Little Red Riding Hood - Impact of Context on Representation
How does context impact on the values and attitudes present in the text? Discuss with reference to 2 versions of LRRH and support your ideas with detailed analysis. 800 – 1000 words.
Context has a differing impact on the various values and attitudes present within both Roald Dahl and Charles Perrault's versions of Little Red Riding Hood and the
Wolf. Both Perrault’s early adaptation of the tale and Dahl’s 1982 poetic appropriation are reflective of the immensely different societies under which they were written. This difference in values and attitudes can be demonstrated through analysing the purpose of the tales and the perceptions and expectations of the female protagonists between them.
From the start of both Perrault’s and Dahl’s tales, the purpose of each author becomes apparent immediately. Perrault’s version was created as an informative, didactic tale, where his main objective was to warn young, powerless females, represented by his submissive female protagonist against the evil of “the wolf”. His intended meaning was demonstrated in the ‘moral’ included in the end of the tale, where he states “children, especially young lasses, pretty courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers”. It works at spelling out the virtuous behaviour that upper class children were expected to exemplify in the French pre-modern society under which the fairy-tale, viewed as a disciplinary genre, was written. Acting as a cautionary tale, it encourages young females to avoid succumbing to the will of the “wolf”, or rather the wicked intentions of threatening males.
On the contrary, Dahl’s 1982 poetic tale, subverts the idea of the female seen in more traditional tales such as Perrault’s. No longer portrayed as naïve or submissive, Dahl’s version praises boldness and resourcefulness, Little Red being rewarded with a ‘wolf skin’ coat when she acts as such. It is interesting to note that the poem is incredibly short in comparison to other
Context has a differing impact on the various values and attitudes present within both Roald Dahl and Charles Perrault's versions of Little Red Riding Hood and the
Wolf. Both Perrault’s early adaptation of the tale and Dahl’s 1982 poetic appropriation are reflective of the immensely different societies under which they were written. This difference in values and attitudes can be demonstrated through analysing the purpose of the tales and the perceptions and expectations of the female protagonists between them.
From the start of both Perrault’s and Dahl’s tales, the purpose of each author becomes apparent immediately. Perrault’s version was created as an informative, didactic tale, where his main objective was to warn young, powerless females, represented by his submissive female protagonist against the evil of “the wolf”. His intended meaning was demonstrated in the ‘moral’ included in the end of the tale, where he states “children, especially young lasses, pretty courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers”. It works at spelling out the virtuous behaviour that upper class children were expected to exemplify in the French pre-modern society under which the fairy-tale, viewed as a disciplinary genre, was written. Acting as a cautionary tale, it encourages young females to avoid succumbing to the will of the “wolf”, or rather the wicked intentions of threatening males.
On the contrary, Dahl’s 1982 poetic tale, subverts the idea of the female seen in more traditional tales such as Perrault’s. No longer portrayed as naïve or submissive, Dahl’s version praises boldness and resourcefulness, Little Red being rewarded with a ‘wolf skin’ coat when she acts as such. It is interesting to note that the poem is incredibly short in comparison to other