The Princess Bride is a story of prospective war, adventure, friendship, and most of all true love. Westley and Buttercup have entered the hearts of anyone who knows that story. Prince Humperdinck on the other hand is viewed as cruel, conniving, and cowardly.
What would you think if I told you that, like Westley and Buttercup, Humperdinck is only trying to do what he thinks is right? That he is not cowardly? And that his conniving comes from a place of deep-set insecurity?
Prince Humperdinck the Hunter
If you’ve seen the movie The Princess Bride, you know that Prince Humperdinck is a good tracker. The book emphasizes that the Prince’s only love is hunting. If it were up to him, the Prince would spend all his time traveling the world in pursuit of a creature “as dangerous and fierce” as himself. As it is, his father is dying, and he needs to rule Florin in his stead and be king someday.
The Zoo of Death is something that is left out of the movie, it would have been distracting in the format. This zoo houses any animal that Prince Humperdinck’s hirelings are able to bring back. There are various levels to the zoo and as you go deeper underground the animals get more dangerous. The fifth level is empty in wait of the fierce and dangerous creature.
Why do I mention the Zoo of Death? Because that is where Westly ends up after the Fire Swamp, on the fifth level. In the book after Westly describes “to the pain”, Prince Humperdinck even says he surrenders because he’d rather hunt Westly. The Prince has found his dangerous creature and lost to him.
Prince Humperdinck the Prince
I’ve mentioned already that the Prince is ruling Florin in his dying father’s stead. I’ve even hinted that he’d rather be off hunting, which is completely true. The only reason he built the zoo in the first place was because he wasn’t going to give up his passion to fulfill his responsibility.
Prince Humperdinck has an ingrained understanding of and desire to fulfill his responsibilities to his country. This includes providing an heir to his throne. When he approaches Buttercup about marriage, he reassures her that it needn’t be a marriage based on love because he could never love her either. That is why she agreed.
It glosses over most of this in the movie, but the hints are there. We know Humperdinck’s father is dying and we see him pouring over papers and giving orders. As in the book, he tells Buttercup that he’s growing to love her (which is only a ploy), and this shows that he didn’t when he proposed, and she knew.
Prince Humperdinck the Insecure
I haven’t mentioned the planning of the war on Guilder yet and that’s because it has to do with Prince Humperdinck’s greatest insecurity. The Prince doesn’t want to be laughed at by his people or other kingdoms. He always wants to look good.
Why does this translate to war on Guilder? It tells us in the book that he was originally supposed to marry the Princess of Guilder. She showed up to his welcome feast wearing a hat. This was blown off her head and briefly showed that she’s bald. Scared of being laughed at for having a bald wife, Humperdinck sent her away in a temper and started planning a war.
Is this petty? Yes. Do people do crazy things over petty situations? All the time. Insecurity can do that to a person. It’s this same insecurity that leads him to pull the lever on the machine when Buttercup calls him a coward. He has gone up against all manner of dangerous beasts and to call him a coward is the same sting as being laughed at.
Why Does This Matter?
The Princess Bride has always been one of my comfort movies. Even so, until I read the book, I never understood why Prince Humperdinck wanted to go to war with Florin. I never really understood anything about him. Then I read the book and it all became clear. Prince Humperdinck is a lot more complicated than people give him credit for.
That doesn’t mean that the movie’s bad. It is one of the best book to movie adaptations out there. The movie only leaves out background information that disrupts the flow of the story. Unfortunately, that leaves out some of the character’s motivations including Prince Humperdinck.
Yes, he is obviously the main antagonist of this story. No, I am not trying to justify what he does. I’m just trying to point out that things are not always as they seem. Even an antagonist like Prince Humperdinck has a background story to tell.
