The Lady Or The Tiger? by Frank Stockton Literary Analysis Essay Example

“The Lady or the Tiger” by Frank Stockton, tells a story of a “semi-barbaric” king who creates a justice system solely based on chance. Any man who is accused of a crime will have a choice between two identical doors, one which holds a hungry tiger if you’re guilty, and another that beholds a beautiful woman to wed if you are innocent. The king decides to put that justice system to test and puts his daughter’s forbidden lover on trial. The princess, who is of similar nature to her father, now knows that she has the choice to either allow her lover to perish –selfishly preventing him from being with another woman– or, she can decide to be selfless and let him live, knowing it would break her heart to see him with someone else. The power of deciding his destiny is left unknown to the readers. As Stockton states, “It involves a study of the human heart which leads us through devious mazes of passion,”(Stockton, 6). This prompts the theme of human nature: Is it human nature to be more selfless or to be more selfish? 

Having the power to choose a fate so consequential and not have it be revealed, leaves the readers to question the princess’s nature and character in order to get a sense of the outcome. In “The Lady or the Tiger”, the narrator describes the hate the princess has for the damsel behind the door, “The girl was lovely, but…with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door”(Stockton, 5). It is evident that barbarism lives prominently through the princess who is now also fueled by hate. If there's one person she would prefer her lover to not be with, it’s the lady behind the door. This creates a narrative to the readers that this is a person who will make savage, selfish decisions if needed because the hate is so discernible and compelling. However, throughout the story, she still battles with the thought of losing her lover to a tiger. The narrator states, “How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started in wild horror, and covered her face with her hands as she thought of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited the cruel fangs of the tiger!” (Stockton, 6), which produces the question of what frightens her more to determine the selfless or selfish decision. This decision is what prompts the theme of human nature, which is communicated effectively throughout the story.

The princess, being ignited by hate, yet drawn by love, alludes back to the theme and whether it’s more natural to be ungrudging and compassionate or to be self-serving and inconsiderate. This is a choice one eventually has to make in their lifetime, and I can only speak for myself as the reader, that it indeed makes the story’s theme more relatable. When faced with a decision to choose what’s best for yourself, often enough, it’s hard to think of others. However, if a loved one will be affected, the decision will be more arduous to conclude . Going back to the story, the princess implicitly insinuated that the thought of the man she loved being with a woman she hated, affected her more than the thought of the man she loved encountering a vicious tiger, “But how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! How in her grievous             reveries had she gnashed her teeth, and torn her hair, when she saw his start of rapturous delight as he opened the door of the lady! How her soul had burned in agony when she had seen him rush to meet that woman…” (Stockton, 6). The detail in her thought of imagining the woman was far more intricate than that of imagining him being eaten by a tiger. The jealousy characteristic seems exceedingly prevalent within the princess and seems as though she would do anything to avoid that feeling. However, no matter how the narrator depicted her character, “...upon that hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy (stockton, 6), it doesn’t change the fact that she has spent days and nights coming to this crucial verdict. After all, she was deemed semi-barbaric–“semi” being the key word– so, she isn’t totally savage. Nevertheless, the princess’s character is what needs to be dissected to eventually uncover the answer to the theme's question and as the reader, it is necessary to analyze those characteristics to unravel the true nature of the princess.

As expressed, in the story, Frank Stockton has continuously conveyed the theme of human nature and whether we, as humans, inherently do good (selflessness) or bad (selfishness). It ultimately comes down to the character of the princess and if her barbarism is far more prominent than her civility. In fact, the story's question, “The lady or the tiger?”, depends on the reader's understanding of human nature and how well a character can be interpreted. The outcome solely relies on analyzing those traits of the person in power and what is believed to be their true essence as a being.