Answer and Explanation:
<u>In "The Lady, or the Tiger?", author Frank R. Stockton presents an impossible decision when the princess has to choose if she will help her loved one live to marry another, or if she will lead him to his death.</u>
First, it is important to understand this princess is described as semi-barbaric. She is impetuous, egotistic, spoiled. She is used to having what she wants. When she falls in love with a man of inferior birth, her father - who is described as a semi-barbaric king himself - decides to take the man to trial.
The king's idea of a fair trial would be comical if it weren't tragic. The man has to choose between two doors. If he chooses the one behind which is a tiger, that means he is guilty, and the tiger kills him. If he chooses the one behind which is a damsel, that means he is innocent, and he has to marry her on the spot.
<u>The princess manages to find out which door leads to which result. However, as the time to help her loved one gets nearer, she realizes she does not want him to marry another woman. Just the thought of seeing him happily wedded makes her angry. On the other hand, she loves him enough to not want him to die. And this is her dilemma, her impossible choice. The author does not tell us what she decides to do. He leaves it to our imagination instead.</u>
