Introduction
Different Versions of “Little Red” have been retold throughout written history. Angela Carter’s ‘The Company of Werewolf’(1979) and Tanith Lee’s ‘Wolfland’ (1989) are two very famous retellings of “Little Red Cap”which revive the feminine perspective of the classic children story. In the original version, Little Red goes to visit her grandmother. But her grandmother was eaten by a wolf who then put on her clothes awaiting for Little Red. The wolf devoured Little Red in the end. However, it is indisputable that both Carter’s and Lee’s works manage to challenge the natural facts displayed in the Grimms’ “Little Red Cap” or Perrault’s “Littele Red Riding Hood”. In Grimm’s Traditional version, Little Red is perceived as a innocent character. The femininity of Little Red and her grandmother is rather a fragile one. Little Red and her grand mother are submissive to masculinity or the social order of a patriarchal society. On the contrary, in the two retellings, Carter and Lee thoroughly eliminate the figure of the male wolf and try to facilitate the transmission of female knowledge from the grandmother to the granddaughter. In this way, female identity has been liberated from masculinity or patriarchal authority. In this short essay, a comparative analysis of the two cross-cultural retellings will be conducted in details to show how Carter and Lee manage to criticize and challenge the patriarchal versions of “Little Red” with their figurative language.
The Oral Tradition and Literacy Versions
Grimm Brothers’ “Little Red Cap” is believed to be based on an oral folk tale in the late Middle Ages. Paul Delarue, a very reputable scholar, had conducted a research on investigating the origin of this fairy tale. Delarue discovers that the first written version is called “The Story of Grandmother”. All of the above-mentioned together with Grimms’ version is more or less telling the same story. A very young girl called “Little Red” is sent by her mother to visit her grandmother with some food.
First, it seems that original versions are reflecting socially desirable values or rather patriarchal values in the folk tales of “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Little Red Cap”. The original source of “Little Red Riding Hood” is believed to be discovered from an oral folk tale spread among French communities in the late Middle Ages. French folklorist Paul Delarue first published a study on different versions, called “The Story of Grandmother”. Although the collected oral folk tales versions are reflecting different provincial characteristics, their main plots are more or less the same. It is about a young girl, called ‘Little Red’, sent by her mother to grandmother’s house with a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk. She met a wolf or perhaps a werewolf halfway on the journey. The wolf happened to research the destination first and killed the grandmother. When Little Red arrived, the werewolf was in disguise of her grandmother. However, the oral tradition is rather bloody as the werewolf treated the little girl a meal with her grandmother’s meat and blood. Charles Perrault’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the Brothers Grimm’s ‘Little Red Cap’ transformed the oral traditions with a patriarchal root. Little Red is a female character constructed by male desire. For instance, Little Red is a very innocent figure. She sees no danger in giving detailed information about her grandmother’s location to a stranger, “Her house is right under three large oaks. You must know the place from the hazel hedges near it’(Grimm 103)”. Little Red Cap is also portrayed as a naive figure, who is following the advice of the wolf to gaze at the beautiful flowers and birds in the woods, without noticing about the wolf’s intentions, “Little Red Cap, have you seen the beautiful flowers all about? Why don’t you look around for a while? I don’t think you’ve even noticed how sweetly the birds are singing> (Grimm 103). It is obvious that the wolf is so successful in tracking her by distracting her. It seems that woman is nothing more than a sexual object which needs to meet the male’s expectations. “Little Red Cap” reveals a time when the modern idea of a family or society was established. The society as a whole value purity and innocence very much. The woods implies the potential danger outdoors. Little Red only leaves her house to visit her grandmother. But it is more socially desirable that women keep staying at home because the external environment is rather dangerous. It is men’s responsibility to provide protection for girls or women. The wolf, for instance, is perceived as a prowler, which is presenting the outdoor environment. In addition, Little Red’s innocence is symbolic of a girl’s purity. The wolf in the tale is there to steal it from her. When the wolf says, “How tender and young she” and “she’ll be even tastier than the old woman”(Grimm 102). When the wolf devoured girl, it symbolizes that the purity of girl was tarnished. Thus, when the woodcutter returned and saves the girl from the evil wolf’s stomach, it remarks the rebirth of Little Red Cap’s purity. In this way, Gender’s role and nature of human beings are clearly specified. Women are desired to value and safeguard their purity. Men, on the other hand, provide protection for the females. In this way, Grimm’s tale is used to teach young girls about how to be socially favorable. The structure and tone of “Little Red Cap” is designed in a way to arouse audiences’ empathy to sympathize the fact that the purity of Little Red Cap is ruined by Wolf. It again reminds the evilness of the wolf or external environment and emphasizes men’s role of protecting women in a patriarchal society.
Analysis of “The company of Wolves” and “Wolfland”
However, Carter retells the story of “Little Red Cap” and remakes it into a moralistic, feminist and high-minded classic fairy tale. The wolf in this tale is used as a metaphor to represent a man who aims to take the virginity of a girl. The ending of the story shows that the girl gives in to the pressures of wolf. But there is a thing fundamentally different from the traditional version. The girl this time feels control of everything and every action. She is empowered with the right to make decisions. The laid out structure first implies about how Little Red Cap is becoming a victim of the wolf. But it ends up that the girl is in full control of the situation, especially in her relationship with the wolf. In the last sentence of “The company of Wolves”, it writes, “See! Sweet and sound she sleeps in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tend wolf”(Carter 118). It surely demonstrates that women should not always accept men’s way but should be able to make their own decisions. In this rewriting, the wolf is used to represent the sexual predator which is most likely in a patriarchal society. The old grandmother died but the young girl survived. Therefore, from author’s perspective, the tale aims to praise the female liberation and sexuality. It tries to prove that nothing else can be able to save Little Red from wolf, including woodcutter, or even God, apart from giving in to the worldly temptation. In a way, it is the sexual superiority of the girl rather than purity which saves her from potential danger and makes her have a full control of the situation.
Very similarly, Tanith Lee also does an interesting job in retelling the classic children’s story in “Wolfland”. But apart from feminism, Lee also brings in new dimensions such as everything is not always it seems. The main character in this folk tale is Lisel. Her mother died while giving birth to her. It is also the reason why she was treated like a princess by her father. In a sense, she was over-protected and always learned to accept orders. Hence, when she was sent to her grandmother’s house to inherit her fortune, Lisel was both excited and scared. Her grandmother also lived in a mansion deep in the forest. But this time grandmother herself is a werewolf. In my opinion, Lee goes much deeper than Carter in elucidating her feminist concepts. Grandmother, in fact, is transforming into a werewolf. She killed her husband in order to survive from domestic violence. So when Little Red Cap is summoned by her grandmother to inherit the wealth, it is actually representing a journey for Lisel to rediscover her true sexuality. The red cloak is present in both “The company of Wolves” and “Wolfland”. It actually represents a sexual attractiveness in the former tale but it does not have the same lexical meaning in the latter. It rather symbolizes women’s empowerment. Lee tries to show that women’s empowerment is necessary for females to survive in a highly patriarchal society. Women are often threatened by domestic violence. Thus, on the contrary, the woods is not a place filled with dangers but rather a maternal space. It implies the relationship between women and the “mother” nature. In “Wolfland”, the wilderness of nature represents a true liberalization of women from oppressive social order and male domination. Therefore, “Wolfland” has a Pedagogical function to educate females about the importance to identity their true sexual identity in a distorted patriarchal society. In the last paragraph, “She [Lisel] hastened out through the doors and over the winter park and followed her grandmother away into the Wolfland”(Lee 131). It implies that she became a werewolf with her grandmother in order to be liberated from a male-dominated society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the traditional versions of “Little Red Cap” are reflecting men’s desire for ideal women, who are often innocent in nature. In a way, it shows a high degree of gender stereotype in which women are often perceived as a sexual object to men. However, in Carter’s “The company of Wolves” and Lee’s “Wolfland”, the two tales shows about women’s empowerment and liberation from patriarchal social power.
Reference
Grimm, J., & Grimm, W. (1993). Little Red Cap: a fairy tale. North South Books.
Lee, T. (1983). Wolfland. Don’t Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England, 122-147.
Carter, A. (1984).The Company of Wolves. Ireland Books.