Essay - In Frank Stockton's 'The Lady or the Tiger?' A Young...

In Frank Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger?" a young man, the f*****bidden lover of a princess, is sentenced to a trial by ordeal: in front of thousands of onlookers, he must choose between two doors. Behind one waits a tiger, behind ***** other w*****its a lovely maiden. Only the princess herself possesses ***** knowledge that will save her lover's life, though in doing so, she will send him into the arms of an***** wom*****. Stockton leaves whether or not ***** *****s her beau to the reader's imagination.

***** movie Gladiator also revolves around public spectacle and matters of justice and injustice. The main character, Maximus, a respected general and loyal subject of the Roman Empire, has been betrayed by Commodus, ***** Emperor. Sold ***** slavery, his family murdered, Maximus longs for revenge. He is forced to become a gladiator and use his strength to kill for the amusement of the mobs. At first, he resists this role, but his master, a former gladiator, reminds him ***** if he can get the people on his side, he will be invincible. Maximus takes ***** advice to heart and works to make the people his ally. When he is taken to fight at t***** Coliseum in Rome, he comes face *****o face with his old enemy Commodus. Commodus l*****gs to have him *****ed, but Maximus is too popular for Commodus to r*****k it. Eventually, Maximus is able to avenge **********, ***** ***** does so at the cost ***** ***** own l*****e.

The short story, "The Lady or ***** *****?" and the *****, Gladiator, have many similarities. Both utilize public ***** as a way to control and *****othe the citizens of a country; both address betrayal or the possibility ***** betrayal; and both *****volve a tyr*****nt who arbitrarily wields the power of life and death over his citizens. However ***** no means are the two pieces completely alike. Whereas the princess's hapless lover in "The ***** ***** the Tiger?" *****s a h*****rsh ***** fair trial, *****'s challenges offer only the appearance of fairness. In truth, every competition is heavily stacked against Maximus. Another difference lies in the character's relationships with others. All of the characters in "The Lady or the Tiger?" are primarily concerned with themselves; the protagonists in Gladia*****r are often more concerned ***** the well-being of ***** or with the greater good of the country. Finally, "***** Lady or the *****?" is deliberately ambiguous throughout; Gladiator is not.

Both the short story and the movie utilize spectacle to entertain ***** appease the masses. Stockton's father was a strict, conservative Methodist minister who disapproved of all forms of light entertainment. Although Stockton himself became a ***** writer, it appears that some ***** his ********** inherent suspicion of games and spectacles has crept into his wo***** (Golemba 18).

***** explains the perfection of the king's method of justice in "The Lady or the Tiger?" as follows: "Thus ***** ***** were entertained and ple*****ed, and the thinking part ***** the community could bring no