W is for — Westley from William Goldman’s The Princess Bride 
“As you wish.”
Whenever “farm boy” Westley said these words to Buttercup, he was really saying, “I love you.” Buttercup’s realization of this ignited a love so true, it survived pirates, kidnapping, evil princes, Cliffs of Insanity, a Fire Swamp, and the Pit of Despair.
The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies, and Westley, played by Cary Elwes, is a perfect hero. He’s smart, strong, and capable, and his love for Buttercup never wavers. He’s an expert with a sword, too, which lifts him even higher in my estimation.
One of my favorites scenes in the movie is Westley’s sword duel with the Spaniard, Inigo Montoya, whom I wrote about in last year’s A to Z “I” post. The moments leading up to the duel are quite funny, too.
Elwes recently published a book called As You Wish that tells about everything that went on behind the scenes during the making of The Princess Bride. According to an article I read about the book, Bride author William Goldman spent a great deal of time researching 17th century swordfighting to create the duel, and Elwes and Mandy Patinkin, who played Inigo, spent more months learning to fence both right and left handed. Elwes and Patinkin performed every part of the duel themselves, except for the somersaults. They were trained by the legendary sword master and stunt man Bob Anderson, whose credits include being the stunt double for Darth Vader’s light saber battles and training the one and only Errol Flynn.
Photo Credit: http://www.laweekly.com/arts/12-princess-bride-secrets-spilled-by-cary-westley-elwes-5147658
© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.
Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams 
I know of this, but haven’t read it or seen the film. I thought it was funny that “As you wish” meant “I love you”! I know someone (not my husband, I hasten to add) who says “As you wish” meaning “Well, that might be what you want to do – I think it’s daft, but I suppose I’ll humour you (usually with a bad grace)”. I guess tone must be everything!
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Ha, ha, that’s funny. I’ve heard it used that way, too. Tone does make a difference. 🙂
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Fantastic movie and book. That’s cool they got to train with a master for the sword fight.
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I agree. That would be so much fun!
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I haven’t read the book or seen the movie, but it’s cool how much effort they put in the sword scenes.
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It’s a great movie, well worth watching if you get the chance.
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That was such a great movie. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know it was a book. I’ll have to read that!
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The book is quite similar, except that the ending is kind of weird. I actually liked the movie better.
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I love the movie and so do my kids though it is quite old. As for the book, I picked it up and started reading it–though I can’t remember why I didn’t finish it but I sure love the author’s wit!
Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
My Little Pony
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It’s such a good story!
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Oh, my children’s favourite film of all time, we loved it too, of course, how could one not? Read the book, too. Stage sword fighting is actually completely different to real sword fighting, it has to involve much bigger moves so they are seen – real fencing involves quick, tiny movements and is not as watchable. My son and daughter both fenced for their country, and our son also did stage fencing. ~Liz My blog is at: http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com Blogger will take you to the wrong site.
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Wow, that must have been exciting for your family. I remember watching fencing during the Olympics, and the quickness did make it hard to see what they were doing. It was amazing.
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I’ve never seen or read The Princess Bride, but good post.
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It’s a really fun movie that adults like as well as the kids.
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This is one of my favorite movies too. It’s fun and romantic, just what I like. Thanks for the information.
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You’re welcome, and thanks for stopping by!
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I can’t even count the number of times I’ve seen that movie, and it still raises my spirits every time I watch it. Come May, I’ll be diving into it again!
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Writing about it makes me want to watch it again, too. 🙂
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It feels like forever since I’ve seen this movie. I’ve gotta pull out my copy and watch it again. 🙂
Anna from Elements of Writing
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That sounds like a great idea! 🙂
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Oh my, I HAVE to read that book, I love the Princess Bride!! Thank you for the recommendation.
Have you read the book Princess Bride? It’s wonderfully funny too 🙂
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You’re welcome! Yes, I read the book. I was surprised to find it was very close to the movie. Usually movies take great liberties with the book’s content. I enjoyed both!
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I’ve read the book “As You Wish” and it has a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the film. I would definitely recommend it!
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Thanks! It sounds like a fun read!
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