![]() ![]() ![]() Various readings of this story have been attempted by philologists, anthropologists and psychologists. However, there are others with similar elements in several parts of the world. An ancient text pointed out by some critics as possibly parallel, though very distant, is De puella lupellis servata, written in Latin by Egberto from Liege in the eleventh century. The tale seems to root into the French rural tradition. The absence of heroes, helpers or other typical characters of fairy tales in Perrault’s version led to regard it more as a moral fable than as a true story. Little Red Riding Hood is an unusual and enigmatic tale, on the origin, evolution and meaning of which many doubts were sown and several questions have been raised. In Perrault’s purpose, this was not to be a proper fairy tale, with allusions and hidden meanings typical of the genre, but simply an admonitory story with the aim of intimidating children through a disquieting ending. Perrault clearly tells us that if a child, through ignorance or disobedience, deviates from the right path, has no escape: in fact, his version finishes with the wolf’s victory and is therefore devoid of salvation and consolation. In the tales, Little Red Riding Hood is pretty, naive and even a little curious, but because of her levity she loses her way and is devoured by a dangerous hungry wolf. Despite many common elements between the French and the German versions, the conclusions are very different and the Brothers Grimm’s one ends with the salvation of the protagonist. In one of these versions, Little Red Riding Hood comes to emancipate herself and, without the saving intervention of any man, is able to defeat the wolf together with her grandmother. The Brothers Grimm in the nineteenth century elaborated two versions, published years later, where the figure of a young and naive girl is always found succumbing to the wolf but is saved by good men (woodcutters or hunters). This version ends with a moral which, being expressed directly, distorts the beneficial strength of the fairy tale since it limits its potential interpretations and transforms it into a threatening warning. Here the sexual allegorical significance is made explicit through the representation of the girl getting into bed with the wolf. There are various and numerous versions of the Little Red Riding Hood tale, from the most ancient to the most famous one by the French author Perrault, who published it in the Tales of Mother Goose collection at the end of the seventeenth century. The Company of Wolves is a gothic story about the loss of innocence inspired by the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Book Title Author Charles Perrault Translator Publisher Info ![]()
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