Fairy Tale Spotlight: Little Red Riding-Hood

This blog contains spoilers. You have been warned.

Many of us have heard this story growing up, but very few bother to seriously examine it. "Little Red Riding-Hood" is one of those stories that have been authored by many. Its true origin is uncertain. There are many variations of it, and some of those variations are more telling than others.

The basic concept of "Little Red Riding-Hood" was that a girl leaves to see her sick grandmother with some sort of gift--usually food. On the path to meeting with her, she runs into a talking wolf who advises her to take a different path or proposes a race. The wolf always gets to the house first and devours the grandmother. He pretends to be her which may or may not involve cross-dressing. Upon the little girl's arrival, Little Red will marvel over the non-human features of the wolf which produces a number of clever explanations from the disguised wolf. Upon saying the line, "My, but what big teeth you have!" The wolf will reply, "The better to eat you with!" and then promptly devour the girl. That is the story in its most basic form. Anything else added to it is a modification.

In later years, likely within the 1800s, a new character was introduced to the story. In the Grimm's version, a hunter comes along--quite randomly--and finds the wolf sleeping, with the girl and grandmother stuffed in his belly. He promptly chops the wolf open and rescues them from a very untimely digestion. This is the version I hear about more often. It is also the most unrealistic version. People would argue that anything is possible in fairy tales, and I would agree. However, I believe the most beloved fairy tales generally have origins in truth, The Grimm's version is cartoony and ridiculous. It is not to be taken seriously by an adult.

The advent of the hunter also seems like it takes a little too much from a different story known as "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" which also has a belly opening as a rescue attempt. Where it is a common thing to see similarities between tales, I must still insist that the hunter event is a modification of a much simpler story. People only liked it cause it made them feel safer. I don't mean to upset them, but wolves are actually very dangerous animals when they are hunting you.

Although I am sure it was not the first version of this story, the earliest copy of "Little Red Riding-Hood" that I was able to read was by French author Charles Perrault--published in 1697. Not only does this story end in death, there are some other anomalies of note that you may find striking and even quite horrible. Perrault made no secret that the story was a parable about how little girls should be wary of older men. This version of the story makes that quite clear.

For one, the girl seems quite pleased to meet the wolf on the road. She is goaded into a race to her grandmother's house, and she does not dissuade him in these thoughts. He runs off, and she continues at as a more casual pace. The wolf eats up the grandmother as usual, and as far as I could tell, he does not really cross-dress. He only pulls the counterpane up to his face. Now, it was clear that the girl knew what a wolf was and did not seem to care. When she goes into her grandmother's house, there is a strong sense that she already knows that it is the wolf pretending to be her grandmother. She may even know that her grandmother is dead already. There might even be blood. Either way, she does not seem to worry about it.

This suggests that the famous questionnaire is a simple game between Little Red and the wolf. It really does not help that she undresses and gets into bed with him before it begins. She is teasing him, and he likes it. But perhaps, the teasing goes too far. He devours her... and she dies. And that is the end of the story.

Obviously, if you look at this from a sexual perspective, this is actually an attempt to keep little girls away from men she does not know. She may think she is in control, but she does not entirely understand the nature of a wolf. If you replace the wolf with an older man and the devouring with rape, then the story suddenly takes new meaning--perhaps, its true meaning.

Alternately, if we go back far enough, this could be a look into a dark age where animals really could talk. And we may find that the little girl really was that uncaring, heartless, and quite frankly, stupid. Whatever the case, "Little Red Riding-Hood" will forever be a very powerful story in support of personal vigilance.

One a final note: I have written a fictional novella which is expounds heavily on the darker meanings of the Charles Perrault version of "Little Red Riding-Hood." It is called "A Wolf in my Bedroom," and it is available as an eBook or in paperback. You can find out more about it at my website: www.tkwade.com.

What did you think? If you would like to say something about my blog, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. My! What a big blog I had!