Character Analysis
In a surprise move, the author William Goldman includes himself as a character in The Princess Bride. That's because at its heart, this book is a story about a story. Goldman introduces what is called a frame narrative around The Princess Bride, which he claims is not his book—instead this story is one his father used to read to him when he was younger.
When his son turns ten years old, Goldman remembers loving this story as a kid and becomes determined to get his son a copy. It's only after learning that the original version is boring that he decides to create a new version that only leaves in the "good parts" of the original.
While Goldman is telling the story, we learn some things about him. For starters, the guy has a bit of a wandering eye and likes to flirt with women who aren't his wife. While eating dinner with his family, all he can think about is a girl in a bikini who flirted with him on his recent trip to California: "Sandy Sterling in her bikini was dancing behind my eyes" (I.250). Reducing a girl to her looks? That sounds an awful lot like Buttercup's problem, if you ask us. Perhaps instead of all the characters disregarding her brain, then, it's actually the result of Goldman's rewrite.
He doesn't just lust after the ladies, though, and he's also a superficial jerk who's embarrassed by his fat son, Jason. As he says sarcastically to his wife:
"Helen, the boy is overweight. All I suggested was he might leave a few potatoes for the rest of the world and stuff on this lovely prime pot roast your treasure has whipped up for my triumphant return." (I.248)
Ugh, right? All in all, the guy doesn't paint a very good picture of himself. He does, however, make it clear that appearances matter a whole lot to him—which makes us think that this is why appearances come up so much in the book. Fortunately for his wife and son, they're fictional characters, too. So Goldman fools us once again. The actual author Goldman is not a mirror image of the fictional author Goldman, which is suggested by this fictionalized family, and this leaves us certain of only one thing: The real Goldman is one clever dude.
By the end of the book, (fictional) Goldman lets on that he's formed a deep emotional connection with the characters of this story and that he hopes everything works out for them. He knows that each one of them is trying to get somewhere in their lives, and he closes the book by saying, "This time I sure hope [Morgenstern] lets them get there…" (10.464). Even to the bitter end, Goldman never admits that he's the one actually writing this story. Now that's commitment to a gag.