American writer, Frank R. Stockton published ‘The Lady, or the Tiger’ in The Century Magazine in 1882. The story deals with the brutal ways of justice by a semi-barbaric king and the struggle of the Princess to free her lover from the awaiting doom.
Narrated from the third-person perspective, the story opens with the introduction of the semi-barbaric king; barbaric due to his unforgiving way of exercising justice.
The accused is positioned in an arena, alone, and has two doors places in front of them-behind one door is a tiger and behind another is a way to freedom by marrying the person sitting behind it. The doors are identical and soundproof. This system of justice is a spectacle-people came to witness the fate of the accused.
The King discovers his daughter’s affair with a commoner. He’s furious and commands his soldiers to arrest the lover. He is brought to the arena-this time the King asks the most ferocious tiger to be kept behind the door and on the other, a beautiful maiden.
The Princess, aware of the maiden’s affections towards her lover, decides to grant him freedom- she, on the day of his trial, indicates him to open the door on the right. As the lover proceeds to open the door, the story ends abruptly.
The author employs the technique of speculative suspense and ending-leaving the reader to imagine the end of the story.
The main theme of the story is fate v/s choice; they both are significant in the trial-thought the accused chooses which door to open, the fate has already been decided for them. Another theme is trust and betrayal - the princess is possessive and jealous of the maiden behind the door. The ending is not known, yet it can be inferred that her jealousy got the best of her. Thus betraying her lover.
Ultimately, the plot is pellucid, the writing is straightforward and the ending is cliffhanging and intriguing, but overall the story is not engrossing and feels underwhelming.
Comments