Little Red Allegory

Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault is the fairy tale’s original published version. It introduced the iconic character globally known by the same name. However, in its time, this plus other tales featured hidden meanings. While some ridiculed politics, others offered their audiences moral messages. Perrault’s tale featured a straightforward moral, but it too featured a shocking but common allegory among tales in his generation: women are simple. The tale began by introducing the protagonist: Little Red Riding Hood. Her mother sent her to her ill grandmother. On the way, she encountered a secretly dangerous wolf. Little Red discussed about her errand and her grandmother located beyond a mill. The wolf then informed he will venture another route to grandmother’s house. There, he tricked the grandmother for entry and ate her. Little Red arrived shortly after. Inside, the wolf, disguised as the
This characterization method was common in Perrault’s generation. Male authors presented male characters with power, while the female characters exhibited weak or foolish traits. In Little Red Riding Hood, Perrault utilized this method in each character. Little Red’s travel exemplified a young woman’s naïve decisions. She conversed with a stranger, discussed private information, distracted herself along the way, and fell victim to the wolf’s trickery. Plus, Little Red’s mother, ironically presented as a loving figure, failed to warn her about any danger. While the women served as failing characters, Perrault presented males as capable. For example, as the male antagonist, the wolf fatally duped Little Red and her grandmother. However, he, earlier in the tale, refrained from eating Little Red “because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest.” In other words, Perrault subtly regarded the static woodcutters, most likely male during Perrault’s generation, as safeguards for Little