The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton Overview

‘The Lady or the Tiger’ by Frank Stockton was a story that really left me thinking and somewhat frustrated. If you’ve ever read this short story, you definitely know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you’ll find out soon enough. The theme of this short story is one most can agree on though that is an unsolvable problem.

Something that I liked about this story is that the princess and the man could understand each other just by looking at each other.

Their souls were connected, and they knew what the other knew or was thinking. I also liked how that the King being barbaric didn’t have a daughter who was the complete opposite of him like in most stories. Instead, the princess had the same barbarism running through her blood as her father. She was though in some ways kinder. I also really liked how the author at the end said, ‘, and it is not for me to presume to set myself up as the one person able to answer it.’ This showed that even the author couldn’t clearly answer the question. It gives me a certain pleasure to know that in answering the question the author, and I are equal.

Part of the story that I disliked is obviously because it has a cliffhanger and no continuation. I get to the most exciting part of the story then boom, the author asks a question, then it’s over. I also think the plot contributed to my dislike of this part of the story. As this story is in the olden days, there isn’t really any way to think of a replica of this story with an ending. As there might have been examples of this story in the real world back when this story was written, there aren’t really any examples today. I also disliked that if people opened the door with the women in it they would be forced to be married to her, even if they had a loving family and wife! This to me just seemed so wrong and unfair of the king. If proven innocent, the man should be able to at least walk away free if he did not want a wife or already had one.

Overall, this story just caused me so many emotions and brought up my dislikes and likes. It brought me joy that it was somewhat different than my expected short stories. It made me confused as to what happened to the man and what the princess was thinking. It brought me frustration that I couldn’t answer the question the author asked at the end of the story. And many other emotions that I am still trying to figure out. Overall though it was a sweet, thought-provoking and cool story.

In my opinion, this is a great story for teenagers and adults alike to read. It would also be great for classroom use to see what students thought happened to the man. In my review of this story, I have dislikes, but what story doesn’t have its faults? Everyone has a different opinion too, so maybe someone doesn’t have any dislikes for this story, or someone has no likes. Overall though it’s a great story and develops a lot of self-opinion from its readers. Read it and see what you think, do you agree with me or do you have some disagreements. No one is wrong here, just share your opinion!

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