'The Lady Or The Tiger?'

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.

All in all, the tiger will emerge from the door on the right because like most women, this princess will do almost anything for her own happiness and to keep the one she loves. That is why she chooses death of her lover, the accused man, over giving the man a life happy with a lovely damsel. She assumes that if he shall die of being eaten, they will meet once again happy in love. He will love her and only her, and not be married or be in love with another woman. The princess’s mission is accomplished.

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

‘The Lady or the Tiger?’ The choice had to be made because one so innocent was guilty of falling in love with a princess, causing the princess to fall for him too. This union of a worthless commoner and a semi- barbaric princess was unacceptable for the princess’s even more barbaric father, the king, as ‘never before had a subject dared to love the daughter of a king’. (pg. 34) The decision was made and the date was set, the youthful soul was sent into the arena and fate decided the rest. If he had died or if he had lived, he was lost to the princess forever. The princess chose to kill her lover and save herself the misery of having to see him share a life with another. That day in the arena, the guilty opened the tiger’s door.

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.

(HOOK) The characters that are present in short stories can leave an imprint on one’s vision of literature for an eternity. (CI) These memorable characters have made an impact on the way I view literature, primarily because of the way that I have been able to relate to them. (GS1) One character is a powerful, but envious princess. (GS2) Another is an abandoned orphan who seeks for love and companionship through his honesty and openness. (GS3) A final character shows her aptitude for her passions, but often finds herself quarreling with those that are closest to her. (GS4) When I read the stories involving these characters, I see myself in their places. (GS5) I relate to a multitude of their traits and characteristics, whether they are positive or negative. (THESIS STATEMENT) I can best relate to the short story fictional characters of (I) the princess in Frank. R Stockton’s “The Lady, or the Tiger?”, (II) Jerry in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s “A Mother in Mannville”, and (III) Waverly Jong in Amy Tan’s “Rules of the Game.”

…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

In “The Lady or the Tiger,” the princess’s lover chooses the door which leads him to the tiger. To elaborate, in this story, anyone who is discovered to have done a crime must decide their fate between two doors. If they chose the door with a blood thirsty tiger, they would be considered guilty and would be dead. On the other hand, if they chose the door with the marriage of a beautiful girl, the person would be considered innocent and would live. Because the King disapproved of the man who loved his princess, which was a crime, he let the man go into the arena in order to decide his fate. However, the princess knew the outcome of each door, and the man knew her nature and expected her to give him a hint. Thus, the princess hinted the door on

one of my reasons why I think the lady choose the tiger is because even though she loves this man she can't seem to see him with another women, That would just be to much for her in my point of view and I don't think he could even love another woman when he's love of his life is the kings daughter

In the story “The Lady or The Tiger” a princess is forced to watch her lover choose his destiny. The king is described as semi-barbaric because he shows compassion towards the accused. He allows them to choose their own fate by letting them pick a door, one with a hungry tiger and the other which contains a beautiful woman who he would marry on the spot. The man in the story finds himself in this situation after the king discovered he was having a love affair with his daughter. At the end of the story the princess is torn and she cannot decide if she should guide the man to life or watch him die.

Frank Stockton’s short story “ The Lady or the Tiger” is about how a “semi-barbaric king” punishes those who commit a crime by putting them in an arena.The accused must choose one out of two doors. He will either open one of the doors awaited by the beautiful bride who was searched all over the land to find the perfect fit for him. Or open the door that holds a vicious beast that is about to attack him and devour him in a split second. A handsome young man in this kingdom ends up on trial because he dared to love and win the king’s daughter’s heart. The princess having a “ soul as imperious and fervent as the king” ,knows which door holds the vicious beast and which holds the beautiful bride. There is supporting evidence that the

In the story, “The Lady or the Tiger”, by Frank Stockton, a princess is forced to determine the fate of her soulmate by sending him to death by ravenous tiger, rather than letting him be wed to another. In this relentless battle between love and jealousy, the author says, ¨…and, with all of the intensity of the savage blood passed down to her through her long lines of completely barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door.¨ This quote clearly conveys the king’s daughter of having an extreme antipathy for the woman. This is why she would not choose her. The passage also talks about the nights leading up to the trial; ¨But how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! How in her nightmarish

would have had an alternate ending. While the young man was reaching his hand to open the right door, he changed his mind. As his heart was tightened with the strong love of the princess, he thought that dying by the tiger would rather be better than betray his lover. So, he went right to the left door and opened it. A few minutes after, a beautiful, lovely lady came out. Then the young man knew that he was betrayed by his lover, the