Introduction
In the story “Arthur and the Two Swords”, Uther Pendragon, King of the south, conceived a son who was bestowed three gifts from the powers 
of mystery; he would become the best knight, he would live a long life and he would become the greatest king his land would ever know. The child’s name was Arthur. Before King Uther died, he placed Arthur in the hands of the wizard, Merlin. One day, when Arthur was sixteen, he pulled the sacred sword out of the stone and was dubbed king of his land. Later when Arthur ruled his land (Logres), his former squire (who was dubbed a knight only to foolishly seek and challenge the great knight, King Pellinore) returned to the castle with fatal wounds. Out of rage, Arthur, too, went to challenge King Pellinore. After a vigorous fight, Pellinore disarmed Arthur. Just before King Pellinore gave the final blow, Merlin put his hand on Pellinore’s shoulder and stopped him. Merlin confessed that King Arthur was the knight he was fighting and, with that, he put Pellinore into a deep sleep. After the battle, Arthur and Merlin went to the Lake of the Fairy Palace to retrieve the sword, Excalibur and, while at the lake, they encountered the Lady of the Lake. After the brief conversation, Arthur retrieved the sword and set off to his castle in Caerleon. On his way back, Merlin told him that King Pellinore would pass by soon and was about to confront him with his new sword, but Merlin advised him not to. Arthur did what he was told and didn’t challenge Pellinore. In “Arthur and the Two Swords”, the themes revenge, violence, supernatural, and courage all appear at one point in the story. The Princess Bride is a satire fairy tale in which a man name Westley goes on a journey to rescue his true love, Buttercup from an unwanted marriage. The reason why I compared “Arthur and the Two Swords” to The Princess Bride is because the main characters go on journeys to fulfill their needs, the main characters have similar character traits, the two stories have similar themes, they have the same cliché ending and, lastly, they both include hand-to-hand combat.
Analysis of Characters
The main characters of The Princess Bride and “Arthur and the Two Swords”, Westley and Arthur, are both brave and determined. However, although they both have similar character traits, their behavior was completely different. Even though the odds were against both of them at a certain point during their journeys (when Westley confronted Humperdinck without strength and when Arthur fought King Pellinore, even though he had no weapon), they both fought on, and, in the end, they both arose victorious. Westley and Arthur were both determined to fulfill their goals. Westley didn’t give up just because Buttercup and Humperdinck were engaged, he tried even harder. He faced various obstacles before he rescued Buttercup (some of which were extremely dangerous and painful) and in the end, his determination paid off as he rode off with Buttercup. Arthur, on the other hand, didn’t face many obstacles on his way to challenge King Pellinore, but when he fought King Pellinore, he was determined to win for Sir Gryflet’s sake and he didn’t back down. Finally, Westley’s and Arthur’s behaviors are completely different from each other. Westley thinks things over thoroughly before making a decision, while Arthur acts on impulse and doesn’t think before making a decision. When Westley, Fezzik and Inigo planned to get inside the castle, Westley formed a very clever plan to scare Humperdinck’s forces away. If Westley acted on impulse and just charged at the group, he, Fezzik and Inigo might’ve been killed. Arthur, however, was very lucky that Merlin was there to save his life. Unlike Westley, Arthur charged off to challenge Pellinore without a second thought. Without Merlin, Arthur would’ve surely died, thus causing his land to be without a king. If Arthur thought things over, and formed a better plan, he wouldn’t need Merlin’s help to win his battle against Pellinore.
Analysis of Theme
A theme in The Princess Bride and “Arthur and the Two Swords” is courage. In The Princess Bride courage is shown when Westley bluffed Humperdinck into surrendering even though he had no strength. Courage can also be found in this story when Westley fights Fezzik hand-to-hand with no weapons. Westley was at a huge disadvantage due to his smaller frame and Fezzik’s huge one. In “Arthur and the Two Swords”, courage is found when Arthur still fought Pellinore even thought the odds were against him. Since Arthur’s sword was broken (due to their duel), Pellinore had an advantage because he had a weapon and he was slightly stronger than Arthur. Courage is found today when people stand up for what they believe in and when people don’t lose hope and continue their lives, even though everything is going wrong. Overall, the main messages of both stories are that life is not fair and don’t react on impulse; think things over. If you learn these lessons and follow them, it may help you later on in life. If we, teenagers, think that life is fair our whole lives, when something bad or unfair happens, we won’t know what to do.
Persuasive Argument
The story “Arthur and the Two Swords” includes conflict, suspense and imagery to improve the enjoyment and the positive reading experience of the reader. Conflict is shown when Arthur and Pellinore joust and sword fight against each other. Without this fight, the story would be boring. This fight improves the story and the way that the author wrote it will make any reader feel like they’re part of the action. Suspense is shown when Arthur and Pellinore are fighting sword-to-sword. Readers wonder if Arthur will win or lose the battle. When Merlin disables Pellinore and goes with Arthur to find the sword, Excalibur, the suspense subsides. It returns, though, when Arthur is told by Merlin that King Pellinore will be riding past them soon. We wonder if Arthur will heed Merlin’s words and not fight or engage King Pellinore King Pellinore once again and fight with his new sword, Excalibur. Suspence causes the story to be more interesting and keeps the audience content. Lastly, imagery is shown when the author described the Lady of the Lake and the Lake of the Fairy Palace. Imagery causes the reader to understand the story better and it helps aid the enjoyment of the reader.
Conclusion
“Arthur and the Two Swords” is similar to The Princess Bride by the fact that the main characters have similar character traits, the two stories have similar themes, they both have the same cliché ending in which the character accomplishes their goals and they both include hand-to-hand combat. Westley and Arthur are brave and determined, but their behaviors are completely different. An important theme in both stories is courage and ultimately, “Arthur and the Two Swords” is more appealing because of the conflict, suspense and imagery that wer
