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?

Throughout history, love and jealousy have been regarded as the two most powerful emotions that have played a huge role in a person’s fate or destiny. This is very true in Frank Stockton’s short story “The Lady or the Tiger?’’ Stockton’s princess character had vital information which led to her lover’s fate, however his reader was left hanging leaving one important question unanswered- what was his fate? Jealousy conquered love and was the strongest emotion which won out between the two. This led to the tiger coming out from behind the door, based on the princess’ semi barbaric nature.

. . 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.

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 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.

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.

One of the main characters in “The Lady or The Tiger” by Frank Stockhorn, was the semi-barbaric princess. From beginning, the unnamed princess had ambiguity written all over her, and it was generously displayed near the end of the story. The end started with the young man asking the princess in a secretive manner about who was behind each door, either the lady who he would get married too, or the tiger, by which who would eat him, including which door he should choose. The princess points to the right and the prince believes his lover without hesitation. He opens the right and the story is cut off there , leaving the reader with the question, who was behind the door? At that moment, we learn about the princess’s dilemma ; “She had lost him,

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

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

The first stanza focuses on the tigers and creates an impression of majesty and power, such as with their ‘sleek chivalric certainty’ (l.4). In psychology and literature, ‘the symbol of the cat was related to the redemption of something feminine’ , and so Rich’s use of the tigers as a predatorial and strong member of the cat family demonstrates Aunt Jennifer’s internal power that derives from her being a woman. The word ‘chivalric’ is traditionally associated with knights and military prowess, and Rich subverts this typically male adjective to the feminine tigers and their representation of Aunt Jennifer’s inner strength (l.4).