Discuss the effect Stockton creates in "The Lady or the Tiger?" by deciding not to include dialogue between the princess and her lover.

In the short story by Frank Stockton called, "The Lady or
the Tiger," the author chooses to tell his tale without dialogue. There is one word of
internal dialogue: "Which?"—a question expressed in the young man's eyes to the
princess. He is asking his lover which door he should open in order to
survive.

Perhaps Stockton removes dialogue so that the
reader must concentrate on the facts first. Stockton describes the "trial" conducted by
the "semi-barbaric king," and the king's unwavering dedication to the very "letter of
the law;" the people are also well satisfied by the king's method
of deciding the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Among
the details the author provides is the nature of the relationship between the accused
and his lover—the king's daughter. This is, in fact, the young man's crime: loving the
princess. We are given no deep insight into the relationship except that the princess
finds her lover to be as handsome and brave a man as she could want; and the young man
is completely dedicated to the princess.

The main conflict
in the story is not that the young man
is on trial, but what his judgment may be—as his fate
lies in the hands of his lover. For if the young man opens the wrong door, he
will be eaten by a tiger. The other door, however, hides a beautiful young woman to whom
the accused will be married without delay regardless of whether he is in love
with another. This is, of
course, the dilemma: can the princess give up her lover to another woman in order to
save his life?

Dialogue would provide the reader with the
innermost thoughts and feelings of each of these characters—there might be words of
devotion and shared sorrow and/or loss for both—regardless of the outcome. There would
be reasoning and rational thought exchanged, as well as love and tenderness: these are
things that might sway the princess. Stockton is
not asking us to understand her dilemma, but her human nature. For
well before the young man is led into the courtyard to face his "punishment," the
princess has "done her homework." She has found out behind which door the tiger
waits:

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

The princess also
knows about the young lady:

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And not only did she know in which room stood the
lady ready to emerge, all blushing and radiant, should her door be opened, but she knew
who the lady was...and the princess hated
her.

The loathing of the
king's daughter for girl her lover will marry if the princess chooses to save
his life exposes the basis of the real choice the
semi-barbaric princess must make. The princess has formed her own
opinions about her lover and the girl, but that they are not
founded on facts (notice "imagined" and "thought"):

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Often had she seen, or
imagined that she had seen, this fair creature throwing glances of
admiration upon the person of her lover, and sometimes she thought
these glances were perceived, and even
returned.

We also
learn:

Her
decision...had been made after days and nights of anguished deliberation. She had known
she would be asked, she had decided what she would
answer...

The princess has
already made her decision. The twist that Stockton exposes centers
on the darker side of human nature: in this case—
jealousy. Can she love him enough to let him go? Lack of dialogue clearly
leaves the outcome with the reader, making it a more powerful
story—for perhaps in answering the question, we look within to decide what
we might do.