Princess Bride Assessment. Allegory of the Depraved

The Princess Bride is and allegory in which the main characters symbolize not only the virtues, but vices. Each person represents themselves as an extreme in a specific way positively, but also negatively. My favorite examples of this dynamic express clearly with the circus trio antagonists: Fezzik, Inigo, and Vizzini.

The character Inigo expresses this dynamic with his virtue being that of chivalry in the Middle Age sense of the word. He had a powerful instinct for loyalty, duty, honor, and an exceedingly rare level of dedication.

Many of these are a result of his interactions with his father, loyalty and dedication being shown when his father toils endlessly, wearing down even his soul; Inigo stayed during his time of need and without him, his father certainly would’ve lost hope the creation of his greatest art.

When his father is killed, he couldn’t blatantly kill his father’s defiler as it would be dishonorable and so Inigo forces a duel that leaves him scarred physically and emotionally.

His honor in battle is shown in his battle with Westly as well, extending fairness to his enemies on the level of borderline absurdity. His duty to the sword and his father’s murder is extreme, but not unwavering as time passed; this can also be attributed to his dedication. Finally, being granted reward of another duel with his long sought prey for his efforts, his famous simple line, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die”, stated by Goldman on page x, encapsulates the extent of his extreme chivalry in his 20 year culminating moment of purpose.

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As previously stated, the characters also represent a vice, Inigo certainly not an exception, with his being that of consumption. When his father is killed, Inigo immediately spends 10 years learning to kill, consumed entirely with bloodlust. His intense desire for vengeance motivated him to the height of the only living titled Wizard in sword fighting, entirely defining his identity. He became only a vessel for sharpening wrath, until he was instead overwhelmed with despondency after having not a clue of how to find the killer after another 10 years of searching. As happens too often, this all-consuming despair was replaced with the amount of alcohol, ensuring his ensnarement in the gluttony devised to lack substance, as stated by William on page x, “”. This illustrates the depth to which this self consuming cycle brings those already gasping for air, Inigo again not the exception. Only when Vizzini repurposes Inigo can he climb from his hole, for which he was grateful to a level of mild servitude. He is then also entrapped in the excitement of his deadly dance with the masked man, leading him close to his end more than necessary.

Another character that embodies the duality dynamic is the vilified villain and victim, Vizzini. His virtue is more ambiguous, but can be vaguely described as competency, potency, resourceful, analytical, and of genuine benefit to the team and it’s effective functioning.

He may be blindly confident in them, but giving due to his abilities; he was the backbone of the musketeers and it’s point of origin, impelled them to heights of renown they’d never thought possible through his impressively planned conspiracies, and was their only real chance at success beyond that point as well, capitalizing on their need for him allowing a clever hunchback ride atop the shoulders of giants that look to him for guidance. As stated by Goldman on page x, “”, showing that despite circumstances against Vizzini and being weak individually, adept resourcefulness and proficiency can grant even a rat the power of kings.

The iniquity of which Vizzini is afflicted is painfully obvious to the reader immediately upon introduction, being that of hubris of course. His pretension knows no bounds, arguing about things even he doesn’t agree with just to not be proven wrong, such as when William states on page x, “”. It is clear here he knows what is going on in reality, but continues making up lies as to what could happen again to appear as if he has all the answers and none can contribute to the group’s knowledge but he. His iconic line, “inconceivable”, was said whenever his plan didn’t go entirely according to it, as if it’s going wrong was a fault of reality itself. Vizzini tried to delay his inevitable interaction with the masked mass, but as with all delays, it lasted shortly and he was faced with uncertainty against the clever game of the dreadful pirate. His swollen head and conceit led him to believe he had tricked his poetic destruction, but after a few moments of bravado, he croaked his last boast as all the flame and the pride of man diminishes into the black oblivion; swallowed as a single drop in an infinite expanse; only under the indifferent veil of totality do we briefly lay witness to all things as they are: black and white, yet even the defiance of all illumination is but a mere flicker in this unmitigated obscurity.