| [ |
mood |
| |
 tired |
] |
A tale told for centuries, "Little Red Riding Hood" gained its roots through word of mouth, being first translated onto paper by Charles Perrault with his tale of the same name, soon followed by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm with "Little Red Cap", and a more modern revision, "The Company of Wolves", authored by Angela Carter, delves even deeper into the sexual references hinted at within the first story. Despite the differences between the three, they all connect around the central characters, and their sensitised (or sometimes desensitised) morals within. Charles Perrault accuratly depicts the tale most children ARE accustomed to--the simple delivery of baked treats from Little Red's mother to her grandmother, the delivery wraught with peril and hungry wolves. Two major alterations, however, occur in her visit to her grandmother, and in the ending; Little Red, when encountering the wolf posing as her grandmother, is convinced to climb naked into bed with him, an apparant sexual reference. Also, rather than being saved by the huntsman, she IS eaten whole. Perrault ends his tale with stating his intent, "Moral: Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all" (669). His bleak intent leans towards obvious sexual predators, the wolf being an allusion to a girl wandering alone and being persued. Over a century later, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm rewrite the tale with their own twist and brighter outlook. "Little Red Cap"captures more of the innocense that eluded the first version, with several alterations and an added ending. Most notably, Little Red does not die at the end of this edition, rather, she IS saved by the newly introduced huntsman. The ending, possibly a result of a brighter outlook on the subject, leaves them better off than before, "The three of them were happy. The huntsman skinned the wolf and went home with the pelt. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Cap had brought. And Little Red Cap thought, 'As long as I live, I will never leave the path and run off into the woods by myself if Mother tells me not to'" (671). This lesson is far less sexual and leans compulsively to a more family friendly alternate moral. In stark contrast to "family friendly", Angela Carter's "The Company of Wolves" delves deeply into the sexual references merely hinted at in Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood". The more interesting changes Carter makes within the story lie in the wolves. The people of the town have a curse which causes them to become a sort of werewolf, making the innocents the antagonists. Because of this, Carter makes the huntsman the main wolf, and the sexual references constant throughout, "The girl burst out laughing; she knew she was nobody's meat. She laughed at him full in the face, she ripped off his shirt for him and flung it into the fire, in the fiery wake of her own discarded clothing" (680). Also in her version, Carter focuses purely on the wolves rather than Red Riding Hood, as the title suggests. She depicts them as the victims, yet still managing to be the sexual predators that terrorize Little Red Riding Hood. Despite its changes over the years, Little Red Riding Hood constantly holds its underlying theme of sexual awareness. The symbolism snakes within the story, including the red of her cape, which could stand for the menstruation cycle beginning womanhood. The wolf stands for a sexual predator, and her grandmother's death could possibly even stand for the loss of celibacy. In "Little Red Riding Hood", "Little Red Cap", and "The Company of Wolves", the main story stays the same, but the details and main players shift and submerge depending on their intent. Each of these show the progression from innocense to sexual awareness, and the threat of the "wolves" around young girls. Despite its seemingly innocent lesson, Little Red Riding Hood remains today as one of the most bestial fairy tales.
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
notipsociety's journal
anxious
flirty
aggravated
bouncy
calm