In the short story, "The Lady or the Tiger," author Frank Stockton tells the readers to make up their minds about what happens based on the personality of the princess rather than on their own in order to give the readers a clue as to what door the princess nodded toward in the end. Most readers want a happy ending. They want love to win out, and because the princess loved the young man, surely she would do the right thing and nod toward the door behind which stands the beautiful young woman! However, the big clue here is the word "semi-barbaric." The princess is like her father. She is more than likely to have the attitude of "If I can't have him, nobody can." We know she is very jealous of the young woman.
"The girl was lovely, but she had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess; and, with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door" (Stockton 8).
Stockton is telling us that it doesn't matter whether or not the princess loves the young man. Her hatred for the other woman trumped that love, and there is no way she would allow a marriage between the two of them. The big question is whether or not the young man was smart enough to know this. If he did, he would, of course, pick the door the princess had not nodded toward!
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