The Lady or The Tiger?

I recently found a printed copy of one of my favorite short stories while cleaning my very unorganized and headache-inducing desk. The said short story is by Frank Stockton and it's one that many have read or heard of at least, The Lady or The Tiger? If so otherwise, I highly suggest, even urge all who haven't to look it up online and read it.

The plot line follows what you would call a "catch-22" dilemma or some would call it a "false dilemma" or "circular logic"; whichever term you prefer, it is one that suggests a kind of no-win situation.

A king in ancient time, labeled as semi-barbaric, punishes wrong-doers and criminals by setting the prisoner in an arena where the latter will be presented with two doors and a choice to open one of them. Behind one door is a hungry and fierce tiger and behind the other door is a beautiful woman. The logic behind the King's game is if the convicted chooses the door with the tiger inside, he is then deemed guilty and shall be fiercely devoured by the tiger. If he, by luck, chooses the door with the beautiful woman behind; he must immediately be married to her regardless of his current maritial status or personal preference. By opening the door with the lady, he is therefore deemed innocent and as a result, is rewarded the hand of a hand-picked lady to marry. The King has a beautiful daughter who has the unfortunate luck to fall in love with an equally handsome man with a status below hers. This forbidden love ultimately gets caught by the King and so he punishes the man by sending him to the area for fate will decide his doomed future. Knowing how this barbaric game unfolds, the man asked the Princess which door to choose. The Princess knew very well which door hid the tiger and which hid a beautiful woman. That's when the dilemma begins. The Princess does not want to see her lover get shredded and eaten by the tiger, but she cannot fathom letting her true love get married to a woman whom she despised because the woman and the man had previously been "flirting" with each other. She does, however know what to tell the man, which door he must choose.

But do we know which door the Princess tells him to open?

There's something exquisite in both Stockton's writing and the effect and emotional suspense he creates with just a short-spanned, undeveloped storyline. Obviously, the play on the "false dilemma" situation adds to the tension. Humans are such complex beings that when they are discussed in a story like this, it always compells me. I wouldn't know which door to tell him to open. No, actually I do. Out of selflessness, I would tell him to open the door with the girl. Sure, I (the Princess, hypothetically speaking) would rather let him live; albeit with another woman, but at least I won't have the constant guilt that I have condemned him to death. But then again, I'm not a woman and the mind of the opposite sex can work entirely inversely.

Excerpts; When all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king, surrounded by his court, sat high up on his throne of royal state on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the amphitheater. Directly opposite him, on the other side of the enclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these doors and open one of them. He could open either door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. Read in full