Cultural Transformation
Univ 102 .
10 May 2011
Cultural Transformations of Little Red Riding Hood
The story of “Little Red Riding Hood” began as a fairy tale passed down through the centuries, especially by peasant women to their daughters since folklorists often belonged to the peasant culture (Tatar 3). The peasants who were farmworkers and domestic laborers needed something to do while working tediously, so they told each other tales. That’s why the Little Red Riding Hood story’s original plot had a peasant girl who “outwitted a lecherous aristocratic wolf” (Tatar 3). Storytellers’ major altering of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” have effectively conformed to different transformations in culture based on aristocratic obligations, military conflicts, and equal rights.
When Charles Perrault first wrote the popular tale down in 1697, it had the French title “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge,” which became the classic version “Little Red Riding Hood” when translated. According to Jack Zipes, the original fairy tale was passed on orally and had a lot more vulgarity and sexual innuendo (Tatar 4). As if to exemplify peasant-defiance of the rigidity and control of the aristocracy, those oral versions took the reader on a wild ride with a peasant girl who was outspoken, bold and perceptive. Perrault challenged all that when he put the tale into print, making Little Red Riding Hood innocent and frail. He fixed the tale’s raciness and made sure every aspect of the plot made logical sense. Then, Eric Berne poked holes in Perrault’s new logic: why would a mother send an innocent girl into a forest full of wolves (Tatar 5)? But examining the plot metaphorically, it is apparent that all mothers have no choice but to take a chance when they send their girls out into a world full of horny men.
Written versions can be just as erotic as the original oral versions without using foul language. Perrault’s language is still rather suggestive. For example when the wolf says, “climb
10 May 2011
Cultural Transformations of Little Red Riding Hood
The story of “Little Red Riding Hood” began as a fairy tale passed down through the centuries, especially by peasant women to their daughters since folklorists often belonged to the peasant culture (Tatar 3). The peasants who were farmworkers and domestic laborers needed something to do while working tediously, so they told each other tales. That’s why the Little Red Riding Hood story’s original plot had a peasant girl who “outwitted a lecherous aristocratic wolf” (Tatar 3). Storytellers’ major altering of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” have effectively conformed to different transformations in culture based on aristocratic obligations, military conflicts, and equal rights.
When Charles Perrault first wrote the popular tale down in 1697, it had the French title “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge,” which became the classic version “Little Red Riding Hood” when translated. According to Jack Zipes, the original fairy tale was passed on orally and had a lot more vulgarity and sexual innuendo (Tatar 4). As if to exemplify peasant-defiance of the rigidity and control of the aristocracy, those oral versions took the reader on a wild ride with a peasant girl who was outspoken, bold and perceptive. Perrault challenged all that when he put the tale into print, making Little Red Riding Hood innocent and frail. He fixed the tale’s raciness and made sure every aspect of the plot made logical sense. Then, Eric Berne poked holes in Perrault’s new logic: why would a mother send an innocent girl into a forest full of wolves (Tatar 5)? But examining the plot metaphorically, it is apparent that all mothers have no choice but to take a chance when they send their girls out into a world full of horny men.
Written versions can be just as erotic as the original oral versions without using foul language. Perrault’s language is still rather suggestive. For example when the wolf says, “climb
Cited: Tartar, Maria, Ed. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: Norton, 1999.