no limit to the lengths she’ll go to for him. There’s no limit to how fervently they’ll love each other until they both take their final breaths. Giant rats, snow sands, poison, torture, manipulative gross princes? They’ve already survived it all, and Westley and Buttercup are memorable because, through all of that, they’ve remained true to themselves and to each other. And just as childhood me thought they were the best, so does adult me.
First Featured Image Credit: ©20th Century Studios