The Princess Bride

Humperdinck announces his engagement to Buttercup. He presents Buttercup to his kingdom, and she walks through the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, three of the men are planning her death. Elsewhere in the crowd, a man in a black mask watches.

Later, Buttercup goes riding and considers her engagement; she doesn’t love Humperdinck but is uncertain how important that is. On her way back, she meets three circus performers who accost her and “expertly” touch her neck in a way that makes her unconscious. When she wakes, she’s on a ship with the three men: a Sicilian, Vizzini; a Spaniard, Inigo; and a Turk, Fezzik. Buttercup pretends to sleep while the men discuss their plan to kill her in order to start a war. Vizzini reveals that he knows Buttercup is awake and touches her neck again, causing her to lose consciousness. The next time she wakes, she leaps into the ocean and swims away. Vizzini taunts her with the threat of sharks, which are drawn by the scent of blood. To drive her back to the ship, he cuts himself and drips blood into the water. At this point, Goldman interjects to warn the reader that Buttercup won’t be eaten, in case anyone was nervous. The moon comes out and reveals Buttercup’s location, and Fezzik lifts her back into the ship.

The group sails to the Cliffs of Insanity, a high rock face leading to Guilder. Inigo points out that a man in black is following them, but Vizzini refuses to believe him. They dismount, and Fezzik carries them up the cliff. The man in black follows, using their own rope to pursue them. Finally, they reach the top and cut the rope away, but the man in black clings to the rock face and begins pulling himself up with his hands. Vizzini commands Inigo to stay and kill him when he reaches the top; the others continue their journey.

The narrator shifts to Inigo’s childhood in Spain, where he lives with his father, Domingo Montoya. Domingo is a sword maker, but he’s less famous than his friend Yeste, who makes swords for rich nobles in Madrid. Whenever Yeste receives a commission that’s too challenging for him, he goes to Domingo. Domingo always refuses because he sees sword making as an art rather than a route to profit. The men argue, and Yeste pretends to prepare for suicide. Inigo watches, knowing this is part of their regular routine. They set their grievances aside, and the three of them have supper together. Domingo agrees to make the sword in secret. One day, a nobleman comes to Domingo looking to have a sword made. Domingo tries to send him to Yeste, but the man persists and reveals that he was born with six fingers on one hand. Domingo grows excited, seeing at last a true artistic challenge. He agrees to have the sword ready after one year. Throughout the year, Domingo oscillates between pride and despair until, finally, it’s ready. The nobleman returns and is unimpressed, offering less than the agreed price. Domingo refuses to sell him the sword at all, giving it instead to Inigo, and the nobleman kills him. Inigo confronts the man, and they duel. Because Inigo is only a child, the nobleman disarms him easily. The nobleman spares Inigo’s life but cuts his face twice as a warning. Yeste takes care of Inigo until he recovers, and then Inigo leaves. He returns 10 years later, having studied widely so he can beat the six-fingered man when they meet again. Yeste tests Inigo’s swordsmanship and proclaims him a wizard, the only ranking higher than a master. Inigo searches for the six-fingered man only to discover that no one knows who he is. With his purpose unfulfilled, he begins drinking heavily and falls into despair. Along the way, he meets Vizzini, who invites him into his criminal gang.

In the present day, Inigo waits impatiently for the man in black to arrive. He offers to help him to the top but confesses that he’s only waiting around to kill him. After Inigo swears on his father’s soul that he won’t harm the man until he is back on his feet, the man accepts his help, and Inigo gives him a rope to climb. After a brief respite, they begin dueling—with Inigo using his left hand to give himself a greater challenge. His opponent is better than expected, and Inigo becomes nervous. He switches to his right hand but learns that his opponent was also using his poor hand for the same reason. Eventually, the man in black defeats him and knocks him unconscious. Vizzini and Fezzik see what happened, and Vizzini orders Fezzik to stay behind and kill the man properly.

The narrator shifts to Fezzik’s childhood in Turkey; he is born overweight and grows at an unusual rate. At school, other children pick on him. Fezzik’s father pressures him to learn how to fight and goads Fezzik into hitting him. Fezzik’s father is badly injured, but when he recovers, he and Fezzik’s mother begin training Fezzik as a professional wrestler. They travel the country, and Fezzik wins every time; however, the crowd uniformly dislikes him. Soon after, Fezzik’s parents die of plague. Going on alone, Fezzik discovers how to make the crowds like him: He fights entire groups of wrestlers at a time. He is successful and content for a while, even joining a circus, but the crowds turn on him again because he has become too fast and strong. After the circus fires him, Fezzik is left alone. As he despairs, Vizzini finds him.

In the present day, Fezzik challenges the man in black to a hand duel. Fezzik tries to crush the man, but he moves too quickly. Fezzik is confused but eventually realizes that he has forgotten how to fight a single opponent. He adjusts his approach, but by then the man in black has begun choking him from behind. When Fezzik falls unconscious, the man releases him and continues on. He finds Vizzini and Princess Buttercup waiting; Vizzini is holding a knife to Buttercup’s throat. Vizzini brags about his unmatchable intelligence, so the man challenges him to a battle of wits. They pour two glasses of wine, and the man turns away and adds poison, offering Vizzini a chance to choose the one that is safe. Then they will each drink, and only one will survive. Vizzini considers all possibilities and what he knows of the character of the man in black. When they drink, Vizzini falls down dead. The man unties Buttercup and reveals that both glasses contained poison but that he is immune.

The man and Buttercup leave, and Buttercup tries to reason with him. He is hostile and bitter toward her. Buttercup tells him that Humperdinck will come rescue her, though she does not love him. When she says she used to love another, the man slaps her and accuses her of lying. They continue until they see Humperdinck’s fleet of ships lying in wait. The man continues to belittle her, thinking her incapable of love. Buttercup tells him she died along with her lover and pushes the man into a deep ravine. At the bottom, the man removes his mask, and Buttercup recognizes him as Westley. She follows him to the bottom.

Elsewhere, Humperdinck goes to the top of the cliffs where Westley and Inigo fought and tries to piece together their fight. Their movements confuse him, but he determines that the victor continued toward Guilder. Humperdinck and Count Rugen continue and discover Vizzini’s body before finding the ravine through which Westley and Buttercup are traveling. Humperdinck remarks that the ravine leads to the Fire Swamp; the narrator notes that Westley is unaware of the danger.

At this point, both Morgenstern and Goldman interject to comment on the lack of a reunion scene between Westley and Buttercup. Goldman says that he wrote his own reunion scene but could not include it for legal reasons. He encourages the reader to write to his publisher, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, requesting a copy. In Morgenstern’s interjection, he briefly touches upon the main points of their reunion—notably, saccharine language followed by arguing. As they argue, Buttercup threatens to return home but immediately retracts it. Westley realizes they’re headed into the Fire Swamp.

The narrator explains the dangers of the Fire Swamp: It contains enormous carnivorous rats, bursts of flame, and “Snow Sand,” which pulls people in and suffocates them. Westley and Buttercup enter, and Buttercup quickly falls into a pit of Snow Sand. Westley ties himself to a tree and dives after her, but the vine he used to tie himself is too short. Refusing to accept failure, he releases the vine and continues searching until he finds Buttercup and carries them both to the top. She briefly panics and then collects herself before they continue moving. Westley tells her that they are going to his ship: Since he left, he has become the new Dread Pirate Roberts. The previous Roberts spared his life, and they became friends. The pirate eventually handed down his legacy to Westley, just as the previous Roberts had done for him. As he finishes his story, they’re attacked by one of the carnivorous rats, an R.O.U.S.—Rodent of Unusual Size. Westley is wounded but fights the rat off.

Several hours later, Westley and Buttercup emerge from the swamp and encounter Humperdinck and his men. Westley knows he is beaten but prepares to go down fighting; however, Buttercup agrees to return home in exchange for Westley’s safe passage. Humperdinck agrees, but Westley feels betrayed that Buttercup has chosen safety over love. Humperdinck tells Rugen to take Westley to the fifth floor of the Zoo of Death. As Rugen knocks Westley unconscious, Westley notices that Rugen has six fingers on one hand.