“The Lady or the Tiger” by Frank Stockton takes place in a land where a king presides over court using chance to determine people’s innocence or guilt. Inside of a public arena are two doors. Behind one is a woman whom the accused must marry if he opens that door. Behind the other is a hungry tiger. If that door is chosen by the accused, the accused is considered guilty and will be eaten by the tiger. The king’s daughter falls in love with a man of lower status, and he is brought into the arena to choose a door. The princess learns which door has the tiger and which one has the lady, and she discreetly tells her lover to open the door on the right. However, it is never revealed what was behind that door, so we don’t know if she led him into death or into marriage with another woman.
You can’t really say there is a theme for this short story, but the moral value of “The Lady, or the Tiger?” story is we have to be careful in making decisions. Every decision must be well considered before it becomes a final. The consideration should be reviewing the effects for us in our next steps of life. The king made the accused make a life-deciding decision, and it was all chance if they lived or died. This was a pretty interesting story as it was ended with a cliffhanger, since we don’t know what happened to the prince, and what was behind the door he chose.