Familiar folktales like Little Red Riding Hood are an important aspect of our children’s cultural heritage, encapsulating ‘universal truths’ about the world in a way that is captivating and magical. They can often be children’s first foray into literature, and the simple story structure and polarising characters, are perfect for capturing young imaginations and introducing them to basic literacy concepts such as language, plot and subtext. One day her mother said to her, "Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing. And when you go into her room, don't forget to say, good-morning, and don't peep into every corner before you do it." Charles Perrault's "Le Petit Chaperon rouge" ("Little Red Riding Hood") is centered on an erotic metaphor. [51]

Many of these tales reflect the psychology, beliefs, and myths of the time, and some were imbued with a sense of magic realism. Little Red Riding Hood is one of the oldest and most notable of these kinds of stories. From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers.... all wolves are not of the same sort.... there is one kind [that is not] noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! .... these gentle wolves are ... the most dangerous!" Some scholars say Perrault was not talking about rape but about sexual morality. At the time, there was an expression in French that is "seen the wolf" in English. If a girl had sex and was no longer a virgin, people would say she had "seen the wolf." [8] Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, p 145, ISBN 0-465-04125-6 A more adult interpretation is about sexuality. [15] Some people think that the story of the girl being "eaten" is really a symbol for rape. Susan Brownmiller wrote a book about it, called Against Our Will. Some of the other versions of the story seem to be more about rape than the way that the Brothers Grimm wrote it, which was for children. [16]The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were German academics, linguists, and cultural researchers who collected and published numerous folk and fairy tales during the 19th century. Their goal was to preserve the cultural heritage and oral storytelling traditions of German-speaking regions. The tales they collected were often based on stories passed down through generations and have roots in older myths and legends. However, with each change, the original intention of the story became more and more obscure. Indeed, all these kinds of tales tended to contain a doctrine or moral to follow and Little Red Riding Hood was no exception. Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm

As a matter of fact, the story had its origins in the northern Alps and featured some crude imagery that needed to be changed for a children’s audience. This was the first time that the story of this young woman in the red hood reached Europe. a b Orenstein, Catherine (3 July 2002). Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale. p.167. ISBN 0-465-04125-6. In later and better-known versions, the story continues. A woodcutter in the French version, or a hunter in the Brothers Grimm and traditional German versions, comes to the rescue with an axe, and cuts open the sleeping wolf. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge shaken, but unharmed. Then they fill the wolf's body with heavy stones. The wolf awakens and attempts to flee, but the stones cause him to collapse and die. In the Grimms' version, the wolf leaves the house and tries to drink out of a well, but the stones in his stomach cause him to fall in and drown (similarly to the story of " The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids"). In the old versions of the story the wolf is sometimes a terrible monster or a werewolf. In one version of the story, the wolf gives the girl some food to eat. It is part of the body of her grandmother. The wolf tells the girl to throw all her clothes in the fire, and get into bed. She says that she needs to use the toilet first. The wolf ties her with a long string so that she cannot run away without him knowing. But the girl puts the rope around something else, and escapes.

Give AI a Try!

Alan Dundes, "Intrepreting Little Red Riding Hood Psychoanalytically", p 27, James M. McGlathery, ed. The Brothers Grimm and Folktale, ISBN 0-252-01549-5 The tale is classified as ATU 333 (Little Red Riding Hood) in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification system, which categorizes folktales based on their narrative structure and elements. The story has its roots in older European folktales, and various versions of the tale have been recorded across Europe, with each version differing in details and endings.

Children at Play (2010) is a short film written and directed by Lexan Rosser, starring Bryan Dechart. The film can be interpreted as a reimagining of the classic fairy tale due to its number of overt/subtle parallels and references. When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud. So, she set off. She walked for around half an hour through the deep green lush of the forest, and soon discovered a wolf. Little Red Riding Hood was a naive, sweet little girl and had never met a wolf before, so she wasn’t afraid. Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, pp 92–106, ISBN 0-465-04126-4 However, Perrault decided to remove the cruelest elements of the original versions, such as cannibalism, with the aim of giving a moral lesson to the young woman. In this case, Perrault wanted to punish Little Red Riding Hood for speaking to strangers, the wolf being the representation of them.A sexual analysis of the tale may also include negative connotations in terms of rape or abduction. In Against Our Will, Susan Brownmiller describes the fairy tale as a description of rape. [41] Many revisionist retellings focus on empowerment and depict Little Red Riding Hood or the grandmother successfully defending herself against the wolf. [42] The Brothers further revised the story in later editions and it reached the above-mentioned final and better-known version in the 1857 edition of their work. [35] It is notably tamer than the older stories which contained darker themes. Folktales that were passed down from generation to generation at the time didn’t tend to be overtly moralised, nor were they told specifically for children. It’s Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm (in their popular version in 1812) that carved an explicit warning for children within the tale. From an educator’s point of view, or a parent’s, it’s a great story to explore concepts of obedience and, famously, ‘stranger danger’.

Folklorists and cultural anthropologists, such as P. Saintyves and Edward Burnett Tylor, saw "Little Red Riding Hood" in terms of solar myths and other naturally occurring cycles. Her red hood could represent the bright sun which is ultimately swallowed by the terrible night (the wolf), and the variations in which she is cut out of the wolf's belly represent the dawn. [39] In this interpretation, there is a connection between the wolf of this tale and Sköll, the wolf in Norse mythology that will swallow the personified Sun at Ragnarök, or Fenrir. [10] Alternatively, the tale could be about the season of spring or the month of May, escaping the winter. [10] Red Riding Hood by George Frederic Watts Rite [ edit ] The story has evolved over time, with many variations across different cultures. The basic plot, however, remains consistent: a young girl, wearing a red hood or cap, is sent by her mother to visit her grandmother, who lives in the woods. Along the way, she encounters a wolf that ultimately tries to deceive and eat her, but she is saved by a huntsman or another figure. Overall, „Little Red Riding Hood“ offers multiple layers of interpretation, allowing readers to find various meanings and lessons in the story based on their personal perspectives and experiences. Adaptions of the fairy tale „Little Red Riding Hood“Jacques Barchilon and Henry Pettit (1960) The Authentic Mother Goose Fairy Tales and Mursery Rhymes. Denver: Alan Swallow, p. 13. I go to visit my grandma and grandpa once a week. Sometimes I go there and sleep at their house. I also go to visit my uncle once a year. He lives in Germany. There are many stories in which a hungry wolf threatens a young person or animal. [13] In most of these stories, the young one escapes by cunning (cleverness). One story is the Russian folktale Peter and the Wolf. The Brothers Grimm told the story of the Little Kids and the Wolf. Another story like this is The Three Little Pigs, first published by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps. Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went home with it; the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Red Riding Hood had brought, and revived. But Red Riding Hood thought to herself: 'As long as I live, I will never leave the path by myself to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.' Another interpretation is that the tale is about the season of spring, or the month of May, escaping the winter. [19] The story could be seen as a description of the May Queen ritual that represents the coming of Spring, with the crown of flowers replaced by the red hood. [20]