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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Princess Bride, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fact vs. Fiction
The Value of Cleverness and Humility
Love, Loyalty, and Friendship
Authorship and Storytelling
Fairytales and Growing Up
Summary
Analysis
Goldman explains that this is the first place where he seriously cut Morgenstern's material. Morgenstern opened this chapter with 66 pages of Florinese history, and Goldman can't understand his reasoning. He suggests that Morgenstern might have just been interested in the story of the monarchy, and he accepts that cutting this out is going to earn him the ire of every Florinese scholar in the world. He says he'll have to accept that the Florinese scholars at Columbia have ties to the New York Times Book Review.
When Goldman ties the Columbia Florinese scholars to the New York Times Book Review, it again reminds the reader that both he and Morgenstern are part of a wider publishing community—one that depends on advertising and making money, which he suggests this book won't do given that the Florinese scholars will keep it out of the review.
Themes
Back in the story, Morgenstern writes that Prince Humperdinck is shaped like a barrel and is pure muscle. The only thing he loves is hunting, and he doesn't go a day without killing something. He used to travel the world to hunt, but once King Lotharon's health started to decline, Humperdinck and Count Rugen built the Zoo of Death. It's five underground levels full of creatures to hunt. The fifth level is empty and was designed to hold something as dangerous and powerful as Humperdinck.
The Zoo of Death is something that allows both Humperdinck and Rugen to feel especially intelligent. It solves the problem of Humperdinck's absences, while also giving Humperdinck the ability to practice hunting in a controlled environment—in other words, he can slowly build up his skills until he's ready to tackle something on the fifth level.
Themes
One afternoon, Prince Humperdinck is near the end of a fight with an orangutan. The creature is finally beginning to weaken as Count Rugen interrupts and tells Humperdinck that he has news. Prince Humperdinck cracks the orangutan's neck, killing it, and then Rugen explains that the doctor has declared that King Lotharon is dying. Prince Humperdinck is annoyed; this means he has to get married.
Prince Humperdinck's annoyance at hearing that King Lotharon isn't doing well speaks to the kind of person he is: he's not especially caring, especially when the people around him make it so that Humperdinck has to take time away from the things he loves best—in these case, killing endangered animals.
Themes
