Introduction: The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton
The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton is a fascinating short story because the reader has to decide how the story ends. Once again, this is a short story from American Literature that I use to practice my speed reading drills. In the story, there is a semi-barbaric king, who metes out justice, not by using a jury, but by forcing the accused to appear at the amphitheater – with his subjects watching the show – and choose one of two doors.
Behind one door is a vicious tiger, who immediately rips the accused to pieces, which is the supposed proof that he is guilty. Behind the other door is a beautiful lady, and if that door is opened, the accused has to marry her right there and then, which is proof that he is innocent. And as far as the king is concerned, it is irrelevant if the accused already has a wife and family or someone he is betrothed to. The woman that the king chooses for the accused is always suited to his age. And there is always a priest, choristers, and children holding flowers to strew along the path, waiting in the wings to see which door the accused opens.
To complicate matters, the king mixes things up, so it is impossible for the accused to figure out which door holds the lady and which holds the tiger. The semi-barbaric king has a beautiful daughter, who is the apple of his eyes. One day he discovers that a young man from his court is courting his daughter.
“Among his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens. This royal maiden was well satisfied with her lover, for he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this kingdom; and she loved him with an ardor that had enough of barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. This love affair moved on happily for many months, until one day the king happened to discover its existence.”
The king is not impressed, so he decides to do what he always does, and that’s for the accused to prove his innocence by appearing in the amphitheater and opening one of the two doors. Frank Stockton takes us to the point where the young suitor has to make a choice. He looks to his princess, who is sitting beside her father, and he sends her a signal, and she responds without anyone knowing. But instead of seeing which door the accused chooses, the writer takes us down another path, giving us insights into the kind of person the princess is.
We learn that the princess is semi-barbaric like her father, she loves her suitor dearly, but in her mind, it’s a no-win situation, because any door he chooses she loses him. Just the thought of him marrying another beautiful woman from the court upsets her to no end, and she hates the woman because she will take away the man the princess wants for herself.
Does the princess love him enough to set him free? I am torn by the way The Lady or the Tiger ends because Frank Stockton believes that the reader should have a say in what happens, so he asks us,
“Which came out of the opened door,–the lady, or the tiger?”
Final Thoughts: The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton
I believe that if she really loves him, she signals the door where the beautiful woman is because she loves him enough to set him free. Please read the story, and let me know your thoughts. You can read the story in under 15 minutes and if you use a speed reading bookmarklet, you can read it in 3.5 minutes.
The lady, or the Tiger?
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