The Lady, Or The Tiger by Frank R. Stockton takes place many years ago in an unknown kingdom. This kingdom, may possibly be France since he and his sister’s names were both influenced by the country which hints at a family connection and it being a place with a history of harsh punishments in its earlier years, similar to events which occur in the story (Griffin, M. Ignatius Joseph,1939, p.8). This kingdom is ruled by a semi-barbaric king with a judicial system that leads to a scenario in which a young princess has to make a complicated life changing decision of life and death for her imprisoned lover. The princess’s boyfriend has been accused of a crime for dating her since he isn’t a member of a prestigious family worthy of such a relationship. So the princess must make a very difficult choice between two options that can be argued as equally bad in very different ways. Stockton created his stories based on his own ideas to represent things based from his own life events and a quote from his biography states that, “These were constructed according to my own ideas. I caused the fanciful creatures who inhabited the world of fairyland to act, as far as possible for them to do so, as if they were inhabitants of the real world” (Griffin, M. …show more content…
The word “semi-barbaric” is often used to describe the significant characters of the story. The word itself is very conflicting. If someone is thought of as barbaric they are expected to be brutal and heartless in how they treat others and make decisions. But if its only “semi” then it isn’t entirely true and accurate, its only partially. But can someone really be only semi-barbaric? And if so how would you be able to determine when and how they wouldn’t behave in a cruel and heartless