Sitater fra The Lady, or the Tiger?

10 kjente sitater fra The Lady, or the Tiger? (1882) av Frank R. Stockton, ordrett, med forklaring og kilde.

11 min lesetid

1. 1

   In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which was barbaric.

   Betydning: The king combines a thin layer of civilization with an extravagant, unrestricted barbaric nature.

   NarratorAvsnitt 1Kopier
2. 2

   He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done.

   Betydning: The king consults only himself, so his personal wishes become unquestioned decisions.

   NarratorAvsnitt 1Kopier
3. 3

   This was the king’s semi-barbaric method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious.

   Betydning: The narrator ironically praises a justice system that lets chance decide punishment rather than evidence.

   NarratorAvsnitt 7Kopier
4. 4

   But gold, and the power of a woman’s will, had brought the secret to the princess.

   Betydning: The princess uses wealth and determination to discover which door conceals each possible outcome.

   NarratorAvsnitt 13Kopier

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5. 5

   Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No one but her lover saw her.

   Betydning: The princess secretly signals her chosen door to her lover.

   NarratorAvsnitt 17Kopier
6. 6

   Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened it.

   Betydning: The young man trusts the princess completely and opens the door she indicated.

   NarratorAvsnitt 18Kopier
7. 7

   Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that door, or did the lady?

   Betydning: The narrator shifts attention from the young man’s action to the unresolved consequences of the princess’s choice.

   NarratorAvsnitt 19Kopier
8. 8

   Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot-blooded, semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy. She had lost him, but who should have him?

   Betydning: Readers must judge the choice through the princess’s jealousy and despair rather than their own preferences.

   NarratorAvsnitt 20Kopier
9. 9

   Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation.

   Betydning: The princess’s quick gesture results from prolonged emotional struggle, not a sudden impulse.

   NarratorAvsnitt 25Kopier
10. 10

    And so I leave it with all of you: Which came out of the opened door,—the lady, or the tiger?

    Betydning: The narrator leaves readers to decide whether the princess chose her lover’s survival or his death.

    NarratorAvsnitt 26Kopier

Spørsmål om disse sitatene

Which came out of the door in The Lady, or the Tiger?

The story never reveals the outcome. The princess knows what each door conceals and directs her lover right, but readers must decide whether love or jealousy governs her choice.

Why does the narrator call the king’s justice fair?

The praise is ironic: identical doors offer equal uncertainty, but chance cannot establish guilt or innocence. Even survival forces the accused into a marriage regardless of personal wishes.