English Curriculum Speech I believe that the ENG 3U1 curriculum would benefit from the addition of a movie by the name of The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride was directed by Rob Reiner and screenplay was written by William Goldman in 1987, who also wrote the same 1973 novel the movie is based off of. It follows the adventures of a peasant named Westley and his journey into a fantastical world filled with pirates, royalty and miracles. The story starts off with Westley falling in love with a princess, but eventually having leave in order to join a ship’s crew. Several years later, Westley’s crew was apparently killed off by a man by the name Dread Pirate Roberts. The princess on the other hand, was forced to marry the Prince of Florin Humperdinck,
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It has tragic elements and overall fits nicely into the archetypal and “The Hero’s Journey” theories we’ve been discussing throughout the semester. For starters, Westley falls under the typical Jungian archetype of a hero. He had a strange upbringing, as he was raised by pirates after his supposed death. Upon returning to Florin several years later, he finds his “kingdom” corrupted and left desolate by Prince Humperdinck. He is reintroduced into the world of Florin when he decides to rescue Buttercup and the ultimate boon happens when he defeats Prince Humperdinck and saves Buttercup. Speaking of Buttercup, she falls into the platonic ideal archetype; Where Westley is not necessarily just attracted to her physical appearance, but he connects to her spiritual and intellectual as well. These two characters form the star-cross lover archetype that help drive the story; It’s when two individuals start an ill-fated relationship that ultimately ends with the death of either or both individuals. In this case, it was Princess Humperdinck torturing Westley to the verge of death after learning about their relationship. Finally, most of the other characters in this movie fall under the warrior archetype, relying on strength and fighting in order to get what they want. For example, the kidnappers Fezzik and Inigo are great examples of this …show more content…
In both works, the main character undergoes a drastic evolution in their characters. The timid and relatively weak farmhand Westley becomes the feared swashbuckler Dread Pirate Roberts and the poor and insignificant James Gatz takes on the new persona of Jay Gatsby, the rich and influential man of West Egg. In addition, both Westley and Gatsby have to overcome the barrier of social class in order to be with their love interest. Westley is unable to be with Buttercup because at the beginning of movie he’s simply a peasant and Gatsby was initially poor when he first meets the rich and remarkable Daisy. The main antagonist in both works are also high class individuals, who act like foils to the protagonist, in the form of Tom Buchanan and Prince Humperdinck. There is also an overarching theme of revenge in both works. In The Princess Bride, it’s Inigo is trying to take revenge on the count that killed his father and Westley going against Humperdinck. While in novel, it’s Gatsby trying to take Daisy away from Tom, as well as Wilson’s rage drive
It has tragic elements and overall fits nicely into the archetypal and “The Hero’s Journey” theories we’ve been discussing throughout the semester. For starters, Westley falls under the typical Jungian archetype of a hero. He had a strange upbringing, as he was raised by pirates after his supposed death. Upon returning to Florin several years later, he finds his “kingdom” corrupted and left desolate by Prince Humperdinck. He is reintroduced into the world of Florin when he decides to rescue Buttercup and the ultimate boon happens when he defeats Prince Humperdinck and saves Buttercup. Speaking of Buttercup, she falls into the platonic ideal archetype; Where Westley is not necessarily just attracted to her physical appearance, but he connects to her spiritual and intellectual as well. These two characters form the star-cross lover archetype that help drive the story; It’s when two individuals start an ill-fated relationship that ultimately ends with the death of either or both individuals. In this case, it was Princess Humperdinck torturing Westley to the verge of death after learning about their relationship. Finally, most of the other characters in this movie fall under the warrior archetype, relying on strength and fighting in order to get what they want. For example, the kidnappers Fezzik and Inigo are great examples of this …show more content…
In both works, the main character undergoes a drastic evolution in their characters. The timid and relatively weak farmhand Westley becomes the feared swashbuckler Dread Pirate Roberts and the poor and insignificant James Gatz takes on the new persona of Jay Gatsby, the rich and influential man of West Egg. In addition, both Westley and Gatsby have to overcome the barrier of social class in order to be with their love interest. Westley is unable to be with Buttercup because at the beginning of movie he’s simply a peasant and Gatsby was initially poor when he first meets the rich and remarkable Daisy. The main antagonist in both works are also high class individuals, who act like foils to the protagonist, in the form of Tom Buchanan and Prince Humperdinck. There is also an overarching theme of revenge in both works. In The Princess Bride, it’s Inigo is trying to take revenge on the count that killed his father and Westley going against Humperdinck. While in novel, it’s Gatsby trying to take Daisy away from Tom, as well as Wilson’s rage drive