Little Red Riding Hood
There have been many reiterations of Little Red Riding Hood since its beginning as a spoken folk tale
and as such its meanings and morals have changed throughout its long existence. In Little Red Cap,
the written adaptation by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Little Red Cap loses the agency that she had
originally possessed in The Grandmother and instead becomes a conduit for the brothers’ ideals of a
perfect woman: chaste and subservient and “transformed an oral folk tale about the social initiation
of a young woman into a narrative about rape in which the heroine is obliged to bear the
responsibility for sexual violation.”1 Red Cap is punished for being disobedient and unafraid, and
rather than having the wit to escape the wolf herself, she has to be rescued by a huntsman- a man.
These are very well-suited standards for the 1900s, as women would be expected to be reliant on
men, and would have been told to children to warn them against becoming the kind of girl who gets
eaten by wolves, i.e. unchaste and unruly.
In Angela Carter’s version, The Company of Wolves, published ninety years after Little Red Cap, Red
Riding Hood regains her lost agency and becomes a character filled with personality. Carter rids the
story of its old-fashioned morals and tired ideals about perfect women and replaces it with messages
about a young girl who is strong willed and does not need to be saved by anyone other than herself.
When she speaks that iconic phrase “what big teeth you have” 2 and receives in turn that iconic
response “all the better to eat you with” 3, she does not cower in fear, but instead laughs directly in
the wolf’s face because, as Carter writes, “she knew she was nobody’s meat” 4. Red Riding Hood
outright rejects the narrative that had been set for her many years before and follows her own
desires. Throughout the story, Carter makes it known to the reader that Red Riding Hood is ‘ready’
for sex. Her hood itself is described as the colour of menses and is representative of both her period,
1
Jack Zipes, ‘A Second Gaze at Little Red Riding Hood Trials and Tribulations’, The Lion and the Unicorn,
(Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1983), p.83.
2
Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, (Gollancz, 1979) p.149
3
Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, p.149
4
Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, p.150
, and the blood which she may spill when she loses her virginity. When she offers herself to the wolf,
it is not to save her life, or to escape. It is simply for her own desires. Carter’s moral in The Company
of Wolves is not to be obedient or pure. It is instead a stand against a patriarchy that believes
women should not have their own sexuality or seek their own sexual relief. Red Hood’s own desire is
what saves her from certain death. Her marriage and embracement to the wolf saves her life when
being pure or innocent would have killed her.
Though there are many more reiterations of the Little Red Riding Hood story, we can see in just the
comparison of these two that the messages or morals from the same story can alter dramatically
with the changing of times and the changing of society’s view. “Grimm versions became so crucial in
the socialization process of these countries that they generated a literary discourse about sexual
roles and behavior, a discourse whose fascinating antagonistic perspectives shed light on different
phases of social change.”5 At the time, the Grimm’s brother’s version was perfectly acceptable, and
appreciated by society, while nowadays a story preaching for young girls obedience and purity
would be seen as outdated and unnecessary.
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a deeply reflective story rich in strange dark imagery as is custom with Franz
Kafka’s style of writing which is so unique it created its own term: ‘Kafkaesque’. Metamorphosis has
been subject to a wide range of interpretations but resonates particularly with those who suffer with
depression of any extremity. Gregor’s descent into apathy and disregard for his own well-being is
deeply reminiscent to those who experience depressive periods, and as Gregor’s family begin to
5
Jack Zipes, ‘A Second Gaze at Little Red Riding Hood’s Trials and Tribulations’, The Lion and the Unicorn,
(Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1983), p.83.
