The Lady or the Tiger
Storyboard Text
- The Lady or the Tiger?By Frank R. Stockton
- Published in 1882 in the July issue of Century magazine in New York city.Genre - fiction / anti-fairytale
- Main Characters
- The King- "semi-barbaric tyrant" - believed justice should be administered with absolute impartiality, by chance- built public arena used to administer "justice" "When he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done."
- Main Characters
- The Princess- the king's daughter; had a "soul as fervent and imperious as his own" - they have the same fiery spirit and barbarism is in their bloodline; described as a "hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess"- fell in love with a common town boy who her father disapproved of- uses her gold, beauty, and willpower to get what she wants; "she had possessed herself the secret of the doors"
- Main Characters
- The Princess' Lover- "handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all the kingdom"- tall, beautiful, and fair; the townspeople adored him- referred to "the youth" in the story; "the youth would be disposed of"
- In ancient times, a semi-barbaric king ruled. He held trials of law by chance in a grand arena where the public could watch. The accused either chose the door with the tiger (guilty), or the door with the maiden (innocent) to whom the accused would be married to immediately, even if he already had a wife and/or family. This was the king's way of administering justice in the kingdom.
- Exposition
- The king's daughter falls in love with a man of low social rankings and the king did not approved. The king had the man arrested and sentenced to trial in the arena. The king finds the most vicious tiger and the most beautiful maiden to go behind the doors. The reader learns that the princess, through bribery, knows the secret of the doors
- Rising Action
- Trial day comes and the man enters the arena. He looks at the princess and asks "which?" with a glance. She raises her right hand and motions to the door on the right. Without hesitation, he walks to and opens the right door.
- Climax
- 1. Semified (verb, page 1): made partial or reduced in half - "Among the borrowed notions by which his barbarism had become semified was that of the public arena, in which, by exhibitions of manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined and cultured"
- 3. Ardor (noun, page 2): enthusiasm or passion; feelings of great warmth and intensity - "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."
- 2. Moiety (noun, page 2): each of two parts into which a thing is or can be divided - "Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in her nature it is probable that lady would not have been there, but her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an occasion in which she was so terribly interested."
- Vocabulary
- Ironic.King is described as "semi-barbaric," indicating that there is some rationale behind his cruel decisions, when that is not the case.King claims to admire his daughter above all other people, but doesn't hesitate at the chance to dispose of the person she loves. Princess may have chosen for the man to go to the door with the tiger when he was the love of her life, but she was jealous and didn't want him with someone else.
- Tone
- "Its perfect fairness is obvious." (Stockton, 1)"...Allowed no such subordinate arrangements to interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward." (Stockton, 1)"For not did the accused person have the whole matter in his own hands?" (Stockton, 2)“No matter how the affair turned out, the youth would be disposed of, and the king would take an aesthetic pleasure in watching the course of events, which would determine whether or not the young man had done wrong in allowing himself to love the princess.” (Stockton, 2)
- Theme
- "She had lost him, but who should have him?" (Stockton, 3) “Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it.” (Stockton, 3)
- The question of whether or not love is by nature selfless and self-sacrificing, or is love possessive and selfish; the importance of overcoming jealousy and hatred.
- Literary Device
- Characterization: descriptions give a good foundation of who the king and the princess are, what their morals/values are and how they rule. - “Semi-barbaric king” (Stockton, 1) - “A daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own.” (Stockton, 2) - “The intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors,” (Stockton, 3)
- Foreshadowing: reader knows that the princess hates the woman behind the door and is immensely jealous of her, so it can be logically inferred that she would choose the door with the tiger - “She knew who the lady was… and the princess hated her.” (Stockton, 3)
- Foreshadowing and Characterization
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