The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride

by

William Goldman

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Buttercup is the titular princess bride of the novel. She's a very beautiful teenager at the start of the story, though she doesn't care about her looks: she's more concerned with riding her horse, Horse, and bossing around Westley, the farm boy. Buttercup realizes she loves Westley only after it occurs to her that other women might also take an interest in him. After Westley leaves to seek his fortune, Buttercup begins attending to her appearance and soon begins climbing the ranks of beautiful women. After she gets news that Westley has died at sea, the pain and suffering make her even more beautiful. She agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck under the condition that she can't love him, as she can only love Westley. She spends three years at Princess School but about three months from her wedding, Vizzini, Fezzik, and Inigo kidnap her so they can kill her on the Guilder frontier. When she realizes that Westley, disguised as the man in black, is pursuing her, she reaffirms her love and agrees to run away with him—though when Prince Humperdinck catches them, she agrees to marry Humperdinck in exchange for Westley going free. When she begins having nightmares in which people berate her for hurting Westley, Humperdinck helps her draft a letter to send to Westley asking him to return. Unwittingly, Buttercup gives Humperdinck information he needs to torture Westley. Buttercup doesn't realize that Humperdinck is tricking her until days before the wedding, when she calls him out on being a coward and demonstrates that she's capable of critical thought. She remains convinced that Westley is coming to save her until the minute before he appears.

Buttercup Quotes in The Princess Bride

The The Princess Bride quotes below are all either spoken by Buttercup or refer to Buttercup. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Fact vs. Fiction  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

“I just feel better when I know what's going on, that's all,” the Turk mumbled. “People are always thinking I'm so stupid because I'm big and strong and sometimes drool a little when I get excited.”

“The reason people think you're so stupid,” the Sicilian said, “is because you are so stupid. It has nothing to do with your drooling.”

Related Characters: Fezzik (speaker), Vizzini (speaker), Buttercup, Inigo Montoya
Page Number: 101
Explanation and Analysis:

“I can feel him,” Fezzik said. “His body weight on the rope.”

“He'll never catch up!” the Sicilian cried. “Inconceivable!”

“You keep using that word!” the Spaniard snapped. “I don't think it means what you think it does.”

Related Characters: Fezzik (speaker), Inigo Montoya (speaker), Vizzini (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup
Page Number: 114
Explanation and Analysis:

This was just like any other hunt. He made himself think about the quarry. It did not matter if you were after an antelope or a bride-to-be; the procedures held. You gathered evidence. Then you acted. You studied, then you performed. If you studied too little, the chances were strong that your actions would also be too late.

Related Characters: Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck
Page Number: 188
Explanation and Analysis:

If you're going to abridge a book in the author's own words, you can't go around sticking your own in. That was Hiram's point, and we really went round and round [...] But I got Hiram to agree that Harcourt would at least print up my scene [...] So please, if you have the least interest at all or even if you don't, write in for my reunion scene. You don't have to read it—I'm not asking that—but I would love to cost these publishing geniuses a few dollars, because, let's face it, they're not spending much on advertising my books.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, S. Morgenstern, Hiram Haydn
Page Number: 195-96
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

It's one of my biggest memories of my father reading. I had pneumonia, remember, but I was a little better now, and madly caught up in the book, and one thing you know when you're ten is that, no matter what, there's gonna be a happy ending. They can sweat all they want to scare you, the authors, but back of it all you know, you just have no doubt, that in the long run justice is going to win out.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck, Goldman's Father
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:
Buttercup's Baby: 4. Fezzik Falling Quotes

We've traveled a long way, you and I, from when Buttercup was only among the twenty most beautiful women on earth (because of her potential), riding Horse and taunting the Farm Boy, and Inigo and Fezzik were brought in to kill her. You've written letters, kept in touch, you'll never know how much I appreciate that. I was on the beach at Malibu once, years back, and I saw this young guy with his arm around his girl and they were both wearing T-shirts that said WESTLEY NEVER DIES.

Loved that.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, Fezzik, Inigo Montoya
Page Number: 449
Explanation and Analysis:
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Buttercup Quotes in The Princess Bride

The The Princess Bride quotes below are all either spoken by Buttercup or refer to Buttercup. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Fact vs. Fiction  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

“I just feel better when I know what's going on, that's all,” the Turk mumbled. “People are always thinking I'm so stupid because I'm big and strong and sometimes drool a little when I get excited.”

“The reason people think you're so stupid,” the Sicilian said, “is because you are so stupid. It has nothing to do with your drooling.”

Related Characters: Fezzik (speaker), Vizzini (speaker), Buttercup, Inigo Montoya
Page Number: 101
Explanation and Analysis:

“I can feel him,” Fezzik said. “His body weight on the rope.”

“He'll never catch up!” the Sicilian cried. “Inconceivable!”

“You keep using that word!” the Spaniard snapped. “I don't think it means what you think it does.”

Related Characters: Fezzik (speaker), Inigo Montoya (speaker), Vizzini (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup
Page Number: 114
Explanation and Analysis:

This was just like any other hunt. He made himself think about the quarry. It did not matter if you were after an antelope or a bride-to-be; the procedures held. You gathered evidence. Then you acted. You studied, then you performed. If you studied too little, the chances were strong that your actions would also be too late.

Related Characters: Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck
Page Number: 188
Explanation and Analysis:

If you're going to abridge a book in the author's own words, you can't go around sticking your own in. That was Hiram's point, and we really went round and round [...] But I got Hiram to agree that Harcourt would at least print up my scene [...] So please, if you have the least interest at all or even if you don't, write in for my reunion scene. You don't have to read it—I'm not asking that—but I would love to cost these publishing geniuses a few dollars, because, let's face it, they're not spending much on advertising my books.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, S. Morgenstern, Hiram Haydn
Page Number: 195-96
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

It's one of my biggest memories of my father reading. I had pneumonia, remember, but I was a little better now, and madly caught up in the book, and one thing you know when you're ten is that, no matter what, there's gonna be a happy ending. They can sweat all they want to scare you, the authors, but back of it all you know, you just have no doubt, that in the long run justice is going to win out.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck, Goldman's Father
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:
Buttercup's Baby: 4. Fezzik Falling Quotes

We've traveled a long way, you and I, from when Buttercup was only among the twenty most beautiful women on earth (because of her potential), riding Horse and taunting the Farm Boy, and Inigo and Fezzik were brought in to kill her. You've written letters, kept in touch, you'll never know how much I appreciate that. I was on the beach at Malibu once, years back, and I saw this young guy with his arm around his girl and they were both wearing T-shirts that said WESTLEY NEVER DIES.

Loved that.

Related Characters: William Goldman (speaker), Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup, Fezzik, Inigo Montoya
Page Number: 449
Explanation and Analysis: