25 pages 50 minutes read

Frank R. Stockton

The Lady, or the Tiger?

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1882

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Essay Topics

1.

Analyze how typical fairy tale tropes are used and/or subverted in “The Lady, or the Tiger?”

2.

Pay attention to the description of the king and his actions. How does the narrator feel about the king? Is the reader supposed to feel the same way? Use evidence from the text to support your argument.

3.

“The decisions of this tribunal were not only fair, they were positively determinate: the accused person was instantly punished if he found himself guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the spot, whether he liked it or not” (Paragraph 7). How is fairness defined in this story?