We're sure you've been out in public and seen two people so in love they can't keep their hands off each other. You tell them to get a room, but you have the impression they're not listening all that much.
Yeah, it's gross, and probably doesn't need to be taking place on a park bench outside the Children's Zoo, but there's no denying the intensity of the affection in The Princess Bride. Westley and Buttercup are like the ultimate PDA couple. They're making out at the bottom of a hill. They're making out in the prince's bedroom. They're making out on a white horse. Man do those two…appreciate each other.
It might trigger your gag reflex to see two people so all over one another, but the fact is that this is—according to our narrator—the greatest love of all time. So if they're not going to be a bit demonstrative, who is? They can't leave it all to Kim and Kanye, can they?
Questions about Love
- What's the difference between the love Westley and Buttercup feel for each other and the love between the grandfather and the grandson? Is it even right to use the same word to describe two such totally different feelings?
- Why did Westley use the words "as you wish" in place of "I love you"? Wasn't it a bit cowardly to not come out and say how he felt?
- Is there such a thing as "true love," or is that a concept reserved only for fairytales?
- Was Inigo's goal to kill Count Rugen motivated more by anger, or by love for his father?
Chew on This
If Buttercup really loved Westley, when confronted by Humperdinck outside the fire swamp she would have let him fight to the death for her honor (as he wanted to do). Allowing him to surrender just so he didn't get killed was selfish of her.
Miracle Max and Valerie's relationship is more impressive than that of Westley and Buttercup because, although they fight, their love has withstood the test of time.