By SNTutor: Andrew Lei
Over the last couple of months, Declan and I read and dissected “The Lady and the Tiger,” a classic and quite advanced short story by Frank R. Stockton that explores conflicting themes of love, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. Following our reading, Declan wrote a summary of the story and answered a couple of analysis questions.
I’m extremely proud of the growth that’s shone through his writing during this time, and I hope that we can continue analyzing even more advanced pieces in the future.
Short Story Summary:
The story takes place in an arena, a stadium where people watch performances and events in their kingdom. The king is one of the main characters in the story, known for his unpredictability and anger. As a result, he sets up the “Lady or the Tiger” system. In this system, he forces subjects accused of crimes to choose between two doors in the arena as a method of punishment. However, the accused subjects are not told which figure is behind which door, making it random and unexpected.
If the accused subject chooses the door with the lady behind it, he’ll get married and his crimes will be forgiven. However, if he chooses the wrong door, a tiger will spring out and aggressively eat him up! The king is very happy and proud of his system’s success. Additionally, the civilians, who watch the arena’s events, feel pleased and satisfied by their provided entertainment, seeing nothing wrong with the king’s idea.
The princess is another main character in the story; she’s the daughter of the king, and he cherishes her very much. However, the princess is in love with a common man in the kingdom, and when the king finds out, he gets furious! As a result, he forces the princess’s lover into the arena to choose between the two doors.
Despite this, by using her power and money, the princess finds out which door has the lady behind it. Thus, she has the ability to save her lover by telling him what door to choose. However, both doors present difficult options for the princess. No matter which one she chooses, her lover will either get married to another lady or eaten by the tiger. The princess will no longer be able to keep her lover to herself, an idea that she can’t stand.
At the end, the princess’s challenging choice leaves her feeling confused, sad, and guilty. Eventually, she tells her lover to choose the door on the right. However, we as the readers are not told by the author how the story ends, leaving the result a mystery. Therefore, we must figure out the door the princess ultimately chooses by ourselves.
What made “The Lady or the Tiger” unique to you (plot choices, literary devices, writing style, etc)?
“The Lady or the Tiger” was a unique story to me because of the writing style. The author used many adjectives and word choices that weren’t easy to understand. Therefore, I had to edit some of the paragraphs to make them more readable. For example, “barbaric” and “rapturous” were two unusual adjectives in the reading I hadn’t heard of before. Now, I know that barbaric means cruel and rapturous means delightful, so I can use them in future stories!
What is one theme or lesson you took away from The Lady or the Tiger?
One theme I took away from “The Lady or the Tiger” is a lesson to not just sit by and let bad things happen. For example, the civilians are characters in the story who watch the events that take place in the arena. However, they don’t challenge the king’s system, even though it is unfair and random to the accused subjects. Instead, the civilians feel pleased and entertained in their own comfort. Therefore, the story teaches us to be different from the civilians, facing the difficult situations in our lives rather than doing nothing to stop them.
Who do you think came out of the final door–the Lady or the Tiger?
At the end of the story, the princess is faced with two options: the Lady or the Tiger. However, both options are difficult for the princess because she doesn’t know which door to pick for her lover. If she chooses the Tiger, her lover will get eaten; if she chooses the Lady, he will get married to another woman, gone forever. The princess feels confused, sad, and guilty as a result.
I believe the princess ended up choosing the door with the Tiger. In the novel, the princess is described as rude and selfish. For example, she secretly uses money to get what she wants from the king. Therefore, she would have lover dead rather than given away to another maiden.
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