Does Stockton treat his characters in a dramatic way?

Stockton does present the characters in "The Lady or the Tiger" in a dramatic way. They are extravagant and even a bit hyperbolic. That is to say, Stockton exaggerates some of the character traits to make his points clear. Of the king, he writes,

"He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing,...

Stockton does present the characters in "The Lady or the Tiger" in a dramatic way. They are extravagant and even a bit hyperbolic. That is to say, Stockton exaggerates some of the character traits to make his points clear. Of the king, he writes,

"He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied fancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and, when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done."

Also note that Stockton mocks the king's character in this way. The king is "semi-barbaric." This is like saying someone is semi-murderous. It suggests that, if he is occasionally barbaric, then he simply is barbaric. This is one of Stockton's subtle strategies which adds to dramatizing the king's personality. 

The princess is equally extravagant in description.

"This semi-barbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his own."

She is strikingly beautiful and as barbaric as her father. Her suitor is the ideal underdog/hero.

"Among his courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens."

The princess's love for him is also described in hyperbolic terms: 

 . . . he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this kingdom, and she loved him with an ardor that had enough of barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. 

Stockton paints these characters in dramatic and well-defined strokes. Thus, it would seem that the characters' actions will be quite predictable. Everything seems dramatically clear. But in the end, Stockton does not say what the princess chooses. He leaves that to the reader. Using a mock fairy tale style, Stockton gives the reader quite overt character types but leaves the ending unknown. This is the dramatic effect in the end. We are given clear characters but an unclear ending.