Imagine you star in a movie that is widely considered to be one of the greatest fantasy films of all time. The movie has your name in the title. You are the character whom the whole story revolves around, a story told to a sick little boy in need of a distraction as he lays in bed, home from school. You are the two most important things for a fictional woman to be according to societal standards: beautiful and marriageable.
And you’re also a princess, because that’s how these stories always work.
Spoilers ahead for the Wonder Woman film.
Those who know the secrets of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride know that he started writing the story for his daughters, one who wanted a story about a bride and the other who wanted a story about a princess. He merged those concepts and wound up with a tale that didn’t focus overmuch on his princess bride, instead bound up in the adventures of a farmboy-turned-pirate, a master swordsman in need of revenge, a giant with a heart of gold, and a war-hungry Prince looking for an excuse to start a terrible conflict. It was turned into a delightful movie directed by Rob Reiner in 1987.
The princess bride in question was played by a twenty-year-old Robin Wright.
She was as masterful in the role as the script permitted, a haughty young woman who doesn’t trust enough in love and then, once proved wrong on that front, never doubts its power again. She tells off the powerful prince, she waits for her beloved Westley, she jumps into Fezzik’s arms and rides off with her rescuers. She is every inch the romantic heroine that she must be. But Princess Buttercup’s story is not her own. It is Inigo Montoya’s, it is Fezzik’s, it is Miracle Max’s. It is the story of Prince Humperdink’s defeat and Count Rugen’s much-deserved comeuppance. It is the story of Westley and Buttercup’s love, but even that story is more concerned with all that Westley was willing to go through in order to will their happy ending into being.
Still, this princess bride mattered to many, and does to this day. Buttercup alongside Westley is a symbol of love so potent that even cynics are not immune to their charms. Her poise and fierceness are captivating, even as the film spends its emotional coin on the pit of despair and Inigo’s love of his long-dead father. And Robin Wright has led a stunning career, full of complicated and sometimes frightening roles. Most of them appear in serious dramas, riddled with complex intersections of human lives and politics. Nothing of The Princess Bride’s specific make and model (aside from a queen in a very odd retelling of Beowulf).
And then Wonder Woman finally found her way to the big screen with her origin intact, and Robin Wright emerged as General Antiope, sister of Queen Hippolyta and aunt to young Diana. In this film, she leads an army, and when her niece is forbidden by her mother to learn their ways of combat, Antiope takes it upon herself to train the girl without the permission of her queen. When they are finally discovered, the general berates the queen for leaving her only child unprepared for the future… and is given permission to continue the training program, despite her disobedience. She spends roughly centuries (millennia?) preparing the princess of Themyscira for her destiny, her calling—to be the greatest warrior the Amazons have ever produced. General Antiope, perhaps more than anyone on that island, shapes Diana into a woman who can inspire hope and empathy in others, who can venture out beyond their shores, who can put an end to world wars.
This casting choice may have been made out of amusement or even in the name of fun, but it doesn’t change the fact that Princess Buttercup is now an Amazon warrior. Princess Buttercup is the queen’s right hand. Princess Buttercup tells her sister that she is wrong to keep Diana from her heritage because she already knows what happens to women who cannot fight for themselves—
—they wind up locked away by a prince who demands their hand in marriage while he simultaneously plots their murder.
It is impossible to watch Wonder Woman without imagining what ever happened to Buttercup. What she would have survived, endured, and come to stand for as the years went by. And in that imagining, Antiope is the whispered possibility that many of us never dared to dream. What if she had grown in strength and stubbornness and power until she could train one of the greatest warriors of all time? What if Buttercup, who believed so desperately in love, had passed that wisdom on to a young girl who would hold that belief in trust for every person she met? What if that line between a princess bride and Princess Diana is as thin as a page in a storybook?
When we are very young, many of us hope to be loved as Buttercup was loved, or at least to experience some of the adventure she found. But when we are older, when we have a little more life under our belts, many of us look toward greater legacies. We hope to fight for things that matter, to teach others to do more than we could, to be good leaders and good friends. Antiope is Buttercup all grown up, with skills and discipline to match, and all the love and camaraderie she could ever need. This progression seems not just plausible, but essential. It is an epilogue of a different kind.
These women herald from different universes entirely, but this is the metafictional tale that binds them, a beautiful turn that was three decades in the making. We now live in the multiverse where one of the most beloved fairy tale princesses bloomed into the general who showed one of the world’s greatest superheroes how to fight. How to lead. How to spread the strength and compassion of her people to each life she touched. Princess Buttercup’s legacy didn’t end with a kiss, but with a sacrifice for another woman whom she loved more dearly than life. Whatever feats Diana accomplishes will be owed to that sacrifice, that bond, that love. It is little surprise that she turned out to be so spectacular; she had the most knowledgeable mentor conceivable lighting her way.
This possible future, this twist in the fabric of reality, is not a version that anyone could have predicted as the years passed. Yet somehow it feels right, or even righteous. Like a particularly beautiful chord progression, or a coat that somehow fits better long after you bought the thing. Of all the outcomes, we somehow received the reality where Buttercup moved on to master archery and serve an Amazon queen and command legions. We learned what life was like after the Fire Swamp, after the sham wedding where you never get the chance to say “I Do”, after the grandfather closes the book on your story because no one ever bothers to write past love’s triumph.
Sometimes you play a small part in a story with your name on it and get your happy ending—and sometimes you go on to play the largest part of all in the creation of a Wonder Woman. The thought that a Buttercup could morph over time into an Antiope is perhaps the greatest comfort of all, in a world where women’s roles are often limited and limiting. Let us be princesses, but let us be generals too. Let us be loved by farmboys, but also by our sisters. Let us live in stories made to heal, but also in stories made to marshal bravery, fortitude, and wisdom.
Let us keep our fairy tales, but live our lives to heights that are nothing short of mythological.
Emmet Asher-Perrin hopes that she’s halfway to living her best Antiope life. You can bug her on Twitter and Tumblr, and read more of her work here and elsewhere.
As you wish.
If only she’d been renamed to General Ranunculus. Could have gone by Rana all but once to keep the more feminine sound..
Come on, Buttercup isn’t that bad. She jumps into woman eating eel ridden waters in an attempt to escape and she throws a kidnapper off steep slope. And she bargains with the evil prince to save her love. Okay, that last was a big mistake but nobody’s perfect. Yeah, she has to be rescued – but so does Wesley. So does Inigo Montoya for that matter. And I just LOVE the look she gives Wesley when he says of the Forbidden Forest ‘It’s not so bad’.
Sorry, I meant ‘Fire Swamp’. ‘I’m not saying I want to build a vacation home here but the sunlight on the trees is really very lovely.’ And Buttercup’s look says clear as print ‘My one true love is SO full of it!’
The one thing I hold against her is her failure to help Wesley when he’s fighting the ROUS – maybe she’s genre savvy enough to know that the princess ALWAYS cold cocks the wrong man (creature) if she intervenes. Or maybe she’s so creeped out by the rat she can’t bring herself to get closer – I feel the same way about spiders.
All I know is this: bring Robin Wright’s Antiope back to like, whatever it takes. Who cares about Steve Trevor, just bring back the General.Such a huge mistake to have her killed in the first act.
* lif
Love this post, Emily!
More and more, I think I’ll have to go see Wonder Woman.
I loved Princess Bride. And I’ve loved Wonder Woman since before then. For you to think that Robin Wright was cast “This casting choice may have been made out of amusement or even in the name of fun,” vs her just being a bad ass, is not only insulting to her, but it takes away anything else you then write.
Why would she have been cast as a lark? And not simply because she is a strong, and fierce actor?
You draw connections that aren’t there, but we all can imagine, but to insult her as an actor, assuming she was cast because they thought “oh won’t it be fun if Buttercup is strong” is just plain wrong. And insulting to both Robin Wright and Wonder Woman.
Buttercup has some chops, but the story sidelines her. And walks right past hard questions like “do you still love a guy after he confesses that he’s spent the last 3-5 years of his life as a sea-going serial murderer?”
Many of the stories told about women cut off at marriage, and that is too bad, because there is life after that. Even the ghost of a story of a woman who was a perfect, appealing princess and grew into a perfect, loving, realist warrior delights me.
I saw Wonder Woman with my kids this weekend, and watching my daughter light up for the Amazons was worth the price of admission, and the probable ER visits that will result from the inspiration.
Wesley is his name, not Westley. Thank you to the other posters that got his name correct.
Since I’ve neither seen nor read The Princess Bride, I’m finding it not only possible but downright easy.
On the spelling of Westley: sorry for any confusion, but if you check William Goldman’s original book or the official site for the movie (or even The Princess Bride’s IMDB or Wikipedia pages), you’ll see that “Westley” is indeed the correct spelling of the character’s name.
@11 You have my sympathy for missing one of the most delightful stories of the 20th century, in either form. I hope you are able to rectify your loss in short order.
@11JohnArkansawyer: Inconceivable!
Kato
Robin Wright, along with Kevin Spacey is the reason to watch House of Cards. Sheer brilliance.
Hey, Emily! I usually read your post. They are often interesting and insightful. This is a lovely essay about the characters it discuss and the different paths us, women, can choose.
What happened to Princess Buttercup? She grew up to become a drug-abusing, free love practicing hippie who turned golddigger and convinced a mentally disabled man that a child whose father was most likely a random guy’s was his. And then she died.
All the princesses went on to be generals — Princess Leia, Princess Buttercup.
@JohnArkansawyer: The book is presented as the “good parts” version of a Ruritanian romance, i.e., the man reading it to his grandson leaves out the duller political bits and concentrates on the derring-do. The result is a slyly humorous, witty, romantic and exciting tale of “fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…”
The move is one of those rare and wonderful films that’s even better than the book. My favorite part is actually kind of meta. William Golding, the author, saw the film twice in 25 years: once at the premiere, and once at a special 25-year anniversary showing, when he was flabbergasted to be surrounded by a multi-generational crowd who were buzzing with excitement to be there and joyously quoted nearly every line right along with the actors! If you like that kind of movie at all it is the best movie.
More to the point, she became President of the United States.
I imagine Sean Penn toughened her up quite a bit…
If I saw General Antiope riding toward me, weapons in hand, my response would be rapid surrender, and the uttering of three words, “As you wish!”
We all know what happened to Princess Buttercup – she dumped Westley and ran off with Francis from South Carolina grew up and now she is POTUS.
Such a beautiful, lyrical piece. Thank you, Emily.
Patrick @15: You might very well think that; I couldn’t possibly comment. (I maintain that the reason to watch House of Cards is Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart. That plus the DVD extra where Tony Benn gives viewers a peerless — if you’ll pardon the expression — tour of the more colourful locations around the Houses of Parliament.)
Bob @5: Remember, you rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
I would second the comment by eight, about Wright’s casting. Additionally, the OP needed to do far more research. The film actually alters Diana’s original origin, as is done in the New 52 and, as far as I understand, continued in Rebirth. Diana’s original origin does have her made of clay but she came to life due to a pantheon of Greek GODDESSES. It’s actually unfortunate that the change was made and not really necessary excepting that the New 52 authors wanted to make Diana a literally demi-god in order to make her a literal Olympic god (which, once again, I believe is continued in Rebirth).
Personally, given Greek mythology, there are all sorts of ways to achieve pantheon status for Diana (were this even genuinely necessary) sans demi-godhood, as the myths themselves already show.
@13, 14, 19: I recently read the introduction to the anniversary edition, which was lying around the guest room at my kid’s mom’s house. It was funny and witty and gave me the impression the book itself was not my cup of tea. I’ve also seen bits of the movie, which reinforced both those impressions–funny and witty, but not written for me. I expect I’ll see the movie someday and expect I’ll enjoy it–ideally, TV and movies are a social experience for me–but I’m not likely to seek it out.
I’m really not a moviegoer or a TV watcher. The recent spate of superhero movies and shows has grabbed my interest, though. Even the failures are pretty to see, and the good ones are really, really good.
I do like music, though, and never realized this song was probably referring to that movie till now.
Just a reminder to keep the tone of this discussion civil and be respectful toward the original poster and other commenters, even while disagreeing. Our community guidelines can be found here.
In paragraph six of the essay, the author clearly references Wright’s “stunning” career. Reading the essay, it’s obvious that she’s wondering not if Wright was capable or worthy of the role, but rather if she was chosen for the role specifically because, in addition to being a tremendously capable actress, she was *also* Princesss Buttercup, and the juxtaposition of the two roles made Robin Wright as Antiope even more powerful.
What a thoughtful, fierce piece of writing. Never backing down or apologizing for love and duty, walking with a warrior’s stride into the world. “General Buttercup” doesn’t come to life until you connected the threads of possibility. Thank you for that.
This article was so beautifully written. Your skill is amazing.
It is a travesty that no one has mentioned JENNY
The story “The Princess Bride” was not written by William Goldman. It was abridged by him. His father read him the story when he was younger, and when he was older and went to read it to his children, he found that his father had skipped many boring parts. S. Morgenstern wrote the original that was hundreds of pages longer than the story we have come to know and love…
Dear Jenica,
While “The Princess Bride” is presented as Goldman’s abridgment of an older version by “S. Morgenstern“, the book, in fact, is entirely Goldman’s work. “Morgenstern” and the “original version” are fictional and used as a literary device, and also to promote the work’s Marketing. In this, his Publisher played along with the gag, at some length.
Mr. Goldman says his “Princess Bride” well ran dry, writing as himself, and through the aid of this device, he “channeled” the “earlier work,” and it all just flowed.
Mr. Goldman is my favorite current Screenwriter, and I have had many occasions watching some movie, and said “This is very good. Who wrote this?” Only to discover afterward, it was always William Goldman. It’s him here, too.
Sam
Dear Emily,
I just read your piece here, and enjoyed it immensely. Princess Buttercup later
Mentored Wonder Woman. Thematically consistent, and most enjoyable.
What a clever thinker you are!
Sam
http://samlongoria.com
@33 So we are told, yes. :)
Great idea, but should we also reference Robin Wright’s time with Forrest Gump and the events of her character in that story?
I should have loved The Princess Bride, but I feel Buttercup is the least interesting fictional character that I have ever seen. It is never made clear why Westley would love this woman. She does nothing that I can see to have made him love her either before he goes away or after he comes back as a pirate. It is true that love is difficult to understand, but it is unbelievable to me. He is such a great character. All the men who help him are spectacular. So why wouldn’t the writer be able to create a woman who could be worth of him? Why? Why? When the movie comes on TV, as if often does, I figure where the fencing scene at the top of the cliff will be, and I turn it on to see that. A writer who could write that scene should have been able to write a scene that showed the woman doing something, being something brilliant. Didn’t have to be something unrealistic to the character, but it should have been something. I am glad to hear that she morphed into something decades later, even if the only tie between the characters is the actor who plays them.
Wow, @37, thanks for a comment that only a dude could write.
Gosh Emily… I just want to hug you… what a beautiful ode to growing up strong and self-realized…. ‘let us be princesses but let us be generals too.’ You get it… you really get it. DZ
Beautiful, heart-filling post — thank you.
@33 Jenica, for what it’s worth, when a colleague was teaching The Princess Bride to her 8th grade class, I insisted that this was true, and she passed that on to her students. I was mortified when I realized I’d been bamboozled.
She wasn’t ever technically a princess in The Princess Bride, she was a commoner marrying into royalty. I’ve seen countless articles and comments about “the princess becomes a general,” and no one seems to notice this fact. She never married the prince, so she was never a princess.
Also, Westley was completely submissive to her so it’s not like the movie was enforcing traditional gender roles in terms of their relationship. He lived to serve and obey her. >_<
Why is it that only one type of strength is considered “good”? Why is it that only violence is heralded, while anything else is considered weakness?
You’ve utterly missed the point of Princess Buttercup and William Goldman’s intentions. He began Princess Buttercup as a satire of the typical Disney/fairytale Princess. Also, doesn’t it just logically make sense that a girl raised alone on a farm without any opportunity for educational advancement might be a tad naive in the beginning?
Most importantly, who says Buttercup isn’t strong? As another commenter noted, she braved certain death by leaping into eel-infested waters to escape her captors. But beyond that, her entire time imprisoned by Humperdinck is riddled with evidence of great strength. If she had acted the way you seem to prefer – grab a sword and start swinging it wildly – how long do you really think she would have lasted against a castle filled to the brim with guards twice her size? No, she made the wise move, the smart move, recognizing her situation for what it was. She was trapped, surrounded on all sides. Yet did she give in? No. Did she give up hope? No. What’s more, did she bravely stand up to a friggin’ Prince every chance she got? Hell yes, she did! She even stood up and told the truth to a King. Think about that. A King. She, a lowly farm girl, stood her ground, held her head high, and spoke truth to power. To paraphrase, she never gave in, never surrendered.
How is that not strength? She was smart, she was bold, she was cunning. That takes just as much strength as wielding a weapon. She chose the best tactics for her situation, something I think Antiope would be proud of. Not all battles can be won with the exact same tactics.
I thought feminism was about respecting ALL choices woman can make? All forms of femininity? Or is it now that only women who fight with their fists are considered feminists? Only women who act in ways previously deemed more “masculine” are to be considered strong? If so, how far we’ve fallen.