Student Question
What non-verbal message does the princess send to her lover in "The Lady, or the Tiger?"?
Quick answer:
The Princess's eyes are fixed on him, and she is gazing at him steadily. The confidence that she has in the man, who does not even know her name, is quite evident in her steady gaze. She is showing him without words that she has faith in his judgment and his ability to make the right decision. Her faith in him gives him the strength to choose the door of life over death. He knows that he cannot die with her looking at him like this. Conclusion: Because of this one non-verbal signal from the princess, the lover chooses life over death; however, if he had decided otherwise then it would have been an indication that he did not love her as much as she loved him.
In Frank R. Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger?" as the semi-barbaric princess sits with the power to allow her suitor to live or to send him into the jaws of the tiger, the lover looks up at her and she points with a slight movement of her hand. She indicates the right-hand door with this movement, and the lover does not hesitate; he chooses this very same door.
Now, the problem is that there is no conclusion, and the reader must decide whether the lover trusts that the princess indicates the safe door, or whether he believes that in her semi-barbaric jealousy she deviously points to the dangerous one so that he will counter her action, knowing that she has seen him with the other maiden. Another complication that enters into both of their decisions is that if the princess does want him to live, he still will not return to her;, but will, instead, be married to the maiden behind the other door. In this case, the princess could feel that her lover may as well die since she cannot have him, anyway.
Yet, despite all these considerations, the lover has not hesitated. What does he know about her, what has he seen in her eyes?
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