The Lady Or The Tiger Decision Essay

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Two choices. One decision. All that can determine the fate of one. These ponderous choices can either stop the society from exterminating a bond that exists between two lovers, or sacrifice the one thing a lover cherishes the most to eradicate the jealousy that exists deep within them. In “The Lady or The Tiger” written by Frank Stockton, the princess has to make the decision. Her love, a young courtier, is sent to the king’s trial for having a relationship with the princess in which he must choose between two doors. The princess managed to decipher the secrets behind each door. She holds the fate of a man in which she truly loves. She can either allow him to be devoured by a malevolent beast, which would leave the crowd completely flabbergasted. …show more content…

What if the path the princess took was the door on the left? If the princess chose the door on the left, nobody would be able to envision the misery she would feel of seeing her love be with another matron. Especially since the maiden is someone she truly loathes. Even as the princess described the maiden as “one of the fairest and loveliest of the damsels of the court” (Stockton), it was easy to encounter her feelings of jealousy and enmity towards the maiden, fearing that she will pilfer the heart of her beau. As William Shakespeare once said: “So full of artless jealousy is guilt, it spills itself in fearing to be spilt.” (Shakespeare) The quote states that jealousy is so feared to be encountered, that it reveals itself about its jealousy, without realizing that it revealed itself. So, the fact that the princess's jealousy was so feared to be encountered by her lover, she revealed her hate and jealousy towards the maiden by preventing her from marrying her …show more content…

Killing someone will only stick with her for a couple of weeks, but the jealousy of another will stick with her life long. Even if the death of the person causes many days of grief and pain in a room that was once lit by love, but now the bleak room is filled with pain and darkness. She could endure that pain. But how would she be able to endure the pain of seeing her beau walking off in a jovial mood with another woman at his side? The princess expressed her pain by stating her soul “burned in agony when she had seen him rush to meet that woman, with her flushing cheek and sparkling eye of triumph.” (Stockton) This pain can lead people to do inhumane things such as suiciding or trying to take revenge. These inhumane factors already started to appear as she “had she gnashed her teeth, and torn her hair” (Stockton) at the sight of her love confronting the maiden. The small glimpses of pain she felt before the marriage will be nothing compared to the gargantuan amount of agony she will feel after the marriage. Pain is a feeling that is supported by jealousy. Jealousy is a feeling that is supported by

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