In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king,
whose ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened
by the progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were
still large, florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of
him which was barbaric.
— "The Lady, or the Tiger?," Frank R. Stockton
Why does Stockton use an “olden time" setting instead
of a modern one?
It allows him to use big words and fancy language.
It is more likely that a king would be cruel in an old
setting
There can't be characters who are kings and
princesses today
A king from the past is more likely to make goods
decisions than a king today.