The Lady, or the Tiger?

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.

“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?

What is the purpose of leaving the ending open? (Alternatively, why is it significant that the reader answers the final question for themselves?)

Describe the relationship between the princess and her lover. Is it typical of traditional fairy tale romances? Use evidence from the text to support your argument.

Mark Twain argued, “The humorous story is American, the comic story is English, the witty story is French. The humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the telling; the comic story and the witty story upon the matter.” How does “The Lady, or the Tiger?” relate to this statement? Alternatively, how does this short story relate to the tradition of 19th-century American humor?

How is humor created in this story? To what effect on the reader? Use evidence from the text to support your argument.

Examine the narrator’s point of view. How does it convey irony, i.e., an underlying meaning that contradicts the narrator’s words?

The king claims that “the minds of his subjects were [to be] refined and cultured” (Paragraph 2) by the public arena, and “thus, the masses were entertained and pleased” (Paragraph 8). What elements in the story support or contradict the king’s claim?