The Little Red Riding Hood is an exciting folktale that generations from different countries have retold. It is a compelling story with several concealed lessons concerning sexuality and morality. Despite multiple publications of this story with nuanced differences, the underlying plot and lessons within the report are similar. The story of the Little Red Riding Hood mainly covers the themes of predation and struggle over control of the sexuality of women.
The little damsel in the story represents innocent girls in society. The red hood that this girl was given by her grandmother was a symbolism of the love from the grandmother. The mother and grandmother show how little girls in society were best protected by fellow women, as the early society was highly chauvinistic.
The little girl’s actions in the story represent the danger of being naĂŻve because her naivety brought trouble to both her and her grandmother. One example that illustrates that naivety was the conversation between her and the wolf; “The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, I am going to see my grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother” (Perrault, sentence 6). Since she did not know any better, this little girl gave the predator too much information.
The wolves in the story represent men who often use trickery to seduce unsuspecting women. The wolf approached the girl calmly, but he had hidden motives to eat her along with her grandmother. Apparently, the wolf was quite cunning as it was able to trick even the girl’s grandmother so that she would gain access to her house.
Just as the wolf distracts the little girl with the beauty of flowers in the forest, young girls are often lured with fancy things until they lose their precious virginity. “Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!” (Perrault, sentence 31). “All the better to eat you up with”(Perrault, sentence 32). “And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up” (Perrault, sentence 33).
The story of the Little Red Riding Hood was written at a time when the sexual maturity of women was a sensitive issue in many societies. The little and beautiful damsel in the story shows the beauty of women, which is supposed to be treasured and protected. Similarly, to how the wolf tricked the little girl, many young women have been misled by malicious men only to realize that their sole intention was to take advantage of their advancing sexual maturity.
Work Cited
Perrault Little Red Riding Hood. Sites.pitt.edu. Web.