The Lady or the Tiger?

Author Overview

"The Lady or the Tiger?" is a short story written by American writer and humorist Frank R. Stockton, born in 1834 in Philadelphia. He is most famously known for the aforementioned story, written in 1882, but is the author of countless more litterary works, including many innovative children's tales. His first fairy-tale dates back to 1867 and is entitled "Ting-A-Ling". His litterature is tinted with the influence of the Victorian era, which centered around rewarding good virtue and punishing crime, and this is very noticeable in "The Lady or the Tiger?". He died in 1902.

Vocabulary

1. Will: wish or desire

2. Valour: boldness or determination in facing great danger

3. Poetic Justice: an ideal distribution of rewards and punishments such as is common in some poetry and fiction

4. Wails: a wailing cry, as of grief, pain or despair

5. Mourners: a person who mourns / who attends a funeral to mourn for the deceased

6. Dire: causing or involving great fear or suffering, dreadful, terrible

7. Fate: that which is inevitably predetermined, destiny

8. Fair: free from blemish, imperfection, or anything that impairs the appearance, quality, or character

9. Choristers: a singer in a choir

10. Maidens: an unmarried girl or woman

11. The Apple Of His Eye: something, or someone, cherished above others

12. Unsurpassed: not capable of being improved

13. Startling: creating sudden alarm, surprise, or wonder

14. Damsels: a young woman or girl; a maiden, originally one of gentle or noble birth

15. Glances: a quick or brief look

16. Mazes: any complex system or arrangement that causes bewilderment, confusion or perplexity

17. Fangs: any of the canine teeth of a carnivorous animal, such as a dog or wolf, with which it seizes and tears it's prey

18. Gnashed: to grind or strike the teeth together, especially in rage or pain

19. Shriek: a loud, sharp, shrill cry

20. Anguished: feeling, showing or accompanied by anguish (excruciating or acute distress, suffering, or pain)

Question

What advice would you give the lover boy and why?

I would tell the lover boy to choose the door the princess did not point to because jealousy is an emotion that often overpowers proper judgement and kindness; during her debating of what to do, the princess seemed more torn up by the idea of seeing her lover happy without her than seeing him dead.

Vocabulary 2

1. Florid: excessively ornate; showy

2. Untrammeled: not limited or restricted; unrestrained

3. Genial: warmly and pleasantly cheerful; cordial

4. Solemnized: to perform the ceremony of mariage

5. Barleycorn: a grain of barley

6. Epithalamic: related to a song or poem in honor of a bride and bridegroom

7. Grievous: causing grief or great sorrow

8. Parapet: any low protective wall or barrier at the edge of a balcony, roof, bridge, or the like

9. Multitude: a great number of people gathered together; common people

10. Futurity: the afterlife