Hansel and Gretel

The poor family on the verge of starving with so little they must send their children away into the woods? Throughout history we have come across times where means where so tight that many parents have opted to send their children away, generally to other family members that are better off or to orphanages. At times we find that parents are so desperate that they feel the need to abandoned their children whether in the woods, a river, a church, these days some are so desperate the leave their children in the trash.  I used to think that was a harsh joke older siblings said to younger ones, that they were found in the trash but the truth is many parents are not much different from those of Hansel and Gretel.
When reading the Grimm Brothers final edition (1857) of Hansel and Gretel, we know the tale the children are abandoned in the woods by their parents not once but twice since the first time Hansel was too clever, leaving a trail of stones to find their way back. The second time however, they get lost since Hansel could not fills his pockets with stone; he uses bread crumbs which are eaten by the birds. While the search for their way home, the children happen upon a house made of bread, cakes and candy; the house of a wicked witch set out to eat them. If it were not for clever little Gretel pushing the witch into the oven, the witch would have had them for dinner for sure. The witch is dead; Gretel saves herself and her brother and as a reward the take the witches riches and return home to their father and live happily ever after in wealth.

So what does it mean? The parents do not want to watch their children die, so the step-mother makes the father abandon is children in the woods; can a mother, even a step-mother be so cruel and selfish or is this an annotation of the fears that children may have that the one who gave them life will leave them. It is the father that does not want to let them go, yet he does as his wife wishes; perhaps this tale also is a means of change in society from matriarch to patriarch enforcing the importance of the father in the home. While Hansel at first saves him and sister by cleverly dropping pebbles to find their way, the second time the step-mother locks the doors preventing him from gathering the pebbles.
When we look at the women of this tale we have the step-mother that wants to be rid of the children, Gretel that starts off as a fearful girl dependent on her brother for safety and ends up the heroine depending on herself to get her and her brother out of trouble. There is no fairy god-mother and no handsome prince to come and safe the day but there is God. In the final edition of this tale, Hansel tells Gretel, “God will not forsake us” sending her back to sleep without fear and when the witch grew impatient waiting for Hansel to get fat, Gretel prayed “Dear God, please help us” and with this pray Gretel gains the insight to know the witch had planned to push her in the oven and Gretel was able to outsmart the witch and pushed the witch into the oven instead saving herself and her brother; leaving one to believe that with determination and faith in God any challenge can be overcome.

The Company of Wolves

In Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves we see a newly development Little Red Riding Hood that is no longer afraid or naive. She's young woman prepared for the wolf on her way to grandma's house with her basket of goods and a knife for protection.
It's good to see her developing as a character and as woman, she is learning that a woman has things a man wants ans she is learning that using these thing will save her life. This is not the spiritual warnings of staying on the right path or are they. Even in this tale if LRRH had not allowed the man/wolf to peak her womanly interest she would not have taken her time to get to her grand mother while letting the wolf take her basket that was holding her knife. She hoped for a kiss, she received a lot more; with her grand mother dead and her life at risk she does the only thing she can think of to save herself, She gives herself to the wolf becoming his bride.

I was watching the movie Red Riding Hood (2011 directed by Catherine Hardwicke) last night and realized for the first time that the ending is a combination of tales, from LRRH eating her grandmother after she was killed by the wolf, the Grimm Brother's placement of stones in the wolf's belly, the Bisclavret's werewolf though this one does not seem ashamed of what he is, right down to the marriage of Red and the wolf.
It's interesting to see the various versions of a tale rolled into one. More interesting is how the role of Red Riding Hood has changed becoming a woman no longer afraid. She has a power within her, a strength to surpass the things she has been taught to fear. She now understands that she is a woman and no longer a girl and more importantly she now knows what needs to be done to save herself.

Little Red Riding Hood - Sexual Context

lurking in the mist

Many view Little Red Riding Hood as an innocent tale with a moral and message not to talk to strangers, but what if that is not the message at all?

Is something there

Let's take into consideration that fairy tales were never meant for the ears of children; this is one reason many of them are so dark and disturbing. Considering this fact, let's review the details of Little Red Riding Hood: we have a young girl sent into the woods by her mother to bring her grandmother goods (cakes, breads, butter, and wine depending on the version you read). A long her route she encounters a wolf who gets her to tell him exactly where LRRH is going and how to get there. The wolf convinces her to take the longer path and in turn reaches Grandmother first, killing her. Red shows up, see the wolf in her grandmother's nightgown and in some tales knows something is wrong, yet she still gets in bed with him.
Yet no one seems to see the sexuality taking place.
I for one not only see it but agree with many that Little Red Riding Hood, regardless of the version you read has a sexual under tone to it. The coming of age, a passage of generational knowledge from grandmother to mother to daughter; perhaps a warning to young women about the desires of men. The wolf is used as a symbol of the animalistic nature of men to address sexual urges.
Catherine Orenstein states in her book Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale we see the morals of Charles Perrault's version as the unchaste woman being as good as dead. In later versions the young LRRH is told not to stray from the path, telling women if they do stray they may die, but if they stay on the right path she will become the heroine.

Maybe I like the Big Bad Wolf

Psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim suggested that Little Red Riding Hood was either "stupid or wants to be seduced" claiming that by disobeying her mother she becomes a "fallen woman" and allows the wolf/man to seduce her.

In Marie de France's Bisclavret we have a completely different tale where the Bisclavret/werewolf is ashamed of what happens to him. He tries to keep is a secret but tells his wife after she pleads with him. His wife betrays him and uses her sexuality to have another man steal Bisclavret's clothing making Bisclavret remain in his wolf state. Bisclavret is discovered by the king taken in as a pet and is loved dearly by his master. Upon seeing the knight that stole his clothing and his former wife, Bisclavret attacks them both. The truth is later discovered by the king and Bisclavret is given back what was his. In this version, the woman is not heroine or victim but a seducer of men.
As versions evolve, Little Red Riding Hood grows from a naive child to an aware young woman. She slowly goes from victim to a true heroine that no longer needs a huntsman to save her from the big bad wolf. She can now use her sexuality to trap and kill the wolf.