The Lady or The Tiger? by Frank Stockton

The Lady or The Tiger? by Frank Stockton

7 pages, eBook

Where I Got It: EastoftheWeb.com

Story Rating: 3 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Maddening - Savage - Intriguing

Summary:

A king has devised a trial in which fate decides the guilt or innocence of the accused, by having the person choose one of two door—one containing a tiger and the other a potential bride.

My Thoughts:

This story is irritating, because it leaves the ending up to the reader. The Princess must decide if she would rather her lover be married to someone else or be eaten by the tiger. Both are horrid choices, and I can’t begin to decide what the Princess would have chosen, or what her rationale might have been, making the ending all the more frustrating. The most frightening thing of all is knowing what I would likely have chosen in her place.

Quotes:

“In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid and untrammeled, as became the half of him which was barbaric.” -Frank Stockton, The Lady or The Tiger?

“—the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward.” -Frank Stockton, The Lady or The Tiger?

“This semi-barbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own.” -Frank Stockton, The Lady or The Tiger?