“The Lady, or the Tiger?” is a short story written by Frank R. Stockton in 1882. It takes place in a land where a king presides over court using chance to determine people's innocence or guilt. Inside of a public arena are two doors. Behind one is a woman whom the accused must marry if he opens that door, the other one is a hungry tiger. If the accused chooses the door, he is considered guilty and will be eaten by the tiger. A man in the lower statue falls in love with the king’s daughter, so he is brought into the arena to choose a door. The princess learns which door has the tiger and which one has the lady, and she discreetly tells her lover to open the door on the right. However, it is never revealed what was behind that door, so we don’t know if she led him into death or into marriage with another woman.
As we can tell, the princess was in a difficult situation, the choice she will make, can change her and man’s future life. If the princess chooses the tiger, the man will die. However, the princess doesn’t want the man becomes die, because she loves the man so much. But because she loves the nan so much, she also doesn't want the man to marry another woman. And since the princess already knows which door is the beautiful woman, which door is the tiger. If she chooses the tiger, and the man dies, aren’t the princess might live with the guilty forever. On another hand, if she chooses the woman, aren’t the princess jealous of the woman, for the princess, it was a repugnant development. Also in the story, it says, when everyone was celebrating for the man and the woman to marry. Only her, the princess, was screaming, but the shriek was lost and drowned. So in my opinion, at the end, she chose the door that had a tiger. The princess didn't want the man to marry another woman, so he just killed the man, and let him wait for her, until she died as well. But the princess might never know, the man totally trusts her that she will give him a good future. Nevertheless, the princess doesn’t want the man to marry another woman, even if it will cost the man going to die.
Therefore, even the princess is as beautiful as she is passionate. Yet, by all indications, she can also be perceived as arrogant, self-centered, and cold-hearted. As a royal princess in her father's kingdom, she lives a privileged life. Thus, she thinks nothing of taking on a commoner as a lover, despite a possible royal decree against such alliances. When her father discovers the romance, he immediately throws the hapless young man into prison. Because he has dared to love a princess, the young man will be subjected to the king's unique trial. For her part, the princess appears to be indifferent to the consequences of her own actions.Although it can be inferred that a princess in her position might have pleaded for leniency for her lover, the text does not provide any evidence for this. What the text does tell us is that she attends the trial because her barbaric nature revels in the gratuitous nature of the trial. So as a consequence, the princess might not love the man that much, it could just because she didn’t want someone belonging to her to become someone else's, especially the woman that the man can marry is one of the most beautiful women, and a woman who actually loves the man. And the person who made that kind of situation is the king. The king let the princess make that difficult choice, and the king made the man need to suffer the hard time. From here, we can tell the king was cruel and cold-blooded. He thinks changing and controlling others' lives is fun, so he has a “fun game” of people’s lives. And it was the same situation with the audience who look this “game”, the audience don’t care is the man doing right or wrong, they don’t care is it the man really guilty, the only thing they care, was the princess choose which door, and what is behind the door. I believe, if behind the door, it was a tiger, and the man was killed by a tiger. The audience will cheer and be happy that a guilt was being killed. If behind the door, it was a woman, the audience will also cheer, that the man was not a criminal, and he will get a reward for his innocence. If everyone in the country acted in the same way, the princess wouldn't have a big difference with them. So, as a result, I believe no matter how the princess loves the man, or just wants to control the man’s life, like what her father did. She will choose the tiger rather than the woman, because for a princess, I don’t think she can be that generous, and let a man she loves to marry another woman.
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