Escapism In Stardust

In the early 1800s, a period movement took place as “The New Age of Revolution” in literature, and it was called Romanticism (White). It started off and continues today as a readers’ escapism, to see themselves or others performing extraordinary tasks that cannot normally be accomplished. Romance took a more of an inventive turn towards fantasy, in order to keep a reader’s attention for something bigger than himself or herself. Many stories include a quest, heroic archetypes, the trusty sidekick, and a damsel in distress, villains, and an ultimate battle scene. Escapism has evolved into other sources such as music and movies, but books prevail because they tell more of a story. Books provide more details and descriptions that draw the reader
into the story and provide another realm for the reader to indulge in. In the Princess Bride and Stardust, the attraction of romanticized adventure stories exists due to a thirst for fantasy to escape reality.
No doubt, a classic such as The Princess Bride helps to create a basic need and reference for a romantic framework. Westley, a poor stable servant, falls in love with the girl and goes on an epic quest to win her back, going through pirates, magic spells, epic sword fights, drinking poison, and defeating the Prince who kidnapped her. The traditional archetype of a hero involves the character to struggle against an opposing force in order to restore harmony. In The Princess Bride, Westley goes out to find his true love. Most heroes have an ability that puts them above the rest. For Westley, he overcomes many obstacles such as sword fighting the best swords man, and fist fighting the world’s strongest man, winning both times. The reason for his quest is Buttercup, who is the archetype of a damsel in distress. Prince Humperdinck, the villain archetype, who sends out men to kill Westley, kidnapped Buttercup. Through these events, Westley befriended the two men who tried to kill him, Fezzik and Inigo. A third man, Vizzini he killed. The two men turn into the sidekick archetype to help guide Westley back to Buttercup. The Prince also has a sidekick, Count Rugen, to help complete evil tasks. In the book, Inigo has a small quest to kill the Count due to his father’s murder. What makes the book more interesting to readers is the dynamic and interactions between the characters. Quick wit, hilarious jokes, and memorable quotes aid the tory to grab the reader’s attention. Readers tend to pick up books that give them characters to relate to or characters with personalities that they cannot help but fall in love with. For example, Westley presents himself as a calm, collected man who uses snappy remarks towards his opponents that make the reader laugh. He also has extensive knowledge and strength that the reader wishes they posses. “Researchers have discovered that words describing motion also stimulate regions of the brain distinct from language-processing areas (Paul, “Your Brain on Fiction”).” Sensory images help to create a better connection to the story. For women, Buttercup becomes a strong character that they attach to. Buttercup makes her own decisions, whether right or wrong, and uses her fierceness and stubbornness to her advantage. People want to read how Buttercup chose Prince Humperdinck over Westley and their heart breaks along with Wesley’s over the devastation. According to a study, people who read fiction novels connect to characters and become more moral in reality. “Keith Oatley, a professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, reported in studies published in 2006 and 2009 that individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and view the world from their perspective (Paul, TIME Magazine).” Especially in young children, their minds are more susceptible of influence and change from reading fantasy. In the book, the author inserts himself as the narrator and takes out long boring overly detailed things in The Princess Bride as he is telling this to his child. “Goldman was telling their two daughter a bedtime story when one requested a story about a princess, while the other requested one about a bride. Goldman decided to mix the two, and created the novel that became the favorite of his works (Pickrell).” His children helped to inspire a fantasy novel that soon would be a treasured favorite among readers.
Meanwhile, the book Stardust creates a whole new setting in the fantasy world.
Neil Gaiman sets the story with a Victorian time tale, giving a chosen hero, Tristran Thorin, a quest to find a fallen star for his one true love. Gaiman uses this common trope that most fantasy stories have to build a structure, and once he gave the character a journey to go forth, Gaiman was able to play with the plot line to make it his own. Amy Allison’s review on his work “Overcoming a slow beginning and occasionally clunky dialogue, Gaiman ends up pulling off a feat of storytelling, whose spell lingers like a dream upon awakening (Allison).” Allison tells how through the trope, Gaiman skillfully writes a mystical and “conjuring the unearthly beauty and terror of the world where Tristan discovers his destiny (Allison).” Within the story, Tristran enters a world of magic, like how the reader feels when they open the book. Tristran advances through the magic world called Faerie and comes face to face with creatures, magical forests, witches, princes, a fallen star, a unicorn, and sky pirates. Neil Gaiman wrote an article explaining how this book was for adults, due to the primary focus towards adults. For example, “At the end, he would have pulled out, but she held him inside her, wrapped her legs around him, pushed against him so hard that he felt that the two of them occupied the same place in the universe (Gaiman 28).” Typically a novel that displays this content was not suited for children
and adult readers are drawn more into the fantasy of something that was made for them. The quote helps the reader get a sense of curiosity and thrilling imagery, even if may become awkward for a few moments. Gaiman Believes that taking a new approach on writing fairytales or fantasy will grab the reader’s attention more than the same old retelling of a classic tale of man saving woman. In the novel Stardust, Tristran meets the star and as readers, expect an air of gentleness and grace to her. Instead, the readers are given a grief-stricken girl who spews out curses and insults towards Tristran. A typical archetype involves the girl to be a damsel in distress or become the love interest to the main character. However we are not introduced to the star in that manner. She becomes more of a damsel in distress because of Tristran. The reader cannot help but love the character’s dynamic and how the character’s persona develops in the story. General reviews about the book Stardust help drive the initial feeling of fantasy escapism. “It’s hard to review a fantasy book that makes you feel like a child again as easily as Neil Gaiman’s Stardust does. Gaiman’s narrator’s voice in Stardust is like a rascally father tucking you into bed and winking as he gives you bits of wonder and temptation (Sullivan).” About Entertainment wrote a general review about the book, praising it for its ability to indulge the adult reader into a book to make the reader feel “like a child” and feel at home when reading. Certainly, the dynamic characters play a key role in bringing the book to life, such as when one of the Princes stays near a seaport to escape his brother, Gaiman talks about how the “whores in Scaithe’s Ebb” are married to different men in ships. Basically stating the women are married to different men, and the men when they return back rom sea, want to spend time with her, unless he finds another man with her, then a fight breaks out. This writing can often demonstrate a person’s desire for more than one partner in life, and gives the reader a little bit of an interesting town. Another instance with the books dynamic characters is when the reader is first introduced to the Star. “And there was a voice, a higher clear, female voice which said, “Ow,” and then, very quietly, it said, “Fuck,” and then it said “Ow,” once more (Gaiman 69).” Another archetype that the reader gets introduced to is the villain. The typical witch who wants the star’s heart to gain youth again. Besides the witch, the princes of Stormhold also are looking for the star, but only for the topaz she holds. The princes are to busy killing each other than actually finding it. An introduction like that leaves a good first impression on the reader, having the reading wondering what to expect from this character next.
Furthermore, the popularity of both books resulted in live action productions.
The Princess Bride turned into a classic movie with its famous quotes and wisecracking dialogue that was well executed by talented actors. With the word “Inconceivable,” people cannot help but remember the book, or even retort back with the quote “Hello. My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die (Goldman 69),” said by the talented Mandy Patinkin. Memorable dialogue such as the ones in The Princess Bride, gives people a sense of nostalgia. The actors of the movie loved that they had a chance to act in such a fantastic film. For example, “Mandy Patinkin has said that the role of Inigo Montoya is his personal favourite over the course of his entire career (“Trivia” IMDb).” The popularity of the movie helped to further push the desire to read the book. The Princess Bride turned into a classic story both in book and movie. However, Stardust became more of a cult classic when production hit the theaters. According to IMDb, reviews only gave the movie 7.7 stars out of 10 (Stardust IMDb), while The Princess Bride received 8.2 out of 10 stars (TPB IMDb). Stardust had success in the box office, while The Princess Bride had not in the beginning. The Princess Bride picked up steam and grew onto people with its satire and adventurous plot. Stardust included a well-rounded cast with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ian McKellen, while introducing new actors. Matthew Vaughn wanted an
unknown actor to play Tristran Thorin, and when big names were casted, Paramount allowed Vaughn to cast who he wanted (“Trivia” IMDb). Gaiman took the common trope of a boy going on a quest for his true love and morphs it into a mystical and magical journey of laughter, awkwardness, and adventure. Gaiman writes his female characters with such dynamic and love and the men with clumsiness yet heroic standards that readers cannot help but love the characters, or even hate. Both books developed through the basic trope of a fantasy novel. A hero must go on a quest in order to get a sense of purpose or to save his one true love. However both books took their own twist and turns on the stereotypical trope and created a novel that helps the reader feel a sense of escapism. Escapism includes a person wishing they were someone or something else (Feel Happiness). It also becomes a great way to relieve stress to help get away from daily troubles. Escapism allows people to not deal with the reality they are stuck with and create their own desires and dreams. According to aeon, “the act of escaping into our imagination is at best a temporary retreat from reality into fantasy. But in the idealist view, the same act of imagination can reshape our reality (Walter).” People manifest into a world outside their own to create an “above themselves” fiction story. Fiction detaches our reality and indulges readers into a story that transitions their own lives and helps to create a better reality. According to recent studies, “Neuroscientists have discovered that reading can improve brain function on a variety of levels (Bergland).” Studies show that reading helps to improve vocabulary, intellectual speech patterns, creativity, memory process, and visualization. However, with escaping to a new book, readers must come back into the real world and face the reality they live in. Indulging to far into a book can create problems such as depression, loneliness, and social anxiety/retraction (Feel Happiness). Nevertheless, many writers, producers, and musicians create their works for that exact reason and simple pleasure. Therefore, The Princess Bride and Stardust will remain a classical book for centuries to come for people to escape into a new world both Gaiman and Goldstein had created based on a stereotypical trope.
Ultimately, both of these books indulge people into wanting more in life to feel self-worth and get absorbed into the story. Escapism within the books leaves the reader feeling exhilarated and wanting to experience their own adventure, and find their own quest to set upon. Romanticism evolved throughout the years as writers produced stories of their own desires and created works of art revolving around fantasy and fictitious notions, that people cannot help but feel a sense of belonging. Both Stardust and The Princess Bride use traditional tropes but morph it into a whole new take of typical romance to include mystery, magic, humor, friendship, misfortune, and good versus evil.