What kind of style does Stockton use in "The Lady or the Tiger?"

There are lots of different aspects of style that could be
used to comment upon. One of these aspects that most impresses me when I read this story
is the setting, and how this is used to support other aspects of style, such as the
autocratic rule of the king and the grim justice that his method of trial
yields.

Note how the story begins, and how it provides us
with essential details regarding the setting:

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

The reference to
the "distant Latin neighbours" and then the detailed description that we are given about
the arena with its many tiers, galleries and doors seem to be a deliberate allusion to
the Coliseum in Rome, which was used for many different kinds of gladiatorial challenges
involving animals for many years, and was very sophisticated in its time. This setting
of course gives us an excellent background to the kind of themes of justice and power
that are presented in the novel, and the "semibarbaric" king helps foreshadow the
"semibarbaric" form of justice that is practised in this kingdom, and also prepares us
for the ambiguous character of the princess.

You might also
like to consider other aspects of style in your analysis such as the point of view, the
structure of the story and the way that it could be compared to a kind of fairy tale.
Hope this helps!