The Lady Or The Tiger? By Frank Stockton

The princess began to weep, for her lover was to die or to marry a woman she despised. She flew up and out of her seat, and she ran as fast as her feet could take her; she could not bear to see her lover’s fate. She knew the fair maiden was behind the door he was to open, and she wanted so badly to be standing in her place. She must find a way to meet him as he opened the door.

This time the subject that was being accused was his lover. The young boy had two doors to choose from, behind one awaited a young beautiful maiden that he would be set to marry if that were to be his fate, however behind another door was a hungry tiger that he would suffer at the claws of if he were to pick it. The king had arranged this entire sick and twisted affair, a quote from the short story states that “It mattered not that he already possesses a wife and family, or that his affections might be engaged upon another object of his own selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward”. The princess knew this which in turn unsettled her for she loved him with an ardor that had enough barbarism to make to extremely warm and strong. The fact that her personality was depicted as being semi barbaric and that her love for him had barbarism in it is a hint that the princess would subject her lover to death than see him with another woman.

. . burned in agony” (150) as her love runs to his reward of innocence, she chooses the door in which the tiger will appear, only because this jealous princess would not want her lover to be happy with another woman and have him kept to herself, dead or alive.

There are many reasons why the princess will make her lover go to the door with the tiger and in this story I'm going to give you those reasons. I'm only going to state three reasons why she would send him to the door with the tiger.

In addition to her barbaric nature, the princess hated the lady behind the door. The lady dared to look at the man that faniced the princess. She is extremely jealous of the lady. In paragraph fourteen the princess says, "It was one of the fairest and loveliest of the damsels of the court who had been selected as the reward of the accused youth." The princess wanted the man all to herself. She stated that she seen no problem with him opening the door to the tiger and wait for her in

At the end of the story, “The Lady or the Tiger,” the man had a choice to pick which door. The main question is which door did he pick? The one with the tiger that would lead to certain death or the door that had the lady behind it in which he would have gotten married to. I believe the princess lead him to opened the one with the tiger. Even though she would have had to watch her lover die a painful death I don’t think she could have bared to watch him be with another. One other reason it leads me to believe she picked that one is because she was semi-barbaric, like her father. It even said in the story that she enjoyed watching them as much as he did. The princess knew the game and knew that if she picked the one with the lady behind it they would be happily married.

The criminal, the princess’ ex-lover, saw a guard come close to his cell, and unlock it, the key clicked in place. Rough hands grabbed him, it was time for the final judgement, the arena; would he live, or die? As he stumbled out onto the sandy stadium, the crowd cheered, but he only looked up, to the princess. Ultimately, the real loss was of the princess, who had either a dead soul mate, or one with another woman. In “The Lady, Or the Tiger?”, Stockton’s choice of point of view brings to mind the telling of an ancient tale rather than a formal narrative, encourages the reader to keep thinking even after the original narration has ended, as does his choice in framing the exposition and the plot structure.

“The Lady, or The Tiger” by Mr. Frank R. Stockton has compelled readers for as long as time. This story ends with all wondering, so which is it, the delicate and fair young lady or the savage, fierce, wild-eyed tiger standing behind the door. This makes us ponder whether human heart chooses love or jealously. Within this essay, there will be proof that it is the stunning young woman behind the door. Although there is evidence proving that it is the tiger, in a sense there is more evidence stating that the elegant and barbaric princess allowed her real lover to continue living. To begin let us start with the small dwindling points that the tiger, lye behind the door.

…Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it. Before the gate had even reached a foot off the ground the young lover, heartbroken, watched four frantic feet pacing back and forth and heard a deep, rhythmic panting. His mind frenziedly raced with dozens of thoughts: How could you do this to me? My dear lover, do you care but only for yourself? Someone must have forced her to tell me to choose the right door! What sort of fool am I to fall in love with the fairest lady in the kingdom?! What am I to do now? Run… The tiger steadily stepped out of his dark cage, allowing the afternoon sun to warm his striped fur. He gazed first at the masses seated breathlessly around the stadium

I believe the princess pointed her man in the direction of the tiger because she was jealous and would rather have him killed then see him love another women. “But how much oftener had she seen him at the other door I don't think she could see him with another women when he's the love of her life, I think when you love someone you couldn't see yours self with someone else you wanna be with that person that you love the most.

In “The Lady or the Tiger,” by Frank Stockton, the princess dooms her lover to a painful and cruel death by telling him to open the door with a savage tiger behind it. First of all, she decides to kill her lover because she hated the women waiting at the other exit. The text states that not only has she discovered which door led to what, “... she knew who the lady was. It was was one of the fairest and loveliest ladies of the court… Often had she seen, or imagined she had seen, this fair lady glance admiringly upon her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were noticed, and even returned, by him.” The author clearly expresses that she is jealous of the lady, infuriated by how she fondly gazes upon her lover, which is further fueled by how he seems to return her stare.

In Addition, to the claim that the princess chose the tiger’s door is supported by the fact that she hated the young damsel because she knew that she had admiration toward her lover. Stockton say to the readers, “The girl was lovely, but she had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess: and, with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind the silent door”(3). The princess knew the young damsel, she was young and beautiful as well as the young man. She hated the fact that the damsel dared to show her admiration towards her lover. The princess wanted the young man to be with her and nobody else. She hated the woman and would not give her the benefit of getting married with her lover.

The author of “The Lady or the Tiger?” mentions that, “No matter how the affair turned out, the youth would be disposed of,” which means that justice would not be served, and the youth would not be with his lover anymore. The youth and the princess had been lovers until the king learned of their love affair, and wished to punish the youth. The young man was put to a trial by tiger, a trial of the king’s own creation. The lover can not be with the princess either way the trial turns out. One way is that he is devoured by the tiger and does not live to be with her. The other way is that he gets married to the maiden behind the other door and can not be with the princess. Justice is not served because loving a person should not be a crime, and

In the story “The Lady and the Tiger”, a princess is forced to make a decision that will have an awful outcome either way for her and her loved one. She is forced to judge if her lover will die at the hands of a tiger or marry another woman and never see her again, “She had lost him, but who should have him? How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started in wild terror, and covered her face with her hands?” (Stockton). If the princess just avoided conflict then she would have never had to make a decision such as this.

His fervent and imperious ways were in instilled in her since birth. Knowing the princess’s nature, the king did not just “happen” to find out about their affair it was planned. The fact was obvious, her choice in men was not one of which her father would approve. The discovery was a perfect way to ride her of the youth. She had no future.