little red riding hood original story charles perrault

It’s pertinent to mention that Perrault is also the author of other famous stories such as Thumbelina, Cinderella (The Glass Slipper), and The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. Indeed, he was emphasizing the sexual nature of those encounters. With this rhyme, the moral lesson he wanted to leave to young women who establish relationships with strangers was evident. In fact, most of Perrault’s stories contain explicit morals and on Little Red Riding Hood, he wrote the following: In this case, Perrault wanted to punish Little Red Riding Hood for speaking to strangers, the wolf being the representation of them. However, Perrault decided to remove the cruelest elements of the original versions, such as cannibalism, with the aim of giving a moral lesson to the young woman. There’s even an old Belgian poem that tells the story of a girl with a red cloak who meets a wolf. Perrault’s moral message in Little Red Riding HoodĪs we mentioned earlier, the version of Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault wasn’t the first. Therefore, as you can see, one of the most classic and beloved stories of our childhood actually contains an extremely dark side. However, at the same time, the new is presented as reckless and naive when Little Red Riding Hood commits one of the greatest sacrileges of humanity: cannibalism. The old woman, who’s been eaten by a young woman represents the replacement of the obsolete by the new. For example, the wolf represents the sexual and violent world. The symbolism is implicit in each character. She must take off all of her clothes and burn them in the fire one by one, then lie down next to her on the bed. The grandmother then gives her another order. Little Red Riding Hood agrees and hungrily devours the meat. The grandmother tells the young woman to put away the milk and bread and to eat the meat in the kitchen that’s been prepared for her. However, it’s then that the changes come. Nevertheless, the young woman manages to cross the forest and happily enters her grandmother’s house, who’s in bed because she’s ill.

Something that Little Red Riding Hood already knows and that she must face. This animal symbolizes savagery and the irrational. It also signifies a test, like a rite of passage symbolizing a child’s move into the world of adults. The forest represents danger, a risk zone for young people. Nevertheless, we need to analyze each gesture and image in this particular version. As you can see, so far there aren’t too many variations with the original story. She must cross a forest to bring bread and milk to her grandmother. This young woman receives an order from her family.

Little red riding hood original story charles perrault