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Little Red Riding Hood

In: English and Literature

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Little Red Riding Hood in a Different Light “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perault and “The company of wolves” by Angela Carter is based on the same story but has stark contrasts displayed in them. Both these stories also present the same theme basically but in different versions and manners that reaches out to two different audiences. When the first story by Perault is child-like innocent, the other version by Angela Carter is comprehensible by adults only. The time periods both these stories have been written also contributes to the variations in the story line. The stories written by these two people give a completely different view on the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood”. It is interesting to note how the story was modified from its original shape and form to fit the age and time that Carter’s “Company of Wolves” was written. In the first story by Charles Perault, Little Red Riding Hood (LRR) depicts the traditional little girl and moral, who was foolish and was deceived by a wolf. This is by far the most ancient version written of this story. LRR is presented as a pretty young girl, who was naïve and gullible. She was also shown as an obedient girl who loved the little things in life. In this version, the girl was supposed to be around six-eight years old, and was aimed to target the little girls of that age who read the story. In this version we also see that the, story is pretty direct. It puts forth the plot of the story directly to the audience and doesn’t need much explanation to better understand it. The story is also short and concise, with a direct moral provided at the very end of the story. Although the story is direct and understandable by young children, the moral gives an indirect approach to the issue of not talking to strangers by referring to them as “wolves”. For a child of age six to eight, I believe it’s hard for them to interpret that the wolves talked about in the moral are referring to older nice men who would take small pretty girls as preys. In the version by carter, “The Company of wolves”, the plot of the story is almost the same but, it contains an aspect of sexuality underlying throughout this version of the story. The story almost sounds like it’s about the wolves in this world for about three- fourths of the story. The story of LRR comes only in the very last portion of this version. It doesn’t give the slightest clue, of the motive for the story till the very end. In this version, the main aspect that is very noticeable is that, LRR is shown as an older girl between the ages of seventeen-twenty. Together with it, there also comes the aspect of innocence thrown away. This version is targeted towards the teens and people in their twenties. Sexuality is a major change that is seen in this narrative. In the first version, even when there was mentioning of lying together which is seen in line 21, “LRR took off her clothes…nightclothes”, there was no sense of sexuality and adult like behavior. In the second version, it talks about how LRR wanted to lose the bet with the wolf and so she purposely reached her grandmother’s cottage late, so that she could get a kiss from the handsome young man/wolf. It shows that the girl was herself setting up for some form of passion not knowing the consequences underneath it. This situation can be connected very well to the present age and time. Many women deliberately fall for good looking guys even when they know that they should avoid strangers, but they still do it for the enthusiasm and fun that comes along. Later on in the story we see, LRR ready to marry the man/wolf who ate her grandmother up even as she knew that he was cruel and deceiving.

Both these stories put emphasis on the same old story of Little Red Riding Hood; they succeed at reaching two different age groups well. The first one gives a thorough warning and explanation as to why not to talk to strangers which can be well understood by the little children. The second version shows how women of this age know the consequences and the danger that comes with certain people, but very well chooses to stay quiet and take it all in because they fear for their life. The stark contrasts between the stories provide a means to think in different tangents of a well known fairytale.

Works Cited
Clifford, John, and John Schilb. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009. 1573-1576, 1580-1587. Print.

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