the lady or the tiger essay

The Big Decision In the short story “The lady, or the Tiger?” author Frank R. Stockton presents a barbaric

king who has a unique way of punishment. A punishment that takes place in an arena while all the people of the kingdom watch. Inside of a public arena are two doors in one door is a savage lion and in the other there is a beautiful woman ready to marry the man who opens the door. The king has a daughter in which both share the same personal characteristic, semi barbaric. She was in love with a poor man, but the king did not like the idea of loving such man. He took a decision of sending him to the two doors to decide his own fate which door will he choose? The princess has the answer that for love, despair and power can give it to his beloved man.

Love is a powerful weapon that can numb your mind. The princess hated the maiden who had been assigned to her lover, if he chose the right one. However, no matter how much hate and jealousy she has inside, love is stronger than anything. Frank points out, “she loved him with an ardor that had enough of barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong.” The semi barbaric princess loves the man with all her heart. When you love someone with no limits you put his necessities first than yours. It is better to see him happy with another person than to see him die in her eyes, blaming herself for the rest of her life.

Anything to save his life in big despair. She was smarter and clever like her father who was the king. Without her father knowing she found the trick of the doors. A person who did not care about your death would not have worried so much about getting the secret that can saved

your life. She is a human being that is in love “How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started in wild horror, and covered her face with her hands, as she thought of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited the cruel fangs of the tiger!” Those are little details that help us understand the despair of the princess.

Power is another reason that the author gave us to believe that the princess has everything under control. As the daughter of the king she can have certain things done. With the facility that she had finding the answer of the doors, she can do another great thing. She is a semi barbaric princess that in seconds can finish the life of the other woman. Her father loved her more than anything. Stockton shows us, “As is usual in such cases, she was the apple of his eye, and was loved by him above all humanity.” With the love and power of her father everything can be solved.

We cannot give up on love. The princess had a big heart capable of doing anything for her man. She moved the world trying to find the answer to saved him. Also, who says that in the future they cannot be together again. “Which came out of the opened door, ‐‐the lady, or the tiger?” Love, despair and power is what makes the lady to exit the door and not the tiger.

Work cited Stockton, Frank. “The lady, or the tiger?” East of the web.

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short‐stories/UBooks/LadyTige.shtml. “Literary Criticism: Frank Stockton's ‘The Lady, or the Tiger?".” DaRK PaRTY ReVIEW,

May 2007, darkpartyreview.blogspot.com/2007/05/literary‐sketch‐frank‐stocktons‐lady‐ or.html.