"The Lady, or the Tiger?" has entered the English language as an allegorical expression, a shorthand indication or signifier, for a problem that is unsolvable.
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The short story takes place in a land ruled by a "semi-barbaric" king. Some of the king's ideas are progressive, but others cause people to suffer. One of the king's innovations is...More
Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century.
Stockton avoided the didactic moralizing common to children's stories of the time. Instead, he humorously poked fun at greed, violence, abuse of power and other human foibles, describing his fantastic characters' adventures in a charming, matter-of-fact way in his stories.
Like his contemporary Mark Twain, Stockton often pokes gentle fun at people's credulity and irrationality. Stockton's work of science fiction, The Great War Syndicate, describes a late 19th century British–American war. An American...More
Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century.
Stockton avoided the didactic moralizing common to children's stories of the time. Instead, he humorously poked fun at greed, violence, abuse of power and other human foibles, describing his fantastic characters' adventures in a charming, matter-of-fact way in his stories.
Like his contemporary Mark Twain, Stockton often pokes gentle fun at people's credulity and irrationality. Stockton's work of science fiction, The Great War Syndicate, describes a late 19th century British–American war. An American syndicate made up of some of America's richest men and ablest scientists conducts the war on behalf of the United States.
Book Summary
"The Lady, or the Tiger?" has entered the English language as an allegorical expression, a shorthand indication or signifier, for a problem that is unsolvable.
***
The short story takes place in a land ruled by a "semi-barbaric" king. Some of the king's ideas are progressive, but others cause people to suffer. One of the king's innovations is the use of a public trial by ordeal as "an agent of poetic justice", with guilt or innocence decided by the result of chance. A person accused of a crime is brought into a public arena and must choose one of two doors.