Analysis Of Frank Stockton's 'The Lady Or The Tiger'

Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady?

All of Stockton’s themes were expertly illustrated through his writing style and his writing style communicated his ideas clearly. Coinciding with the theme of choices and consequences, the lady behind the door symbolizes innocence and happiness, as if they accused selects this door, they will be granted immediate innocence and marriage. If the door with the tiger is selected, the suspect will be devoured as he is considered guilty in this justice system, thus, the tiger symbolizes guilt and angriness. Most importantly, the arena is symbolic of life and the critical choices made during life. In the short story, the author makes the audience ponder who makes or influences our choices, as the young man relied on the princess to make the decision

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.

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

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

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.

The tiger emerges from the door at the end of “The Lady, or the Tiger” by Frank R. Stockton. One reason that the tiger emerges from the door is because the princess hated the lady behind the other door didn't want her lover to be with that other woman. For example, when the princess thought of how she’ll lose her lover in both ways, she thought “ would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of semibarbaric futurity”(304)? This quote showed that the princess didn't want to lose her lover to another lady that she hated so much, so the princess would rather have her lover die from the tiger and wait for her in heaven then have him fall into the hands of another lady. Another reason it is the tiger

Although the author leaves the story with a great deal of ambiguity, it is apparent to the reader that the princess chose the tiger because self gratification, jealousy, and passionate love can make people do the most unthinkable things. The princess in this story, makes decisions for her lover’s fate based on the greater love that she has for herself. Being the jealous woman that she is, she chooses that tiger in spite of the woman that threatens her happiness. Through all of these things, the passionate love that she holds for the one that she holds for her lover drives her to pick the unthinkable, the

In Paragraph 21 she describes how she felt when she imagined him running to marry the woman "How her soul burned in agony when she had seen him rush to meet that woman". This is a trait of jealousy which could give her reason to send him to the Tigers door. She also

No matter what door he opened would be the best of both worlds for both the audience and the king but not for the princess. Fortunately the princess has accomplished what she has never done before, she knew which door the tiger was behind and which door the maiden was behind. She worked very hard I must add to achieve this, as this was VERY classified information that only the king was supposed to know about. She did however know the maiden behind the door and not in a good way, she hated that woman with all her heart which only made this decision harder for

The choice he makes of the two doors solely depending on a Semi-Barbaric princess. Whose train of thought might be different from that of a person who is sound of mind. Being of her background, she would easily have led the youth to the door of the beast. Her choice would reflect these three reasons her jealousy, upbringing and her pride.