Close Reading
“The Lady, or the Tiger?” is a rare short story that has become popular due to its ambiguous ending, success without dialogue, and ability to not follow any literary movements. The story was written by Frank R. Stockton, a descendant of Richard Stockton: the namesake of our college. This story is known to be Stockton’s first creation to attest for his humor. An epilogue was written to follow the story in response to the lack of an ending, but the epilogue only leads to further questions. “The Lady, or the Tiger?” is a small tale with large meaning, and it is up to the reading to determine that meaning.
The short story takes place in “the very olden time.” It is unsure what the exact time period is, but it is when kings still reigned. It can be assumed that it may be around the Roman era or shortly after, when gladiators and gladiator fights were a common pastime. The story does not state a specific land, but the King has distant Latin neighbors.
There are three main characters that the reader encounters during the story. The reader meets the semi-barbaric king in the very first sentence. This king is the initial major character who controls the conflict and crisis of the short story. He is a very static character. The reader learns from the start that he is semi-barbaric. This means that he enjoys barbaric scenes, such as the accused person being torn apart by the justice of the fierce tiger, and he enjoys the beauty of fairness. If it just so happens that a beautiful bride appears on the other side of the door, the semi-barbaric king is just as happy to celebrate for the criminal. This character trait never changes, even when the convict is the lover of the King’s beautiful daughter.
The second main character is the princess’s lover. He is one of the king’s courtiers and he is treasured among the others: “Among [the king] his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station…he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this kingdom.” He is a brave character until the end when his fate lays in the hands of his lover, the princess. Even at this point, he still holds his head high in trust as he walks straight through the right door. This character is a static character. He does not make any major character changes during the course of the story.
The third, and potentially most important character of the story, is the princess. The princess, like the king, is also semi-barbaric. This is a trait that she inherited from her father. She is also intensely fervent and imperious; a beautiful impersonation of her father. The difference between the princess and her father is that she is in love. The princess also remains a static character during the story. Although she has to make a decision to send her lover to his death, or to send him to a new passion while she suffers, she still beholds a semi-barbaric nature during her difficult time in distress. “The Lady, or the Tiger?” is told entirely by a narrator. There are very few instances where dialogue is used, which is very rare because most stories become tedious with only a distant narrator speaking. The story is told by a limited omniscient narrator. This narrator gives many descriptions of the king and his outward feelings toward the lover and his daughter, but the narrator never expresses how the kings think or feels as the experiences are happening. The narrator also discusses the lover’s questioning looks toward the princess, but the he or she does not mention what the lover is actually thinking when she shoots the obvious question in his glance. The narrator is truly only all-knowing in the mind of the beautiful princess. She is the conflicted character that determines the ending the story. This is assuming that there actually is an ending. During the end of the story, the narrator views the princess’s internal struggles as she tries to decide her lover’s fate and her own misfortune. The princess asks herself the question, “Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for her in the blessed regions of semi-barbaric futurity?” While at the same time, she fights off the vision of his death and thinks: “And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood!” The point of view is limited omniscient because the princess is the only person that the reader is able to read the thoughts of and understand her inner, personal dilemmas.
The exposition of the “The Lady, or the Tiger?” occurs during the entire first two sections. It is the description of the semi-barbaric king and his kingdom. It also includes the explanation of the king’s arena with the two doors that contain the blushing bride and the raging the tiger. The complication, or conflict, of the story happens upon the introduction of the impulsive and imperious princess who is in love with the commoner. All rage breaks loose when the king discovers that the two have been secretly having a love affair behind his back for months. The worst crime here is that the gentleman is not of royal blood. The climax of the short story is on the day the lover steps into the arena and looks at the princess for guidance and hope. Where will she lead him? He expects her to lead him to love, safety, and a future. Would you? The peak of the climax occurs as he opens the door to the right.
There is no resolution in this story. We have read stories that are missing pieces to them and we still call them short stories. This short story has no resolution at all. The reader is left to decide on his or her own whether the princess led her lover into the arms of another woman, or if she led him into the jaws of a tiger. It is a very unsatisfactory ending, but it leaves the reader with a mind full of emotion and contemplation. What would you do?
When there is not ending in a story, it makes it difficult to determine a theme. There is no conclusion to sum up everything a person may have learned from it. The narrator asks us, the readers, to think about the final question, “Not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy.” I think the theme of “The Lady, or the Tiger?” is that you have to put yourself in other people’s shoes sometimes to understand their actions. You may not like where they are coming from or what they are doing, but if you play devil’s advocate and look at both sides of the cards, you may just understand why people make the choices they do. So if I were asked whether the lady or the tiger came out of the door to the right, I would have to say…well, put my boyfriend face to face with a tiger and my beautiful enemy and ask me to choose. I just might have an answer for you.
Frank Richard Stockton is known for not following common literary movements. “The Lady, or the Tiger” is closest to be a part of the realism movement. He is known for using surprise as his key element and he makes a turn in his story more commonly than he ever uses crises. This story, in relation to realism, shows that the character is more important than plot. The princess’s emotions and choices are what determine the ambiguous ending. The subject matter is also supposed to be drawn from “our experience.” In “The Lady, or the Tiger,” the reader is supposed to relate to the princess to determine the ending. Relating her passions to our own experiences may help to draw our own conclusions.
Imagine yourself as a semi-barbaric prince or princess. Imagine that your lover, whom you may think does not love you as much as you love her or him, is about to be faced with both the largest, angriest tiger and the most exotic man or woman in the land. It is up to you to see your not-so-loyal love of your life be torn to shreds by the tiger or live happily ever after with his or her trophy spouse. A life is in your hands. Who will come out of that door?“The Lady, or the Tiger?”