In what ways is the princess similar to her father in "The Lady, or the Tiger?"
First, the princess is referred to more than once as "semi-barbaric" like her father. Like her father, too, she has a deep interest in witnessing the outcome of her beloved's trial. We learn that
Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature it is probable that lady would not have been there, but her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an occasion in which she was so terribly interested.
Both king and daughter want to see with their own eyes the possibly grisly outcome of this affair.
Second, the king is described as having a very strong personality which leads him to tyrannously impose his own will on his subjects. This is explained as follows:
nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight and crush down uneven places.
His daughter is also described as having "force of...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
character," so much so that she accomplishes what nobody else has ever been able to: she finds out which door the ravenous tiger is hiding behind.
Both of them are also described as hot-blooded and imperious people.
The daughter has arranged with her beloved to signal to him which door to pick to survive his trial. However, the text leaves it up to readers to decide whether this semi-barbaric princess will decide to watch her lover torn to bits by a hungry tiger or be married to a beautiful woman. Neither outcome is pleasing to her.
If the princess's sharing of her father's nature is any indication of what she will do, we might want to look at his understanding of love. We learn that he loves his daughter "above all humanity." However, that "love" is not self-sacrificing but translates into a willingness to subject her to an outcome that will break her heart whichever way it goes. Will she be as willing to subject her beloved to pain (in her case, letting him be killed) as her father is willing to subject her to it? Or are the two different enough that she will take the higher road of sparing her beloved's life?
What traits do the king and his daughter share in "The Lady, or the Tiger?"
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 for input from anyone.
He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.
The king develops a sort of wacky system of justice. He builds a huge area that is part courtroom and part entertainment venue. The people come to want the accused choose between two doors. One door has a tiger behind it that will maul the accused man to death, while the audience watches. The other has a beautiful lady what will marry the man, while the audience looks on. Either way, they get a show.
The king’s daughter has “a soul as fervent and imperious as his own” and is the apple of his eye. He knows that she is very passionate and semi-barbaric too, so of course she would take a lover. When he finds out about one and he doesn’t approve, he throws him to his special system of justice.
The daughter, like the king, wants things her own way. She finds out what is behind what doors, even though it’s a big secret. Her lover is aware of this, and looks to her for a signal.
He had expected her to know it. He understood her nature, and his soul was assured that she would never rest until she had made plain to herself this thing, hidden to all other lookers-on, even to the king.
We do not know which door she led him to. She was definitely the jealous type. She did not like the woman who was chosen to go behind that door. Even if she let him live, she would have to watch him with that woman. A semi-barbaric princess might be more likely to say that if she can't have him, no one can.