The Lady, or the Tiger?

I would argue that the primary theme of “The Lady, or the Tiger?” is choices. The fact that the title of the story poses a question leads into this theme. For starters, the king has made a choice...

The lady and the tiger are alike in that each is a living creature who represents poetic justice. They are alike in that their presence will have an impact that decisively changes the life of the...

The young man is thrown into prison for falling in love with the princess, the much beloved daughter of the king. The young man is brave and handsome, but lowborn. The princess falls in love with...

“The Lady, or the Tiger?” is a short story written by Frank R. Stockton in 1882. It takes place in a land where a king presides over court using chance to determine people's innocence or guilt....

Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady, or The Tiger?" is full of irony. Here are three examples of irony that are characteristic of the narrator's darkly comic tone. First of all, in the first...

In Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" the third person narrator indicates the princess, the daughter of a semi-barbaric king, was very much in love with the young man: This...

There are five main characters in Francis Richard Stockton's story "The Lady or the Tiger?" The story is written in the style of a parable or fairy tale, so the characters do not have individual...

In Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger," the princess must make a very difficult decision. The princess must decide to send her love to either meet his death at the jaws of a tiger...

The climax of the story comes when the young lover in the arena goes to the door indicated by the princess and opens it. Naturally the reader would expect to see whether the lady or the tiger...

The setting of the story is an unnamed, imaginary kingdom of ancient times, ruled by what the narrator calls tongue-in-cheek, a "semi-barbaric" king. In fact, the king, as the narrator's exposition...

So much can be read into the fact that the king is "semi-barbaric". He does know right from wrong, but he chooses to ignore it and go with with whatever he fancies. In a sense, this makes him,...

The ambiguity of the ending of "The Lady or the Tiger?" is based entirely on the feelings and motivation of the "hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess." When her lover is in the arena and looks to...

The tone of the story is ironic. Irony is saying the opposite of what you really mean. In reality, Stockton (or, more precisely, his narrator) is appalled with this king and the way he dispenses...

The tiger comes out of the door, but it only does so after the story ends. Within the time-frame of the story, the door opens, and the audience is left waiting to see what will emerge. The author...

In the arena, when the young man looks at the princess, she points to the right "without the slightest hesitation." Whether she points to the door with the fair maiden so he can be married and...

The semi-barbaric king's approach to justice has little to do with the proven innocence or guilt of the accused. Because the accused party selects his own punishment when he chooses a door (and by...

Frank Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger" uses multiple narrative perspectives. The story opens with the third person narrator telling the story of a semi-barbaric king, his daughter, and her lover....

The beginning, or exposition, of Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger" establishes the mentality of the king of a mythical realm. He is immediately described as "semi-barbaric,"...

Protagonist, by defintion, is the one character who the plot is centered upon. In this case, the young male villager serves as our protagonist because all of the story's action is oriented toward...

The theme of this story revolves around the power of choice. The young man and the princess made a choice to become involved with one another. The King made a choice to avoid punishing the young...

The falling action of the story is actually the point at which the princess waves her hand to the right and the story ends. There is no resolution, the ending is ambiguous, meaning you choose what...

The purpose of this short story is to provoke a discussion about human nature: are people primarily motivated by good or by evil impulses? It is also meant to provoke a discussion about love: is...

The setting for this story is a large arena or amphitheater. It is so important that the narrator refers to it as an "agent of poetic justice:" This vast amphitheater, with its encircling...

The courtier refers to the handsome young man, who falls in love with the semi-barbaric king's daughter. The young courtier is referred to as being a fine, attractive man, who occupies a low...

Frank Stockton's "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is a unique story in that it has no finished ending, and the narrative is so ironic. One of the ironies is the description of the king in the story's...

Stockton uses the semi-extended metaphor of heat and fire to describe the princess in "The Lady, or the Tiger?": Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the question depended upon...

The rising action of a story is the events leading up to the most interesting point. In this story, the rising action is every event leading up to the fateful opening of the door. The king builds...

No, I would say this system is not fair at all. First of all, each subject has only been "accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest the king." This does not mean that the person has...

There are two examples of situational irony in Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger." Situational irony is a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually exists or...

Figurative language is any kind of language or figure of speech that does not employ the literal meaning. Certainly, author Frank R. Stockton uses figurative language in his narrative. Examples of...

The princess is passionate and semi-barbaric, but there is just as much reason for her to choose the lady as the tiger. The princess made the mistake of choosing a lover that her father did not...

Most of the people who attended the trials of prisoners at the arena did enjoy them. They were not required to attend them. The author explains the mood in one paragraph of the story before the...

The king and his daughter are both semi-barbaric. This means that they are passionate and strong-willed, and make sure that things are done their way. The king does what he wants and doesn’t ask...

The young man is tried because he had the bad fortune of falling in love with the King's daughter. The king found out and decided the man must be tried. The young man is known in the story as the...

The princess may not want to antagonize her father. He is, after all, a ruthless tyrant and someone used to getting his own way. The princess, as the daughter of a king, is expected to be...

The narrator says that the princess indulges in "grievous reveries" concerning the possibilities for her lover. She knows that behind one door of her father's barbaric arena, a tiger waits to maul...

The young man’s conflict in “The Lady or the Tiger” is an external conflict. The young man is accused of the crime of loving the king’s daughter. This is the external conflict of man vs. man....

Technically, the king isn't unfair to anyone in Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger." Every accused man has the same probability of proving his innocence or guilt. The king's...

The king is a tyrant who does not quite live in reality. We know he does not live entirely in reality from the statement that he was "a man of exuberant fancy." Meaning he was given to flights of...

In his narrative Frank R. Stockton challenges his reader to guess the outcome, but he also challenges his reader through the use of irony. Indeed, the presentation of the king in the exposition...

The princess's internal conflict is instrumental in developing various themes in "The Lady, or the Tiger?" The anguish the princess experiences leading up to the decision demonstrates the...

In a fictional kingdom in a past time period (probably the middle ages or earlier), a king has an arena built for criminals. Being only half-barbarian, the king allows criminals sentenced to the...

The problem is not that of the princess, although she does have a problem which only increases the problem her lover, the courtier, is already struggling with. The problem is in the courtier's...

The main idea of "The Lady or the Tiger?" surrounds the choice presented by Frank Stockton. His story examines the motives of the human heart, when propelled by the conflicting emotions of desire...

Here are some quotes that foreshadow the story's ending. The ending of the story is ambiguous. It is not entirely clear whether the princess chose the lady or the tiger. However, there are some...

The princess found out what was behind each door. In this kingdom long ago, a semi-barbaric king has an unusual system of justice. He has built a huge arena, and outfitted it with two doors....