The Lady or the Tiger? Questions and Answers
by Francis Richard Stockton

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What are the three major conflicts in "The Lady or the Tiger"?
  The main conflict in the story is between the princess and herself. Should she betray her lover and send him to his death or allow him to be married to someone else, and allow herself to live in...

  3 Educator Answers

• The Lady or the Tiger?
  List one or two adjectives to describe the tone of "The Lady or the Tiger?" and explain your choice.
  With an ironic tone, Frank R. Stockton narrates his "The Lady or the Tiger?" This tone is used by Stockton to describe his unpleasant "semibarbaric king," thus forcing readers to realize how bad...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In the short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" what is the setting, conflict, and outline in sequential order of events in the story? Which are the main characters, and which are simply supporting characters?
  The story "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is set in an unidentified kingdom ruled by a "semi-barbaric" king in the "very olden time," although the "Latin neighbors" referred to suggests that the actual...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Are there any relationships in "The Lady or the Tiger?" that are similar to the relationships in Romeo and Juliet?
  The relationship between the lady and her lover is very similar to that between Romeo and Juliet. The lady is quite satisfied with her brave and handsome lover. Unfortunately, her father, the King,...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In what way is the princess similar to her father in "The Lady or the Tiger?"
  The king and the princess’s father is described as “semi-barbaric” (para 1), meaning he was only half a barbarian. In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas, though...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What kind of person is the king? How do you know? Cite textual evidence to support your answer.
  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...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What are four decisions that have to be made in the story?
  The first decision that needs to be made is by the semi-barbaric king. The king must decide whether or not to send the young courtier in love with his daughter into the arena. After the king...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  How does the princess indicate the door of her choice?
  Francis Richard Stockton's cryptic fable "The Lady or the Tiger?" tells of the simple but fiendishly random system of justice devised by the ruler of a barbaric principality. As punishment for any...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is meant by the idiom "every barleycorn a king"? How does this contribute to the tone toward the king?
  The short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Francis Richard Stockton tells of a semi-barbaric king with a unique method of justice. When an accused person is brought to the king, he does not bother...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What was the peoples' view of the trial in "The Lady or the Tiger?", and how did they react to the result?
  Well, we don't know how the audience reacted to the result for the simple reason that we're never told what the result is. The final outcome—was it the lady or the tiger?—is left tantalizingly...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Drawing from the text of "The Lady or the Tiger?", describe the king's method of administering justice within the arena.
  The semi-barbaric king in Stockton's celebrated short story "The Lady or the Tiger" has a unique method of administering justice. When a subject is accused of a crime that piques the king's...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Is the king's definition of justice fair or not?
  One could argue that the semi-barbaric king's system of administering justice is completely unfair. The text states that a subject "accused of a crime of sufficient importance to interest the king"...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  The short story "The Lady or the Tiger" has a cliffhanger for its ending. What classifies a cliffhanger ending or a cliffhanger type of story?
  Stockton's celebrated short story "The Lady or the Tiger" is an example of an open-ended story. In an open-ended story, the conclusions are not clearly stated and the reader must use their...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Based what you know about the king, why do you think he created his system of justice?
  The system of justice established by the king has been created as a conscious embodiment of his personality. In its operation, this system of justice, like the king who created it, is...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What was your reaction to the end of "The Lady or the Tiger?" How might your reaction be different if you knew what was behind the door?
  Stockton purposely leaves the ending open for interpretation and the reader is left to contemplate whether or not the princess directed the courtier to the door with the tiger or lady behind it....

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is the plot of "The Lady or the Tiger" by Stockton?
  The plot of the story begins with a description of a king who constructed an arena where crime and virtue were punished and rewarded purely on chance. In the arena, the accused was expected to...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What are the 3 major conflicts in the story "The Lady or the Tiger?"
  There are plenty of conflicts in this story. The primary three are as follows: 1. Man vs. man - King vs. Courtier. If the king doesn't sentence his daughter's young lover to the arena, there is...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is the summary of "The Lady, or the Tiger"?
  "The Lady, or the Tiger" begins with a description of a semi-barbaric king who punishes criminals in a unique way. He has built an arena featuring two doors and the criminal must choose...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Why is the princess's internal conflict so central to the story The Lady or the Tiger?
  The princess' internal conflict is central to the story, because the outcome of the story depended on her decision. How would she direct her handsome young lover? She has the power and control in...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In F. R. Stockton's story "The Lady, or the Tiger?" who are the static and dynamic characters?
  A static character is one who does not change throughout the story; their personality and motivation never changes. However, a dynamic character is one whose personality or motivation changes...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Who came out of the door, the lady or the tiger, in "The Lady or the Tiger"?
  The beauty of Frank R. Stockton’s “The Lady, or the Tiger?” is that the reader never does discover who, or what, is behind the door that the courtier opens at the end of the story. The princess...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Why were the shows in the arena important to the king's people?
  In Stockton's "The Lady, or the Tiger?" it's not just the trials that the people like, but the whole structure of the arena as well. The text says that the king built the arena not just for violent...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What was the arena built for in "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton?
  The king's arena in Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" was a "vast amphitheater" built in order to deliver the king's justice. It was large enough to house the king's subjects,...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What are the indirect and direct characterization of the two characters: Courtier and semi-barbaric king in The Lady, or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady, or the Tiger?" there really are only three major characters. The princess is the primary character, of course, but she and her actions are clearly influenced by the two characters...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is the difference between the author's tone and mood in "The Lady or the Tiger" by Frank Stockton?
  Both tone and mood are set by the author of the story, and they are easily confused! The tone is the feeling surrounding the story, or it can also be the feeling toward a character or subject...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What decides an accused person's fate in "The Lady, or the Tiger"?
  Chance is the decider of an accused person's fate in "The Lady, or the Tiger?" The semi-barbaric king of Stockton's tale has devised a means of "poetic justice" for those who have acted against his...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is an example of verbal irony in "The Lady or the Tiger"?
  Verbal irony is a statement that seems to contradict itself. Irony is basically when words are used in an unexpected way. Verbal irony means that a phrase involves words where words with opposite...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady or the Tiger?" what had the princess done which no other person had ever done?
  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....

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady or the Tiger" how does the character of the princess dominate the story, overshadowing the character of the colorful king? How does the interpretation of her character decide the reader's answer to the question at the end?
  The king believes the trial by arena (or choice of the doors) is perfect justice. An accused man determines his own guilt or innocence with one simple decision. Either he chooses the tiger and is...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Why is the ending of The Lady or the Tiger so effective and how does this ambiguity affect the reader?
  Interestingly, the lack of denouement in Stockton's "The Lady, or the Tiger?" forbids any passivity upon the part of the readers, who must involve themselves in the composition of the ending...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Which inference can be best made about why the king is described as “semi-barbaric” rather than wholly barbaric?
  The king is regarded as "semi-barbaric" in the sense that he has been influenced by his distant Latin neighbors. His ideas are described in the tale as "polished" and "sharpened" by Latin...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Where in the story "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton is there a flashback?
  A flashback occurs in "The Lady of the Tiger?" just as the handsome youth enters the arena to make his terrible decision between the two doors. In the moment that he turns and meets the eyes of...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is the problem in "The Lady or the Tiger"? i would like to know the problem in the story,
  The chief problem or conflict in the short story "The Lady or the Tiger" concerns the trial of the princess' lover. The king has issued a decree that the young man must face his fate in the arena...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What does the king enjoy doing in the arena in "The Lady or The Tiger"?
  The semi-barbaric King in “The Lady or the Tiger” uses the arena as a system of justice. Unlike the ancient Romans who had gladiators fighting and lions eating Christians, the King doles out his...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What happens after a person is accused of a crime in the kingdom described in "The Lady, or the Tiger?"
  In the kingdom of the semi-barbaric king, if a person is accused of a crime that interests the king in its importance, then public notice is given that the accused will be sentenced in the king's...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Give at least three reasons why the princess might have chosen the tiger in "The Lady or the Tiger?"
  I prefer this question to the various questions about which door the princess would have chosen. The fact is that the author very cleverly gives us exactly the same evidence for either outcome so...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  I need an essay proving a point for the two doors in The Lady or the Tiger.    
  What lies at the heart of a woman? This is a question that has tempted many a person to try to find the answer. The Lady and the Tiger is such a story that asks this question. The short story sets...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In the story “The Lady or the Tiger?," the narrator says that the king “was greatly given to self-communing.” What does this say about the way he rules?
  The semi-barbaric king of a mythical land in Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger" is, quite simply, a despot, a ruler with total power who often uses it unfairly. The king rules in...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady, or the Tiger?", why are the public trials in the arena popular with the people in the kingdom?    
  In a society like that in this story that is dominated by a brutal king who uses the arena to exact justice on those that he perceives have broken his laws, the presence of the people of the...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Why did no one else in the arena notice that the princess was communicating with her lover?
  Frank Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger?" is a familiar and often-anthologized short story, one people talk about years after reading it. This semi-barbaric kingdom with its semi-barbaric king and...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Which door did the lover of the princess open in "The Lady, or the Tiger"?
  Nobody knows for sure, and we will never know! Isn't that maddening? The surprise, unresolved ending of the story has engendered many conversations about what the young man found behind the door....

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton, when the young man was in the arena, what did the princess do, and what did he do?
  The semi-barbaric princess fell in love with a young man who was beneath her social station in "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton, and the young man ends up in the arena. In the arena, the...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is unique about the maiden behind the door in "The Lady or the Tiger?"
  The maiden behind the door is specifically selected for the accused. The semi-barbaric king has a very unique system of justice. He had an arena built with two special doors. Behind one door is a...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  For what reasons does the king consider this method fair and impartial?
  In the short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" the king devises a method of punishment for those he believes have committed crimes. Each criminal will be given the choice to open one of two identical...

  1 Educator Answer

• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is the mood of "The Lady, or the Tiger"?
  The mood or feeling in this story is passionate, tense and full of suspense. "The Lady and The Tiger" has a chilling and barbaric mood that makes the reader anxious. Feelings run very...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  What is an example of personification in "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton?
  One example of personification in "The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton is the following: This vast amphitheater. . . was an agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  Why is the arena an important symbol in "The Lady or the Tiger"? 
  The arena represents life and the choices we must make during that life.The question the author raises is who will make our choices? The young lover could have made his choice freely, but instead...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  SSHS English 9 Discussion questions Why might Stockton have left the ending of this story ambiguous--was he trying to make a particular point or create a particular effect? Explain whether you think the ambiguous ending makes the story memorable.
  I don't suppose we can know exactly why the author ended the story by not resolving the dramatic tension and providing a conclusion. One thing we do know, however, is that it is the ambiguous...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady or the Tiger" what secret does the princess learn?
  The "hot-blooded" princess in "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton uses "power and a woman's will" to learn the secret of the two doors in the king's arena. Her lover faces a horrible death...

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• The Lady or the Tiger?
  In "The Lady, or the Tiger?," who is the protagonist?
  In "The Lady or the Tiger?" it is the king who must be considered the protagonist. The story opens with a description of him. In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas,...

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