Chapter+08+Social+Stratification



Social stratification – a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy The hierarchy in the Princess Bride ranks the king, queen, and Prince Humperdinck on top. Right below them is Prince Humperdinck’s brute squad who follow his every command. At the very bottom of the hierarchy are the peasants who have no say in the rulings of Prince Humperdinck.

Blue-collar occupations – lower-prestige jobs that involve mostly manual labor At the beginning of the movie, Westley had a blue-collar occupation as a farmhand. He did mostly manual labor around the farm under the command of Buttercup. It was a lower-prestige job and he probably didn’t get paid much for it.

Intragenerational social mobility – a change in social position occurring during a person’s lifetime Buttercup demonstrates intragenerational social mobility by changing her social position. She does this by going from a mere peasant to a princess. She was chosen by Prince Humperdinck himself to marry him and become princess of Florin. By changing her social position, she rises to the top of the hierarchy.

social mobility: a change in position within the social hierarchy Buttercup experiences social mobility when Prince Humperdinck chooses to make her his bride. She is named Princess Buttercup and is moved into the palace. This was the only way to experience social mobility at the time because hard work was not a way of moving up the social ladder.

wealth: the total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debts Prince Humperdinck had wealth because he did not have any debts. He was also ruler of the kingdom so if he had debts he was able to take from the wealth of others through taxes. He will keep his wealth until his country goes completely broke.

income: earnings from work or investments Westley felt that his income was not enough to support Buttercup. He leaves her for awhile to be able to find a better source of income. He does but it takes him a long time to come back with that income to marry her.