History Literature / TheLadyOrTheTiger

* HeldGaze: When the lover enters the arena, he and princess lock eyes. Such is their bond that he knows immediately that she can save him, and she knows he's asking which door to open. She even knew ahead of time that he would ask, which makes the decision to send him to the tiger -- if that is her decision -- particularly cruel.

* TitleDrop: The last line of the story.
-->Which came out of the opened door - the lady, or the tiger?

* UndesirablePrize: In cases where the man on trial is already married or betrothed, being found innocent isn't necessarily a good thing. After all, he will then be married on the spot, and neither he nor the lady can refuse. In the case of the central 'defendant' of this story, we don't know whether he had any interest in the woman in question, though there's enough evidence to make the princess suspicious... [[GreenEyedMonster and jealous]].

* MortonsFork: No matter what the princess chooses, she'll lose her man. The only question is whether she'd rather lose him to the teeth of a tiger or the arms of another woman.

* PantheraAwesome: Not that it's particularly awesome for the poor schmuck who opens the wrong door, but the story plays up the strength and savagery of the tiger and makes sure that we know that the lover has no chance of escape if the princess points him to the fatal door.

* ShowDontTell: The story relies very heavily on telling, since it's entirely told by the third person narrator, and adds to the ambiguity regarding certain characters' actions and motives, while ultimately letting readers come to their own conclusions as to what the princess decided.

* HeldGaze: When the lover enters the arena, he and princess lock eyes. Such is their bond that he knows she can save him, and she knows he's asking which door to open. She even knows ahead of time that he will ask, which makes the decision to send him to the tiger -- if that is her decision -- particularly cruel.

* LamarckWasRight: The king is "semi-barbarian" by exposure to AncientGrome, and his daughter consequently has a mix of 'civilized' and 'barbaric' in her nature.

* PantheraAwesome: Not that it's particularly awesome for the poor schmuck who gets torn to pieces by the tiger, but the story plays up the strength and savagery of the tiger and makes sure that we know that opening the wrong door means certain death.

In an ancient, semi-barbaric kingdom, the king has established a unique method to try particularly significant criminals. The accused is brought into the king's arena, facing two identical, soundproofed doors. He then must choose his own verdict by opening one of them: behind one door lurks a tiger which promptly kills him as punishment for his guilt, but behind the other is a desirable woman who immediately becomes his wife as a reward for his innocence. No one watching knows which door leads to which, so the defendant's fate is entirely up to chance, and the trials make for thrilling public entertainment as well.

During one such trial, the defendant is a commoner who had the audacity to love the king's only daughter. She has bribed the guards and learned which door leads to the lady and which to the tiger. As the man enters the arena, the princess has an opportunity to guide him to life or death, but which does she choose? The story leaves the answer up to the reader.

* IfICantHaveYou: If the princess guides the man to the tiger, she sends him to a horrible death rather than see him marry another.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The Discourager of Hesitancy's scimitar can split a hair, as he helpfully demonstrates when the prince seems to be getting cold feet at his wedding.
* AffablyEvil: The Discourager -- the servant whose job is to "ensure" prompt compliance with the king's orders -- is soft-spoken, gracious, and polite at all times.

* NoEnding: The story ends just as the man opens the door. The readers are left to decide for themselves what was behind it.

* SinisterScimitar: The Discourager's WeaponOfChoice.

* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The Discourager's scimitar can split a hair, as he helpfully demonstrates when the prince seems to be getting cold feet at his wedding.
* AffablyEvil: The Discourager of Hesitancy -- the servant whose job is to "ensure" prompt compliance with the king's orders -- is soft-spoken, gracious, and polite at all times.

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Not that it's ever claimed the princess planned to marry her lover, but her father's reaction when he discovers their relationship is... unsubtle.

In an ancient, semi-barbaric kingdom, the king has established a unique method to try particularly significant criminals. The accused is brought into the king's arena, facing two identical, soundproofed doors. He then must choose his own verdict by opening one of them: behind one door lurks a tiger which promptly kills him as punishment for his guilt, but behind the other is a desirable woman who immediately becomes his wife as a reward for his innocence. Not even the king knows in advance which door leads to which, so this method is considered fair and impartial.

* AncientGrome: Subverted. The central kingdom and the Roman Empire are contemporaries, and the king has raised himself to ''semi-''barbarian by adopting some Roman customs, but he's twisted them to fit his own fancy.

* LoveTriangle: The chosen lady for this trial also has her eye on the defendant -- and the princess ''thinks'' he might return her interest. As much as she wants to save her lover from the tiger, sending him to the lady would be just as painful.

* PantheraAwesome: Not that it's particularly awesome for the poor schmuck who gets torn to pieces by the tiger, but the story still plays on the strength and majesty of the tiger when it's used to kill criminals.

During one such trial, the defendant is a man who had the audacity to love the king's only daughter. She has bribed the guards and learned which door leads to the lady and which to the tiger. As the man enters the arena, the princess has an opportunity to guide him to life or death, but which does she choose? The story leaves the answer up to the reader.

In an ancient, semi-barbaric kingdom, the king has established a unique method to try particularly significant criminals. The accused is brought into the king's arena, facing two identical, soundproofed doors. He then must choose his own verdict by opening one of them: behind one door lurks a tiger which promptly kills him as punishment for his guilt, but behind the other is a desirable woman who immediately becomes his wife as a reward for his innocence. No one knows in advance which door leads to which, so this method is considered fair and impartial, and the trials always draw a large crowd.

In an ancient, semi-barbaric kingdom, the king has established a unique method to judge particularly significant crimes. The accused is brought into the king's arena, facing two identical, soundproofed doors. He then must choose his own verdict by opening one of them: behind one door lurks a fierce tiger which promptly kills him as punishment for his guilt, but behind the other is a desirable woman who immediately becomes his wife as a reward for his innocence.

* ForcedToWatch: Subverted. The princess is not under any external pressure to attend the trial: the narrative even tells us that a less-barbarian woman wouldn't even be there. However, if she wants to control the outcome, she has no choice but to attend -- and that will mean witnessing the agonizing result of her decision.

* ForcedToWatch: Subverted. The princess is not under any external pressure to attend: the narrative even tells us that a less-barbarian woman wouldn't even be there. However, if she wants to control the outcome, she has no choice but to attend -- and seeing her lover go to the lady ''or'' the tiger will be agonizing for her.

In an ancient and semi-barbaric kingdom, the king has established a unique method to judge and sentence particularly significant criminals. The defendant is brought into the king's arena, facing two identical, soundproofed doors. He then must choose his own fate by opening one of them: behind one door lurks a fierce tiger which promptly kills him as punishment for his guilt, but behind the other is a desirable woman who immediately becomes his wife as a reward for his innocence.

During one such trial, the defendant is a man who had the audacity to love the king's only daughter. She has bribed the guards and learned which door leads to the lady and which to the tiger. As the man enters the arena, the princess has an opportunity to guide him to life or death, but which does she pick? The story leaves the answer up to the reader.

* MortonsFork: No matter what the princess chooses, she'll lose the man. The only question is whether she'd rather lose him to the teeth of a tiger or the arms of another woman.

In an ancient and semi-barbaric kingdom, particularly significant trials take place according to a system the king devised on his own whim. The defendant is taken to the king's arena and made to face two identical, soundproofed doors. He then must choose a door and open it: one of them contains a fierce tiger which immediately kills the prisoner as punishment for his guilt, but the other conceals a desirable woman whom the prisoner immediately marries as a reward for his innocence.

* LoveTriangle: The chosen lady for this trial also has her eyes on the defendant -- and the princess ''thinks'' he might return her interest. As much as she wants to save her lover from the tiger, sending him to the lady would be just as painful.

* TitleDrop: The last line of the door references the question.

* XanatosGambit: The king knows that the young man is guilty of loving his daughter, as does everyone else, but either outcome of the trial will work in his favor. If the man picks the tiger, he'll be killed, but if he picks the lady, he'll be married on the spot. Either way, he'll no longer be able to pursue the princess.