The Lady

Or, The Tiger?

Downloads: Under 100
Pages: 8

Read PDF online Download Save

About this book

In a kingdom ruled by a king who treats chance as justice, an accused person must choose between two identical doors. One conceals a tiger; the other opens onto an immediate wedding. Frank R. Stockton brings this strange public ritual into a royal household when the king discovers that his daughter loves a young courtier and sends him to the arena.

The princess has learned what waits behind each door, but she also knows and hates the woman chosen as her lover's possible bride. Her knowledge turns a public trial into a private struggle involving affection, jealousy and power. This short story combines an ironic account of royal authority with close attention to an anxious moment between two people. Its compact setting offers readers a sharp starting point for thinking about choice, trust and the limits of judging another person's feelings.

About the author

Frank R. Stockton

Frank R. Stockton (1834-1902) was an American writer and humorist who worked as a wood engraver in Philadelphia before turning to fiction and children's writing in his thirties. He is best remembered for "The Lady, or the Tiger?" (1882), a story whose withheld ending became a national parlor argument, and for the Rudder Grange books that began in 1879.