Little Red Riding Hood

While some of the authors may have written their particular versions of Little Red Riding Hood from a deeper perspective, I think the general theme is that of protagonist vs. antagonist, good vs. evil, the innocent vs. the sly and cunning. LRRH is a young girl that adds the innocence and the introduction of a hungry, evil, manipulative wolf makes the story, for some readers, more dramatic or thrilling. I don’t really see the focus as a parable of rape, infantile fantasy, male pregnancy, or sexuality. Granted, the wolf was a predator in every version of the tale. He saw a little girl walking alone as the ideal prey, because he viewed her and her grandmother as less likely to be able to defend themselves and get away from him. Although cannibalism, appetite, and gluttony are included in the story, I don’t think they are a part of the primary focus either. They may be factors used to add terror and intrigue, to keep the readers guessing and asking for more details.

Of all the versions of LRRH that we read, “The Little Girl and the Wolf” was my favorite! I found it more entertaining and far less gruesome than the other versions. This version relates to more of a modern-day audience, with the mention of the Metro-Goldwyn lion, Calvin Coolidge, and the automatic shotgun. Although I believe this story is focused more on entertainment, it does have a short moral, implying that little girls are not as naïve as they were in the early LRRH days, as children are exposed to and aware of so much more now than they were in the past.

According to Shavit, Perrault wrote for two different audiences, children and his friends, the literary elite, eliminating the more vile aspects of the story and transforming LRRH into a “pretty, well-bred, and genteel” girl. The Grimms wrote during a time emphasizing the education of children. Thus, “Little Red Cap” focuses on teaching lessons to children on obedience and the consequences of disobedience.

“The Werewolf”, a very dark tale, obviously, was not written with the same audiences in mind as Perrault’s and the Grimms’ versions. This tale truly is not written for young children. It clearly targets an adult audience, and maybe even older children. However, because of the “darkness” and gloom of the story, it does not seem to be written for the literary elite as the aforementioned versions were.

The Fay or the Fair Folk

It was interesting to learn that fairy tales are not just for kids! Much of the week’s reading material contained adult content…drama, intrigue, rape, murder, lies/deception, control and manipulation, you name it! Sounds like a soap opera to me!

Rather than focusing on the heroic male figure who comes in to rescue the damsel in distress, this week’s reading, surprisingly, focused on the power and dominance of the female, particularly, over the male. Very surprising, considering when these stories were written.

I read Rowe’s analysis first, which set the tone for reading the fairy tales afterward. Rowe does a good job of demonstrating the subtle yet powerful voices of women in fairy tales. Though women such as Philomena, Procne, and Scheherazade were not seen as powerful, outspoken, or dominant, they were able to subtly use their power to dominate and turn less-than-desirable circumstances in their favor. Philomena used her power to tell her story through her talent on the loom. Procne had the power to interpret Philomena’s art and take whatever action she deemed necessary to avenge Philomena. Scheherazade had the subtle power to influence the king with her story-telling and thus, save the lives of other women.

The fairy tales also demonstrated how the disappearance, or even the threat of disappearance, of the women exercised power over the men. For example, Lanval, the valiant knight, found himself “between a rock and a hard place” after rejecting and insulting the queen. The only one who could rescue him was his beloved. But because he knew that revealing their affair and her identity would mean he would never see or hear from her again, he was willing to risk receiving whatever sentence the king’s court handed him. When he does see her, as she comes to rescue him, he says, “I don't care if my life should end, Or who kills me, if she has mercy; I'm healed again, when her I see." Just having another chance to see her was enough for him, even if he received a death sentence. Wow! Likewise, the men in “The Song of Wandering Aengus” and “La Bell Dame Sans Merci” were left longing for and at the mercy of the fairy women who left them spellbound.

In The Wife of Bath’s Tale, which I had to read with the side-by-side translation, after the knight overpowers and rapes the maiden, he finds himself at the mercy of a powerful woman, the queen, whose orders he must obey if he wants to live. After his life is spared, he finds himself again at the mercy of another woman…his new, or shall I say “old”, wife. She humbles him with a powerful lecture, then has mercy on him and uses her fairy powers to transform herself into the woman he desires.

These tales prove what the old woman told the young knight to be true, that for whatever reason, the women desired to have sovereignty over their men and to be in mastery above them.