Little Red Riding Hood one of my favorite tales, it is a tale that makes you question the role of LRRH, her grandmother and her mother and the wolf. Most people read the tale and assume that LRRH is a little girl but as I read it, it seems to me that LRRH is really a girl, perhaps at the edge of womanhood.
Sent off to her grandmother's to bring her goods, she encounters the wolf, tells him where she is going and essentially causes the "death" of both grandma and herself. Many have questioned where the mother was in all this, but not me. I see this story as warning to all girls but not about the dangers of talking to strangers. I see Little Red Riding Hood to be more about the dangers of being a young woman and trusting men.
Little Red Riding Hood is by far the most evolving of fairy tales, we see LRRH start out as a complete victim with no savior in Charles Perrault's 1697 and move to the victim that is saved by the woodcutter in the Grimm brothers' version 1812. In 1940, LRRH evolves in to an intelligent, gun toting little girl that's not afraid of the big bad wolf by James Thurber. In 1995, Roald Dahl has her evolve again and this time not only does LRRH shoot the wolf with her pistol she skins the wolf and makes him into a coat.
Today, we see tales of LRRH as the wolf herself, she is no longer afraid but is feared. She has gained power where there was none, as women have gained power. She is no longer the child but a woman capable of defending herself against those lurking in the woods.
When we read fairy tales, we often read them to children under the impression that they are children's stories. We fail to realize is that these tales where not originally meant for children and have changed in many ways from their original oral formats. Each rendition adding to or taking away from the previous based on the current socially acceptable agenda.
We must also take into consideration that there was a time when childhood did not exist and all people were subjected to the same stories.
As we learn from Zohar Shavit, in the article The Concept of Childhood and Children's Fairytales: Test Case -"Little Red Riding Hood"; "Before children's literature could be written, "childhood" itself had to come into existence and receive recognition and legitimation as a distinct time period in the life of the individual". So if children didn't exist, then these tales were meant for adults.
The concept of childhood is still fairly new in relation to humanity, only coming into existence in the seventeenth century. Before this time, children were treated as miniature adults and expected to behave as such; becoming an active participant within the society at an early age, normally as soon as they were physically able. So what changed? For starters, the images of Jesus as an infant invited a new view of children as innocent beings closely related to Christ. Clothing began to be assigned between children and adults instead of children just wearing miniature versions of adult clothing. Toys and games were made for children, smaller version of what adults used in everyday life. An educational system was also established along with the first versions of children's literature.
Shavit continues by telling us "the child was perceived as a delicate creature who must be protected, educated ans molded in accordance with the current educational beliefs and goals". Changes were happening within society that now called for new ways of doing things, that included telling tales in a way that did not interfere with the delicate patterns that now surrounded children. Stories needed to be modified with all "inappropriate" materials turned into something morally approved by society.
This takes us to Little Red Riding Hood a tale that has many versions dating back to the Seventeenth century (Charles Perrault) and moving forward to most recent versions found in movies and television. A tale that has gone from the provocative adult state to a moral tale and every where in between. We have a story of a girl sent off to see her grandmother and bring her breads/cakes and milk/wine/butter depending one the tale. Each story gives the girl options to stay on the path or stray and each tales shows us a conflict between the protagonists (LLRH) and antagonist (the Wolf).
This is probably one of my favorite of all fairy tales, as it shows the reality of children that are not always obedient and not afraid to ask questions, while also warning young women of the dangers lurking in shadows. From this point of view LLRH may not be the most ideal story to tell a young child but a child on the verge of adulthood would be different.
There are many that may argue Walt Disney ruined fairy tales but I do not see how that is the case. Walt Disney recreated fairy tales much like the many writers and orators have done from the beginning of time. Adding his own personal touch to the tales to help those from his time relate to the stories.
As Jack Zipes states in Breaking the Disney Spell, "The dwarfs can be interpreted as the humble American workers,who pull together during a depression. They keep their spirits up by singing a song 'Hi ho, it's home from work we go' or 'Hi ho, it's off to work we go', and their determination is the determination of every worker, who will succeed just as long as he does his share while women stay at home and keep the house clean." This was typical of the time period, during the great depression, women stay homed while men went to work, if they could find work. Does is imply gender roles, yes but again this was how things happened during this period of history. He based his tales on the Grimm Brother's versions, who into edited the stories to be more child friendly, as the original tales were not intended for children.
Editing fairy tales is a common practice that still takes place today, if we look at stories such as Ella Enchanted and Fairest both by Gail Carson Levine, we have more modern versions of Cinderella and Snow White, so how is this different from Disney that brought stories to film.
While recreating these tales he also returned them to an oral state of being in a form; one that allowed all to enjoy not just those that could read or afford books. He removed the hierarchy and class segregation of literature and gave fairy tales back to the common working family, for this among many other aspects of his vision, Disney should be celebrated not condemned
