Buttercup Character Analysis in The Princess Bride

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:

“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), Inigo Montoya, Buttercup

Page Number and Citation: 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), Vizzini (speaker), Inigo Montoya (speaker), Buttercup, Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black

Page Number and Citation: 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: Prince Humperdinck, Buttercup

Page Number and Citation: 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), S. Morgenstern, Hiram Haydn, Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Buttercup

Page Number and Citation: 195-96

Explanation and Analysis:

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), Goldman's Father, Buttercup, Prince Humperdinck, Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black

Page Number and Citation: 237

Explanation and Analysis:

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), Buttercup, Westley/Farm Boy/The Man in Black, Fezzik, Inigo Montoya

Page Number and Citation: 449

Explanation and Analysis:

Buttercup Character Timeline in The Princess Bride

The timeline below shows where the character Buttercup appears in The Princess Bride. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...He thinks that Morgenstern would be thrilled. They look at a mold of Fezzik's fingers, Buttercup's wedding dress, and the Machine, and then they go to see the Curator. Stephen King... (full context)

The Value of Cleverness and Humility Theme Icon

In the year that Buttercup is born, the most beautiful woman in the world is a French scullery maid. She... (full context)

Buttercup doesn't care about any of this. She's somewhere in the top twenty most beautiful women,... (full context)

Some evenings, Farm Boy beats a few of the boys so they'll leave Buttercup alone. She always thanks him, and he replies with the same answer every time: “as... (full context)

Returning to the story, Buttercup's father looks out the window of their house and begs Buttercup's mother to come to... (full context)

Count Rugen asks to speak to Buttercup about the cows. She suggests that Rugen speak to Farm Boy, which piques the interest... (full context)

After dinner later, Buttercup's father remarks that Westley didn't do anything special to the cows. Buttercup's mother gives Buttercup... (full context)

Before dawn, Buttercup wakes up and knocks on Westley's hovel door. He's beautiful. Breathlessly, Buttercup tells Westley that... (full context)

At dusk, Westley knocks on the door. Buttercup adopts a fancy tone and apologizes for playing a joke on him earlier. He ignores... (full context)

Westley tells Buttercup that he loves her and has done everything for her. He says that when he... (full context)

Buttercup spends a while moping before realizing that Westley could meet a beautiful girl in London... (full context)

Then, one morning, Buttercup gets home after delivering milk and finds her parents sitting still at the table. Buttercup's... (full context)

At dawn, Count Rugen and Prince Humperdinck ride to the hill by Buttercup's farm. Humperdinck isn't sure he'll be able to marry a milkmaid, but when Buttercup comes... (full context)

...the original Morgenstern, however, this is the longest chapter and details how Prince Humperdinck declares Buttercup a princess to appease some persnickety nobles. The new miracle man works on King Lotharon,... (full context)

People fill the Great Square in Florin City to see Buttercup for the first time. At noon, Prince Humperdinck steps onto a balcony, addresses the crowd,... (full context)

Later in the day, Buttercup saddles up Horse for her daily ride. Though she's not a great thinker, she decides... (full context)

About a half an hour away from the castle, Buttercup runs into a strange-looking trio. A Sicilian with a humpback (Vizzini) explains that he and... (full context)

Inigo suggests that they tell Buttercup that they're kidnapping her for ransom, but Vizzini declares that she's awake and has been... (full context)

Buttercup wakes up and without even blinking, she dives into Florin Channel. Both Fezzik and Inigo... (full context)

Returning to the narrative, Buttercup hears the sharks thrashing and “beeping” and thinks that this is the end. Luckily for... (full context)

Buttercup is confused, as she's never heard of secret passages through the Cliffs and thinks her... (full context)

...they can cut the rope before he can use it to climb up. Inigo lifts Buttercup onto Fezzik's shoulders, ties himself to Fezzik's waist, and then Vizzini clings to Fezzik's neck.... (full context)

...and then tells him to stay behind and kill the man. After Fezzik, Vizzini, and Buttercup leave, Inigo lies on his stomach and watches the man climb. He's in awe of... (full context)

...pays strict attention, as Vizzini hates it when Fezzik thinks. Vizzini tells Fezzik to untie Buttercup and then catch up with them after killing the man in black. Fezzik rubs Buttercup's... (full context)

...view of Florin Channel. He has a picnic set out and holds a knife to Buttercup's throat and refuses to let the man explain what he wants. Vizzini says that he... (full context)

...that he switched the goblets but then keels over, dead. The man in black frees Buttercup and explains that he's built up immunity to iocane; both cups were poisoned. She's terrified... (full context)

After a while, Buttercup offers to pay the man in black whatever he wants to release her. The man... (full context)

...the man in black points out Prince Humperdinck's armada coming after them. The man pulls Buttercup along the edge of a massive ravine and they argue about whether or not Buttercup... (full context)

...to the place where Fezzik and Westley fought, he sees that Westley won and notices Buttercup's footprints. He races away, leaving Count Rugen in the dust, and Rugen catches up when... (full context)

...he didn't include a reconciliation scene on the floor of the ravine between Westley and Buttercup. Goldman cuts in and explains that Morgenstern's original is filled with comments about his wife... (full context)

...to the story, Morgenstern says that he didn't include a reunion scene because Westley and Buttercup deserve privacy, what they said was boring, and no information of import was shared. Regardless,... (full context)

...headed straight for the Fire Swamp, but he says nothing in order to avoid scaring Buttercup. Morgenstern breaks off to explain that Fire Swamps are misnamed; they're normal swamps, just with... (full context)

Westley leads Buttercup through the swamp. They both decide that the swamp isn't as bad as they've been... (full context)

Buttercup sobs for a bit and then is back to normal, but she refuses to follow... (full context)

Westley assures Buttercup that they'll be okay, since he's the Dread Pirate Roberts and she's almost a queen.... (full context)

At dusk, Westley and Buttercup reach the edge of the swamp. They can see the Revenge in the distance, but... (full context)

...Count Rugen to put Westley in the fifth level of the Zoo of Death as Buttercup approaches. She takes Humperdinck's hand and the two walk away. Westley watches her go and... (full context)

...Goldman says that the only important bits are that Prince Humperdinck starts being nice to Buttercup, relations with Guilder sour, the people idolize Buttercup more than ever, and Humperdinck is finally... (full context)

After 30 days of partying, Buttercup starts to worry that she won't survive the next 60 days of partying. Unfortunately, King... (full context)

...father reading him the book: he knew it couldn't be right that Prince Humperdinck and Buttercup got married. This upset Goldman's father and he ended their reading session for the night.... (full context)

Back in the story, Buttercup dreams that she gives birth to a baby girl. The baby tells Buttercup that her... (full context)

With 50 days until her wedding, Buttercup knocks on Prince Humperdinck's door and tells him that she made a mistake: she loves... (full context)

Prince Humperdinck kisses Buttercup's cheek and sends her away to write her letter. He decides he's going to seem... (full context)

...about his experiences in captivity and then, asks who in Guilder hired him to kidnap Buttercup. Westley says truthfully that he didn't kidnap Buttercup, so Count Rugen lights Westley's hands on... (full context)

...suffering at all, as he knows how to “take his mind away” and think of Buttercup. As the albino bandages Westley's hands, he encourages Westley to tell the truth, as the... (full context)

When he gets back to the castle from torturing Westley, Prince Humperdinck finds Buttercup waiting for him. She needs help writing her letter to Westley, which in its first... (full context)

...all the pressure to rule, start a war, and look like he's in love with Buttercup. King Lotharon continues to cling to life, which complicates things. Twelve days before the wedding,... (full context)

Buttercup knocks on the door and asks if there's any news from Westley. Count Rugen assures... (full context)

...that he'll set the dial and they'll be on their way. Westley thinks of stroking Buttercup's hair but once the Machine is on, the pain is so intense that he can't... (full context)

Fezzik tells Inigo that he came to Florin City because he wanted to see Buttercup get married and has been making good money on the brute squad. They discuss that... (full context)

...attack or kidnapping attempt by Guilder. Inigo reminds Fezzik that Guilder isn't guilty; they kidnapped Buttercup, and he believes that Prince Humperdinck hired Vizzini to do so. He also notes that... (full context)

At dusk, Buttercup goes to see Prince Humperdinck. She knocks several times and hears him yelling inside. He... (full context)

After Yellin leaves, Buttercup tells Prince Humperdinck to stop lying to her, as she knows the ships were never... (full context)

...of Death and startles Count Rugen when he bursts in. He shouts at Westley that Buttercup somehow still loves him. He pushes the dial on the machine all the way and... (full context)

...spot. At this, Yellin says that he has heard nothing of a plot to kill Buttercup and offers his resignation. (full context)

...decides to let Yellin in on the secret and says that he's going to kill Buttercup, blame it on Guilder, and put Yellin in charge of Guilder after the war. He... (full context)

...Inigo tells Westley quickly that they have about a half hour to sneak in, steal Buttercup, and kill Count Rugen. He says that there's only one castle gate guarded by 100... (full context)

Buttercup knows that Westley is coming, so she's not upset to learn that Prince Humperdinck is... (full context)

...sneaking in, Prince Humperdinck hurries the old and nearly deaf Archdean along in his service. Buttercup knows that Westley is coming as the Archdean declares the couple man and wife. Count... (full context)

...Bella arrive at the chapel just after the ceremony. Prince Humperdinck asks them to escort Buttercup to his chambers, as he needs to go deal with the attack from Guilder. Halfway... (full context)

...time it takes Fezzik to do this, however, Westley disappears. Inigo chases after Rugen as Buttercup pulls a Florinese dagger off the wall. As she puts it to her heart, Westley... (full context)

Buttercup is baffled to see Westley on the bed and not up and running. Westley suggests... (full context)

...if he puts down his sword, Westley will tie him up and run away with Buttercup, but if he chooses to fight, he'll die. Humperdinck believes Westley is bluffing, but Westley... (full context)

...his eyes again and the look in them makes Humperdinck drop his sword. Westley commands Buttercup to tie up Humperdinck as Humperdinck vows to hunt Westley. Inigo appears in the doorway... (full context)

Westley, Inigo, and Buttercup jump down one by one, and Fezzik catches them and settles them on a horse.... (full context)

...Morgenstern writes that Humperdinck begins to chase them, Inigo's wound reopens, Westley goes downhill, and Buttercup's horse throws a shoe. Goldman says that his father ended with “happily ever after” because... (full context)

...think it was important, and King says that this is why he wants to do Buttercup's Baby. Mechanically, Goldman thanks King for his time and starts to leave. King offers to... (full context)

...for Florin immediately and visits all the sights: the Cliffs of Insanity, the Thieves Quarter, Buttercup's family farm. He even goes to One Tree Island in a helicopter to see where... (full context)

1. Fezzik. Fezzik chases the madman up the mountain. The madman has Waverly, Buttercup's daughter, and Fezzik isn't doing well because he's is having a hard time climbing up... (full context)

...in this passage that indicates that Inigo learns that Humperdinck plans to kidnap Westley and Buttercup's first child, and so Inigo has to race to One Tree Island to save the... (full context)

The story picks up at the end of The Princess Bride, as Buttercup and Westley declare that they're doomed to be together while they ride away on the... (full context)

Fezzik hears Buttercup behind say, “Mr. Giant?” and realizes she's talking to him. Her horse throws a shoe... (full context)

...and as the arrow hits Fezzik and knocks him off his horse, the brutes charge. Buttercup thinks that this is the best place to die: in Westley's arms, surrounded by beautiful... (full context)

Pierre, a pirate on the Revenge, calls a Blood Clogger to work on Inigo. Buttercup takes Fezzik's thumb as they anxiously watch. Pierre turns to Westley and notes that his... (full context)

Late that night, Pierre approaches Westley and Buttercup and says that they need to leave the ship, as Prince Humperdinck's armada is after... (full context)

...hates getting water up his nose. Inigo and Westley refuse to hold Fezzik's nose, so Buttercup clamps her hands over Fezzik's nose. (full context)

...supposed to represent what Florin could be if the Florinese would stop cutting trees down. Buttercup also makes Fezzik a clothespin for his nose and with this, Fezzik learns to love... (full context)

Months later, when Westley has his strength back, he and Buttercup sit by the fire. Buttercup notes that they've only kissed up to this point. Westley... (full context)

Nine months later, Buttercup declares at breakfast that she's going to give birth at sunset. Nobody argues with her,... (full context)

By midnight, they all know that something is wrong. Buttercup's contractions are a minute apart and her back starts to spasm. She gets pale as... (full context)

Westley holds Buttercup as she grows weaker and weaker. Fezzik gasps and tries to fight as something invades... (full context)

Goldman says that he and his readers have all traveled a long way from when Buttercup wasn't yet the most beautiful woman in the world. He says that readers write him... (full context)

The Princess Bride

Buttercup Character Analysis

Buttercup Quotes in The Princess Bride

Chapter 5 Quotes

Chapter 6 Quotes

Buttercup's Baby: 4. Fezzik Falling Quotes

Buttercup Character Timeline in The Princess Bride