Of Red Cloaks, Grandmothers, and a Man-Eater

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Blank 101
Nov 7 · 9 min read

Written by Avryl Anna Machado

Here’s a familiar story -
A girl in a red cloak goes to her grandmother’s house through the woods. There she encounters the wolf. The wolf then races to the grandmother’s house, gobbles her up and then waits in bed for the little girl. Enter the girl, and the following familiar exchanges:

“What big ears you have!” “The better to hear you with”
“What big eyes you have!” “The better to see you with.”
“What big teeth you have!” “The better to eat you with”.

Cue the wolf revealing himself and chasing after the girl. Cut to a woodsman who hears the girl’s cries for help, and comes to her rescue. He grabs the wolf and makes him spit out the grandmother who is a bit frazzled by the experience but still in one piece. The woodsman then ties the wolf up and takes him deep into the forest so that it couldn’t bother anyone else. The little girl and the grandmother then have a hearty lunch together.

The famous tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” is one that we’ve often heard in our childhood. This is how we remember the tale, this is how we believe the tale has always been. But is that actually the case?

Illustration by Danil Shunkov for Neonscope

The earliest written version of “Little Red Riding Hood” was penned by Charles Perrault in 17th century France for an adult audience of aristocrats. Perrault was a significant figure in the age of Louis XIV. He, along with other aristocrats, would hang out in French Saloons and would tell each other fairy tales, including “Little Red Riding Hood”. For context — Imagine Perrault telling the story to an elite group of men and women in a luxuriously decorated house. And thus, unfortunately, in his version, no woodsman comes to save the day. The tale ends with the following exchange from Red and the wolf :

“Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!”

“All the better to eat you up with.”

And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up.
It is here that Perrault appends a moral to the story which re contextualizes the tale for such an audience:

“We see here that young children, especially young, well- bred ladies, should not listen to any sort of person. It isn’t strange if the wolf eats so many of them up. I say wolf for not all wolves are of the same kind. Some are of a comely humor who follow young ladies into their homes, into their saloons. But alas! Who does not know that these smooth-talking wolves are the most dangerous wolves of all.”

Portrait of Charles Perrault, from Wikipedia

Perrault’s moral makes the wolf into a smooth-talking aristocrat who seduces young ladies into saloons to ‘devour’ them. In fact, some scholars have argued that this is a story about rape given the violence of the tale.

In the 17th century French incarnation of “Little Red Riding Hood”, the wolf clearly is a male seducer who roams around French saloons ready to pounce on unsuspecting young ladies. It is thus a metaphor to deliver a broader message about real-world occurrences of seduction or rape.

150 years later, folklorist Paul Delarue published a collection of oral folktales collected from peasants in rural France in the 19th century, and Little Red Riding Hood made an appearance once again. “The Story of Grandmother” involves a similar instance of a girl being sent to her grandmother’s house in the woods. The girl goes to her grandmother’s house, and she is in the woods when she encounters the wolf.
The wolf asks her, “Will you be taking the path of the pins or the path of the needles?”
“The path of the needles,” the girl replies.
The wolf races to the grandmother’s house, and as expected, he kills her. But here’s the strange bit. The wolf takes her body, cuts it up, puts the flesh in the pantry and blood in a bottle. When the girl arrives, the wolf disguised as the grandmother says, “Why don’t you eat some of the meat in the pantry and drink some of the wine from the bottle.” So, the girl unknowingly eats and drinks her grandmother. Then the wolf tells her to take off all her clothes and throw them into the fire and crawl into bed with him. The girl does so and then she starts the familiar “Oh, grandmother! Look how hairy you are.” But before the wolf can devour her, the girl says “I have to relieve myself.” The wolf ties a rope around her ankle and lets her go outside. The girl goes out, takes the rope, ties it around a tree and runs to her mother’s house before the wolf can catch her.

The cannibalism of the grandmother is a bit surprising in this version, but keep in mind that the tale was told during Catholic rural France. This scene could be a play on Catholic Eucharistic ritual, in which bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ which believers consume so that it brings strength. Because the girl ingests her grandmother, she can outwit and outmaneuver the wolf, quite literally having got her grandmother’s power and wisdom. Her choice of needles, ingestion of grandmother and her outwitting of the wolf could all be read in terms of a girl’s initiation into womanhood. This version of the tale focuses on female initiation and even empowerment rather than the successful seduction by a male aristocrat of a clueless young lady as is the case of Perrault’s tale.

These two very similar tales communicate two very different messages. Still, a theme of seduction remains a constant in both versions. This is a perfect example of how knowing the history of a tale completely transforms our understanding of it.

The fairy tales that we now know today are a product of what was created in the past. These could be formed in two ways: either orally or by literature.

Salons of Paris. Image from Wikipedia.

In the mid-17th century, a vogue for magical tales emerged among the intellectuals who frequented the salons of Paris. These salons were regular gatherings hosted by prominent aristocratic women, where women and men could gather to discuss the issues of the day. A passion for the conversational parlor game based on the plots of old folk tales swept through the salons. Each woman of the salon was called upon to retell an old tale or rework an old theme. Not only did she have to show verbal agility and imagination, but she also had to slyly comment on the conditions of aristocratic life. Great emphasis was placed on a mode of delivery that seemed natural and spontaneous. This decorative language of the fairy tales served an important function: disguising the rebellious subtext of the stories and sliding them past the court censors. Critiques of court life were embedded in extravagant tales and in dark, sharply dystopian ones. Not surprisingly, the stories by women often featured young (but clever) aristocratic girls whose lives were controlled by the arbitrary whims of fathers, kings, and wicked old fairies, as well as tales in which groups of wise fairies (intelligent, independent women) stepped in and put all to rights.

Around the early 1800s, the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm, wanted to preserve their versions of these tales before they were lost forever. They collected stories from friends and literary critics. They even drew inspiration from German folklore to capture the essence of the Volk community and published the first edition of their book in 1812. This book, although named Children’s and Household Tales, was deemed controversial due to the prevalence of rape, murder and torture in the stories. Bowing down to the Church’s opinions, the brothers altered these stories. They published a second edition, German Legends in 1818, with the horror elements either toned down or cut out altogether. Motherhood was believed to be sacred, so the biological mothers in these stories were adapted into stepmothers. Furthermore, the 18th and 19th century saw an increase in the mortality rate of new mothers, which usually led to children getting saddled with stepmothers, and this was reflected in these tales. The stories themselves were simplified. Instead of delving into the complexities of familial relations, they became simple moral lessons on good versus evil.

The Grimm Brothers. Image from Wikipedia.

The late 1800s and early 1900s saw a lot of publishing houses set up shop, mostly in Great Britain and the U.S.A. But then World War I took place, leading to inflation, the production of books decreased as resources were rationed. Following World War I, the Great Depression did not help, and the demand for fairy tales and books, in general, went down.
Enter Walt Disney and capitalism, thus beginning the era of fairy tale movies in 1937. With elements of damsels in distress, romance, musicals numbers and formidable villains, these films quickly gained popularity among the war-ridden and economically depressed population. The “happily ever after” theme that is portrayed repeatedly in these films became a norm, and this led to an entire generation dressing up in gowns and armors.

Walt Disney. Image from Huffingtonpost

The book industry boomed once again during the post-World War II period, and fairy tales in the form of paperbacks were readily available. People were willing to shell out money to keep their children entertained while instilling moral values of always having hope and good conquering evil. Fairy tales grew popular as they were mass-produced, and became famous for being both educational as well as entertaining.

The second half of the 20th century saw a new and more politically aware generation emerge from the war. After the approval of the Equal Rights Amendment for Women in 1979, there was a surge in interest of women’s rights. The subsequent atmosphere led to a criticism of the stereotypical themes of knights in shining armor and the portrayal of women as wide-eyed and helpless in fairy tales. Young writers, including immigrants, Jews, African-Americans and women, began using literature to make their voices heard.

The internet-age brought people closer together than ever before. By the 21st century, a plethora of fairy tale retellings began sprouting up. People wanted stories that showed little girls that they didn’t have to depend on anyone to be saved, and little boys that they didn’t have to succumb to society’s views of what a man is supposed to be.

Image from Epic Reads

Now, fairy tales are everywhere, and they seem so familiar to us. We assume that fairy tales have happy endings, handsome princes and beautiful but passive princesses. We think we know what is supposed to happen in a particular tale, but more often than not, we are proved to be wrong.
Something is enticing and exciting about discovering new meaning in a familiar tale. Surprise, joy, astonishment or even disgust are some of the emotions different version of tales elicit when we understand their history. A beauty who quite literally sleeps with a filthy pig, birds who peck out the eyes of Cinderella’s step-sisters or a Cinderella who saves the day. Welcome to the beautiful world of fairy tales, and may you never see them in the same way again.

Blank 101

A group of individuals keen to bring peace and prosperity in this world with their words and wisdom. We do not consider anyone beneath us and only share information which we truly believe in for the real truth is the truth which comes with a blank.

Blank 101

Written by

Blank 101

Blank 101

Blank 101

A group of individuals keen to bring peace and prosperity in this world with their words and wisdom. We do not consider anyone beneath us and only share information which we truly believe in for the real truth is the truth which comes with a blank.

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