In the short story "The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Francis Richard Stockton, a barbaric king devises a cruel form of judgment based on random chance. The accused person is put into an arena with two doors. Behind one door is a ravenous tiger, and behind the other a lovely lady. The person's guilt or innocence is determined by the choice he makes and whether he lives or dies.

The plot centers on a courtier who presumes to have an affair with the princess. After months of intrigue, the king finds out and sentences the courtier to the arena. We see, then, that the first major conflict is between the king and the courtier. The courtier has "dared to love the daughter of a king," and the king determines that he must be judged for this crime.

The princess who loves the courtier determines to find out who the lady behind the door will be and also which door the lady will be behind. It turns out that the lady the king has selected is someone who has been flirting with the courtier, and for this reason, the princess hates her. The second major conflict, therefore, is between the princess and the chosen lady.

The third major conflict has to do with the choice that the courtier makes. This is a conflict that involves several elements. We could say that it is a conflict between the courtier and the princess, because their love is being tested. We could say it is a conflict within the mind of the princess, because she has to decide whether to spare the life of her lover by allowing him to marry another lovely lady or to give in to her jealousy and let the tiger tear her lover apart. We could also say that it is a conflict within the mind of the courtier, because he has to decide whether to trust his lover or not.

This overriding conflict also exists in the minds of the readers, because the author never resolves it, choosing instead to end the story with the question, "Which came out of the open door—the lady or the tiger?"

In Stockton's celebrated short story "The Lady or the Tiger," the primary internal conflict is considered a Person vs. Self conflict. It concerns the semi-barbaric princess's difficult decision to spare her lover's life. The princess struggles to decide what door to lead her lover towards. The semi-barbaric princess is described as being extremely jealous, and hates the fact that her lover would immediately marry a beautiful maiden if he chooses the correct door. If her lover chooses the opposite door, he will instantly be consumed by a ferocious tiger. Either way, the princess will lose her lover; she struggles to decide what door to lead him towards.

Another conflict in the story is considered a Person vs. Person conflict between the young courtier and the princess. The accused courtier must determine whether or not to trust the princess's recommendation regarding which door to choose. He must recognize if the princess is jealous enough to purposely steer him in the wrong direction towards the door with the tiger or exercise sympathy by allowing him to marry the beautiful maiden. The princess also experiences a similar conflict and must convince her lover to trust her advice. It is a battle of wits between the courtier and the princess; the two lovers struggle to understand each other's intentions and thought process.

The third conflict is considered as Person vs. Person conflict between the king and the young courtier. The king disapproves of the lowly courtier's relationship with his royal daughter and immediately has him arrested. The king would never allow a courtier to climb the social ladder and marry his daughter. This is why he has him imprisoned and brought to trial in front of a packed arena, where he will test his luck by choosing between the two fateful doors.

In literature there are both external and internal conflicts. An external conflict involves a person against some outside entity such as another person, nature, or society. An internal conflict involves a person struggling with themselves over opposing choices, needs, or emotions. In Frank Stockton's short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" there is one external conflict and two internal conflicts. The story involves an arena where an accused person has the choice of two doors, one of which means certain death while the second holds life and marriage. The accused has an immediate internal conflict in his choice of doors. If he chooses correctly he is promptly married and might actually live happily ever after. On the other hand, if his choice is poor, he is immediately attacked and killed by a hungry tiger. Obviously this choice would cause a great deal of anxiety within the accused.

The second conflict in the story is best labeled man vs. man. The king discovers that his daughter has a lover who is far below her in social stature. Therefore the king seeks to dispose of the young man and so condemns him to the arena where he will either be killed, or married to another young woman and thus unavailable to the princess.

Finally, the princess, who is described as passionate and "semi-barbaric," seems to experience an internal conflict because she has been able to determine from which door would emerge the tiger and which door the lady. She can point to the door with the tiger and have her lover killed so he can never be possessed by another woman. Alternately, she can show mercy and point him to the door with the lady. Either way she will lose him forever and her decision is so monumental that Stockton leaves it up to the reader to decide how the princess finally will resolve her conflict.

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 jealousy and self-consciousness for the rest of her life?

Another conflict is between the suitor and the princess and the king. The king dislikes that the suitor is not royalty, but the princess and the suitor believe that it shouldn't matter in the face of love.

The last conflict that I would consider would be an internal conflict of the suitor--should he listen to the princess or choose the door she doesn't point to?