Please read the following Little Red Riding Hoods:
- “Little Red Cap” – Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – 1812 (First collection)
- “Little Red Hat” an Italian/Austrian Little Red Riding Hood – collected by Christian Schneller, 1867
- “The Grandmother” – a French version – collected by Achille Millien in 1870
- “The True History of Little Golden Cap” -Charles Marelle, by way of Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book, 1895
5. Little Red Riding Hood – part of Father Tuck’s Dolly Dear series by the publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons, 1900. Courtesy of the Boston Public Library (Jordan Collection)/Archive.org.
What did you think of these variations? The theme of “stranger danger” is frequently associated with this story, but do you see any other themes emerging? Comment below.
11 thoughts on “More Traditional Little Red Riding Hoods”
The variations of the stories have similar concepts but they all have different endings to the story some are good endings where the girl and the grandmother are safe adn other they are not so safe at the end. I think another theme would be about trust /lies becase she ahd to trust that that was her grandmother and the lies that wolf had told the girl to make her believe it
I think these different variations provide a similar meaning to their story when it comes to the theme of “stranger danger”. Even when the ending ends on a positive or a negative note where the little red riding hood ends up being eaten, it provides a message to trust your gut and not believe just anyone you encounter.
I saw one theme emerging where the huntsman shows up to save the day and rescues the grandma and little red riding hood which is similar to a prince saving a princess or a girl living a challenging lifestyle that you see a lot in fairytales!
In each of these variations the main character embarks on a journey to deliver or complete something. Something or someone bad always gets in the way and ruins the plan. This can teach us that no matter how hard we try life will not always go our way and things will always get in the way. Almost all of them include an old grandmother.
That’s a great way of thinking about this story as well.
One of the things that makes fairy tales so ripe for retelling is that there are multiple messages and themes that can be brought forth.
These variations are all similar in that there is a girl who goes to visit her grandmother. Still, the major differences are that the antagonist is a different species from story to story, how the antagonist gets to the grandmother, and how the story ends. Some of the stories ended in grotesque ways, including cannibalism, while others had a positive outcome. Another theme presented throughout the stories is the idea of trust. Throughout the stories, our protagonists (both Little Red Riding Hood and the Duck) are unsuspecting or trusting to the antagonist despite the blatant lies/ manipulation and feelings of discomfort they feel around the antagonist.
Based on these variations of each story they all hold something in common. In addition, each story has a certain lesson/message meant to get across for those reading or listening to the stories. A theme emerging would be honest and trust. you have to be honest with yourself and those around you, as for trust you always have to be careful with those you choose to trust.
All of the variations of Little Red Riding Hood are similar, yet have their own unique characteristics that emerge throughout the stories. For example, in some of the versions, after the wolf eats the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf is cut open by the huntsman and pulls Little Red Riding Hood and the grandmother out of the stomach of the wold. This can symbolize the theme of being reborn, or lightness and darkness possibly. They are brought into darkness and then brought back into the light by the huntsman who pulls them out of the wolfs stomach in some of the versions.
These variations have a somewhat similar beginning, in which little red has a basket and is going to her grandmothers house. A theme that I see emerging in these variations other than stranger danger is that to not always trust those who come off as nice to you. They might be polite at first but you don’t know what kind of intentions they have, especially if you just met them.
When it comes to the Stranger Danger theme, I think these different variations lend similar meaning to her story. It offers a message to trust your intuition and not trust everyone you meet. In the story, our main character is either ignorant or trusts her antagonist despite the obvious lies/manipulation, and insecurity she feels around them.
I definitely think these versions are similar in many ways. In regards to the strange danger theme, this idea of being wary of people that you first meet is common amongst the versions. You simply cannot trust that everyone will be of help to you when you first meet them.
All these different versions of the story Little Red Riding Hood are very similar and have the same message to the audience and the readers which is ” stranger danger”. Even though they are very similar they are also very different, the story is twisted in a lot of versions. This book is perfect to read to younger children as they are very small because they will learn that not every stranger they encounter their self with will be kind and nice. Children will understand that the world is not only full of nice people, it also has bad people. Just like we have wild animals were scared of there is also wild human beings who are worse than animals that we need to be cautious of.Not everyone will have good intentions with you in life that is why we have to really be aware and cautious of our surroundings and who we allow into our lives.