The story The Lady or The Tiger, by Frank R. Stockton is about a kingdom whose ruler has put forth an intriguing problem to the public; he presents them with two doors. Behind one of the doors is his daughter, whom he had promised to marry to whoever can determine behind which door she was hiding. The other door concealed a fierce tiger which would devour the person who made the wrong choice.
The king offers an opportunity for his daughter’s future husband to test his love for her by choosing one of the doors, unguarded by either man or beast, and face whatever lies beyond it. The protagonist chooses the door which he believed concealed his lady love. The story concludes with The Lady revealing she was in fact behind the other door all along, much to The Protagonist’s dismay. This brings about The Question Of Jealousy.
The short story “The Lady or The Tiger” written by Frank R Stockton is a narrative resembling a folk tale that takes place in ancient times in a kingdom where the ruler has put forth an intriguing dilemma to his subjects: Behind one of two doors is The Lady, whom he has promised to marry to whoever can determine which door she is hiding behind. The other conceals a fierce tiger that will devour whoever chooses the wrong door. The protagonist of this story tries his luck at locating The Lady and is faced with The Question Of Jealousy when The Lady reveals she was actually hiding behind the other door all along.
The events in Frank R. Stockton’s short story The Lady or The Tiger correspond with Aristotle’s discussion on tragedy and comedy by portraying a dilemma where a protagonist willingly puts their life in danger, only to be faced with potential disaster, as well as Aristotle’s statement that tragedy evokes fear and pity from its audience . In this short story, those fears and concerns The Protagonist experiences are translated into intense feelings of jealousy when The Lady reveals she was actually behind the other door.
The Female is the source from which The Protagonist’s emotions towards this dilemma arise, in contrast to tragic works that present a problem that occurs independently from human will . In The Lady or The Tiger, The Protagonist displays his love for The Lady by choosing one of two doors in an attempt to find her. The events in The Lady or The Tiger also correspond to Aristotle’s statement on tragedy in which it arouses pity and fear in its audience. This short story evokes intense feelings of jealousy when The Protagonist learns The Lady was hiding behind the other door all along.
The Lady or The Tiger by Frank R. Stockton is a short story about a princess who has to make a decision regarding her love-life. The choice is between two doors, behind one of which resides the man she loves while the other contains a deadly tiger. The protagonist chooses between these doors without knowing what lies behind them resulting in the death of her lover either way. The story’s ambiguous ending leaves it up to interpretation whether royalty had fallen for another man or if she had simply found manslaughter romantic.
The author hints at various different theories that are supported by various clues, but fails to come out and declare any one as fact leaving this decision up to the reader which can be somewhat frustrating since they may never reach an answer before dying of old age. The story is also rather sexist as it suggests that females are fickle and caring only about their own happiness while men have to be willing to die for their beloved which can feel quite patronizing.
The short story The Lady or The Tiger was written by Frank R. Stockton which would be okay if his name didn’t sound like a euphemism for testicles but ends up being the main reason people don’t read this author if they ever happen across him in their search for classy literature. The ending of The Lady or The Tiger is ambiguous and left up to interpretation, something I find very frustrating since no one will be able to reach an answer before dying of death leaving me feeling like my life has been wasted.
The story was written by Frank R. Stockton which would be okay if his name didn’t sound like a euphemism for testicles but ends up being the main reason people don’t read this author if they ever happen across him in their search for classy literature. The ending is ambiguous and left up to interpretation, something I find very frustrating since no one will be able to reach an answer before dying of death leaving me feeling like my life has been wasted.
The story begins with two princes who are arguing over which woman to marry. They ask their father for his opinion, but he has too much respect for his sons to tell them what he really thinks, so he tells them to choose whichever woman they want and then leaves it up to fate by putting both women into separate rooms behind closed doors. The opening scene suggests that one of the two young men is envious of the other’s wealth and status as well as his future as the heir to the throne, leading us to believe that he may want to steal his brother’s future bride.
The story begins with a scene of jealousy because one of the brothers is jealous and envious of his brother for having more than he does and also for being next in line for the throne. The conflict continues as they go before their father and ask which woman they should marry and he tells them “that it rests with themselves to do as they please” (Stockton 189). The father could have helped by telling them his thoughts on who should be married but instead leaves it up to chance, essentially leaving their fates up to luck.
The issue again comes back into focus when one of the princes says “You shall wed the one of the two that you choose for a wife, and I will wed the other” (Stockton 189) The issue becomes clear again as we see that there is a selfish prince who wants an extra-marital affair. The lady or The Tiger is clearly about forbidden love from the very beginning because it deals with women being denied rights to their own bodies as well as unfair treatment between brothers.
