In the version when the mother rescues her it suggests that woman were a lot stronger, powerful and independent. Originally Red Riding Hood died for listening to a stranger, then she’s shown as the damsel in distress when the woodsman rescues her – suggesting that woman were weak, vulnerable and relied on men in this era. It’s interesting how the ending has frequently changed throughout history. Including: Red Riding Hood eating her grandmother and then dying, eating her grandmother then outsmarting the wolf and escaping, or finally Red Riding Hood being rescued by a woodman or even her mother. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous?”Īlthough this is the presumed original version of the fairy tale, there have been various versions, each with a different ending.

I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort there is one kind with an amenable disposition – neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. “From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, and it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. The wolf emerges the conqueror and there is no happy ending.Ĭharles Perrault explained the ‘moral’ at the end so that no doubt is left to his intended meaning:

She ends up being asked to climb in to bed before getting eaten by the wolf, where the story ends. The wolf arrives at the grandmother’s house, eats her and then proceeds to set a trap for Red Riding Hood. His version of the story begins with an “attractive, well-bred, young lady” being deceived into giving a wolf she meets in the woods directions to her grandmother’s house. In other versions the wolf is symbolized as a male who could be a lover, seducer or sexual predator. The red hood has been seen as a tale of sexual maturity where the red hood symbolizes the blood of menstruation, braving the “dark forest” of womanhood. The redness of the hood has been given symbolic significance in several interpretations of the tale, a detail that was originally introduced by Perrault. Perrault’s version of “Little Red Riding Hood” (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge) is much more sinister and overtly moralized than later versions. He is responsible for laying the foundations for the literacy genre, the fairy tale. The first written version was by wealthy French author, Charles Perrault. The story has frequently changed and adapted considerably over the years. What some may not know is that ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ actually began as a French folk tale that had a completely different, much darker plot than what we’re used to.

Everyone is familiar with the well-known fairy tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.

Little red riding hood charles perrault