Little red riding hood description
A Summary and Analysis of the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ Fairy Tale – Interesting Literature
LiteratureThe meaning of a classic story – analysed by Dr Oliver Tearle
‘Little Red Riding Hood’ was, Charles Dickens said, his first love. It is one of the most universally known fairy tales: if you were to ask 100 people to name a fairy tale, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ would be one of the most popular answers.
And much like a number of other fairy tales, which seem to have grown up around older oral tales (‘Rumpelstiltskin’, for instance, is reckoned to be a whopping 4,000 years old), ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ can be traced back to the 10th century when it was circulating as a French oral tale, and also existed as a fourteenth-century Italian story named ‘The False Grandmother’, though it only became popular under this name in the 1690s, when it appeared in the work of the French fabulist Charles Perrault. It rapidly established itself as one of the best-loved and familiar fairy stories in the western world.
Yet what is the meaning of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’? Before we venture an answer to this – via an analysis of the story’s key features – it’s worth recapping the plot in a brief summary.
Little Red Riding Hood: plot summary
A young village girl who lives with her mother is given a little red riding-hood to wear, and everyone starts to refer to her as ‘the Little Red Riding-Hood’ on account of it.
One day, the girl’s mother asks her to go and visit her grandmother, who lives in the next village, through the forest. Little Red Riding-Hood is given some food to take with her to give to her grandmother. She sets off, and on the way, while travelling through the woods, she meets a talking wolf, who asks her where she’s going.
Little Red Riding-Hood tells him that she’s going to visit her grandmother, and the wolf asks where her grandmother lives. Little Red Riding-Hood tells him she lives in the first house in the village, on the other side of the mill.
The wolf says he’ll head there himself, taking a different route, and they can have a competition to see who can get there first.
While Little Red Riding-Hood takes her time walking to her grandmother’s house, picking nuts and flowers in the forest, the wolf legs it as fast as he can.
When he gets there, he knocks at the door and pretends it’s the woman’s granddaughter bearing food for her. The grandmother, who is in bed unwell, tells the wolf, believing him to be Little Red Riding-Hood, to pull the latch and come in. The wolf does so, and immediately falls upon the grandmother, devouring her. Then he gets into bed and pretends to be the woman he’s just so rudely gobbled up.
When Little Red Riding-Hood eventually hobbles into view, and knocks at the door, the wolf pretends to be the girl’s grandmother, whose voice sounds hoarse because ‘she’ has a sore throat.
Little Red Riding-Hood pulls the latch and enters the house, and is surprised by her grandmother’s big arms (‘all the better for embracing you, my child!’ her ‘grandmother’ replies), her deep voice (‘all the better for greeting you’), her big ears (‘all the better for hearing you’), her big eyes (‘all the better for seeing you’), and her big teeth (‘all the better to eat you with!’).
And with that, the wolf eats Little Red Riding-Hood, and that’s the rather less-than-happy ending of this classic fairy tale.
Or rather, that is how many versions of the tale of Little Red Riding-Hood end. But Little Red Riding-Hood doesn’t always die. Should the wolf be allowed his dessert (he has, after all, already devoured the grandma), or should he get his just deserts? Should ‘Little Red Riding-Hood’ have a happy ending, or should Little Red Riding-Hood meet a grisly end?
Surprisingly, it was the Victorian Dinah Mulock Craik who allowed the poor girl to be eaten up, while the Brothers Grimm – hardly queasy about the idea of children meeting a gruesome death – have the wolf fall asleep after he’s lunched on Little Red Riding-Hood and her grandmother, only for a huntsman to turn up and cut open the wolf’s stomach, freeing the (remarkably still living) young girl and her grandparent. Other versions let the girl live.
One French version from 1868 has her saved at the last minute, thanks to the remarkable deus ex machina involving a wasp stinging the wolf’s nostril, the sound of which gives a signal to a tomtit, which warns a nearby huntsman that something’s up, so he promptly shoots an arrow through the window, ending any further plans for lupine feasting.
Some people went to considerable lengths to avoid Little Red Riding Hood ending up as lunch.
Little Red Riding Hood: analysis
But since she does tend to end up being eaten by the wolf, it’s worth asking what the moral of this fairy tale is supposed to be – assuming it has a moral.
A number of fairy tales are about the dangers of going off into the woods alone and talking to strange men (or, for that matter, talking wolves): compare here ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. Little Red Riding-Hood goes out into the big bad world unsupervised, and is taken advantage of by the predatory wolf, which, thanks to her loose tongue, kills both her and her grandmother.
Little Red Riding-Hood is too innocent: she fails to realise that divulging the whereabouts of a vulnerable old woman might put her grandmother in danger, and then fails to run there as quickly as possible, in the hope of warning her grandmother or foiling the wolf’s plans (though it could be countered that a little girl would find it hard to outrun a wolf running at full pelt!).
The Brothers Grimm made the moral clearer, with Little Red-Cap being told by her mother not to stray from the path. It is the girl’s failure to follow this instruction that leads to her encounter with the big bad wolf, and her subsequent fate (though as we’ve seen, she’s brought back from the dead, or at least from the wolf’s belly, in the Grimms’ version).
But it is that final conversation between the wolf and Little Red Riding-Hood which remains iconic. It turns out that this, too, is older than the 1690s version of the fairy tale published by Perrault. The Opies draw a link between this exchange and one found in the Elder Edda (thirteenth century), which sees the Norse night-god Loki explaining the somewhat unfeminine attributes of the ‘woman’ who is being offered to the giant Thrym as his bride. The bride is really Thor in disguise (the similarities between this tale and Little Red Riding-Hood are already becoming apparent), so the mischievous Loki has to do some serious sales patter here:
‘These maids of Asgard,’ said the Giants to each other, ‘they may be refined, as Thrym’s mother says, but their appetites are lusty enough.
’
‘No wonder she eats, poor thing,’ said Loki to Thrym. ‘It is eight days since we left Asgard. And Freya never ate upon the way, so anxious was she to see Thrym and to come to his house.’
‘Poor darling, poor darling,’ said the Giant. ‘What she has eaten is little after all.’
Thor nodded his head toward the mead vat. Thrym ordered his servants to bring a measure to his bride. The servants were kept coming with measures to Thor. While the Giants watched, and while Loki nudged and nodded, he drank three barrels of mead.
‘Oh,’ said the Giants to Thrym’s mother, ‘we are not so sorry that we failed to win a bride from Asgard.’
And now a piece of the veil slipped aside and Thor’s eyes were seen for an instant. ‘Oh, how does it come that Freya has such glaring eyes?’ said Thrym.
‘Poor thing, poor thing,’ said Loki, ‘no wonder her eyes are glaring and staring. She has not slept for eight nights, so anxious was she to come to you and to your house, Thrym.
’
All the better for conning you with, we might say.
We’ve been calling her ‘Little Red Riding-Hood’, but of course that’s only a nickname. In the version of the fairy tale included by the Opies in their indispensable The Classic Fairy Tales, the Christian name of Little Red-Riding Hood is given as ‘Biddy’.
As Dickens recalled in his short sketch ‘A Christmas Tree’: ‘I felt that if I could have married Little Red Riding-Hood, I should have known perfect bliss. But, it was not to be.’
In summary, Little Red Riding-Hood is one of those fictional characters whom we meet in childhood and who remain as archetypes emblazoned on our imaginations. How we should analyse the story’s ultimate moral remains unclear, but it may well have stemmed from that age-old advice parents pass on to their children: don’t talk to strange men. Or wolves.
But we’ve somehow lost that last bit.
Discover more classic fairy tales with our pick of the best fairy stories, our summary of the frog prince story, our summary of the tale of Bluebeard, and our analysis of the ‘Puss in Boots’ story.
The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. He is the author of, among others, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History and The Great War, The Waste Land and the Modernist Long Poem.
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LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD Summary & Analysis
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Table of Contents
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD Summary
A young girl, Little Red Riding Hood, sets off through the woods to visit her sick grandmother. Along the way, she meets a wolf. The wolf rushes ahead of her to her grandmothers home, where he impersonates Little Red Riding Hood to gain access.
The wolf eats the grandmother. When Red arrives, the wolf pretends to be her grandmother and eats her too.
Earlier versions end the tale here. No happily-ever-after for Red or her grandmother. Recent versions, including the version by the Brothers Grimm, have Red and her grandmother survive and defeat the wolf.
In the Brothers Grimm version, a huntsman kills the wolf and frees Red and her grandmother. It then tells a brief tale of another trip through the woods resulting in Red and her grandmother besting a wolf on their own.
RED Writing Practice
Herded Words is all about improving your story writing. Find writing practice exercises using the RED story as inspiration here:
| Past vs Present Tense | A comparison of past vs present tense including modern fiction examples. Which is right for your novel? |
| Past Tense | Writing a story in past tense is most common in genre fiction. Learn about 5 times to choose past tense. |
| Present Tense | Present tense happens now. Check out 5 times it’s the best choice for your novel. |
| Comparing Point of View | A comparison of point of view in literature (first, third limited, and omniscient) including modern fiction examples. Which is right for your novel? |
| First Person Point of View | Me, myself, and I are examples of first person point of view. Check out five times you should use first POV for your novel. |
| Third Person Limited Point of View | She, himself and them are examples of third person limited. Learn 4 times you should use 3rd limited for your book. |
| Omniscient Point of View | Omniscient point of view is all knowing. Learn 5 times to use it in your story. |
| Guide to Plot | Learn the 5 key plot points of every story. |
| the Hook | The hook is the opening of your story. Learn the four elements of a hook. |
| the Exposition | Nail your exposition period with these 5 techniques. |
| the Inciting Incident | Master the inciting incident with these 4 essential elements. |
| Rising Action | The rising action is the period between the inciting incident and climax. Learn how to nail your rising action with these 4 elements. |
| the Climax | These 4 elements will make your climax unforgettable! |
| Falling Action | The falling action is an important part of your novel. Get it right with these 4 must-have elements. |
| Resolution | What’s the purpose of the resolution? Find out and see if you should skip it. |
| Subplots | What is a subplot and how do you add one? Learn three popular types and three common methods for adding subplots to a story. |
| Essential Character Types | These are the 6 must-have characters for any novel: protagonist, antagonist, sidekick, skeptic, mentor, and love interest. Learn why with modern examples. |
| the Main Character | Learn the 3 required qualities of main character with modern fiction examples. |
| the Antagonist | Learn the 4 types of antagonists, get 5 tips for writing an antagonist, and see modern fiction examples. |
| the Sidekick | Learn the 4 qualities of every sidekick, 7 roles your sidekick can play, and see modern examples. |
| the Love Interest | Learn the five loving qualities of a love interest and see modern examples. |
| the Mentor | Learn the 8 mentor qualities & see modern fiction examples. |
| the Skeptic | Learn the importance of the skeptic character and their two roles. Plus, see modern fiction examples. |
| Secondary Characters | Every novel needs more secondary characters than just the essential ones. Learn the six roles of secondary characters with modern examples. |
| Minor Characters & Extras | A story world is filled with minor characters and extras. Learn their four jobs and see modern examples. |
| Character Relationships | Learn the 8 relationship types and why your novel needs them all. Plus, see modern examples. |
| Dialogue | Learn how to write dialogue with these 6 tips and tricks. |
| Dialogue Tags | Learn why “___ said” is the best dialogue tag you can use (plus breakdowns of modern fiction). |
| Show & Tell | “Show don’t tell” is bad advice. Learn why you need to show AND tell in your story (plus tips to help you improve your showing). |
| Women in Fiction | Learn how to write fully developed female characters by avoiding common (and harmful) tropes. |
| the First Chapter | Your first chapter is one of the most important. Learn 5 must-have elements of the first chapter. |
Modern Adaptations of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
The LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD fairy tale has been widely adapted into comics, film, literature, toys, games, art, etc., Wikipedia is home to a fairly comprehensive list of adaptations. Below you’ll find 5 modern adaptations of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (3 literature, 2 film).
POLITICALLY CORRECT BEDTIME STORIES
By James Finn Garner
Buy it on Amazon.Originally published in 1994, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories spent more than 60 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list, eventually hitting the #1 spot. Also a best seller in Canada and Great Britain, it has been translated into more than 25 languages and adapted numberless times for stage and radio. According to the Times of London: “It is beautiful. It demolishes, in few but elegant words, a dozen kinds of silliness. It is better than I can possibly convey.”
From Cinderella rejecting unrealistic ideas of feminine beauty, to the Three Little Pigs arming themselves and overthrowing their imperialist wolf oppressors, all right-minded people will feel comfortable reading these enlightened versions to their little pre-adults.
SCARLET
By Marissa Meyer
Buy the book from Amazon.Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in SCARLET, the second thrilling installment of Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles.
She’s trying to break out of prison–even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.
DARK & DARKER FAERIE TALES
By Two Sisters
Buy the book from Amazon.***NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN!
Are you bored of kind and selfless fairies? Do the words ‘and they all lived happily ever after’ make you yawn? Inspired by Brothers Grimm and other sinister tales, Dark & Darker Faerie Tales is a collection of dark stories about evil faeries, corrupted heroes, vengeful innocents and malicious monsters.
Delving into the darker side of fairy tales, each story offers a twisted journey that’ll make you wish for a happy ending.
Written and illustrated by Two Sisters, witness an unlikely friendship in “The Woodcutter and The Oak Tree,” discover what happens next to Little Red Riding Hood, and learn why it’s so important to be wary of who you meet in the woods.
RED RIDING HOOD
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Buy it from Amazon.RED RIDING HOOD is set in a medieval village. A beautiful young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family’s displeasure. When her sister is killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village, the people call on a famed werewolf hunter to help them kill the wolf. As the death toll rises with each moon, the girl begins to suspect that the werewolf could be someone she loves. Panic grips the town as she discovers that she has a unique connection to the beast–one that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect…and bait.
INTO THE WOODS
Distributed by Walt Disney Motion Pictures
Buy it from Amazon.From the director of CHICAGO and the producer of WICKED comes INTO THE WOODS, a modern twist on the beloved fairy tales you thought you knew. Meryl Streep stars in this epic musical saga about daring to venture INTO THE WOODS. Iconic characters, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, find their fates intertwined with a humble baker and his wife, whose longing to have a child sends them on a quest to reverse a witch’s (Streep) curse. With an all-star cast, this spellbinding adventure is everything you could ever wish for.
Grimms’ Fairy Tale: RED
The Grimm’s Fairy Tales are a collection of fairy tales by Jakob & Wilhelm Grimm. The original publication, released in 1812, contained 86 stories. The seventh edition, released in 1857, contained 211 unique fairy tales.
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grimms’ Fairy Tales contains 62 stories.
LITTLE RED-CAP
Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else; so she was always called ‘Little Red-Cap.’
One day her mother said to her: ‘Come, Little Red-Cap, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you go into her room, don’t forget to say, “Good morning”, and don’t peep into every corner before you do it.’
‘I will take great care,’ said Little Red-Cap to her mother, and gave her hand on it.
The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red-Cap entered the wood, a wolf met her.
Red-Cap did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him.
‘Good day, Little Red-Cap,’ said he.
‘Thank you kindly, wolf.’
‘Whither away so early, Little Red-Cap?’
‘To my grandmother’s.’
‘What have you got in your apron?’
‘Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger.’
‘Where does your grandmother live, Little Red-Cap?’
‘A good quarter of a league farther on in the wood; her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below; you surely must know it,’ replied Little Red-Cap.
The wolf thought to himself: ‘What a tender young creature! what a nice plump mouthful—she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.’ So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red-Cap, and then he said: ‘See, Little Red-Cap, how pretty the flowers are about here—why do you not look round? I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing; you walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry.
’
Little Red-Cap raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing here and there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she thought: ‘Suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay; that would please her too. It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time’; and so she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers. And whenever she had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.
Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother’s house and knocked at the door.
‘Who is there?’
‘Little Red-Cap,’ replied the wolf. ‘She is bringing cake and wine; open the door.’
‘Lift the latch,’ called out the grandmother, ‘I am too weak, and cannot get up.’
The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he went straight to the grandmother’s bed, and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes, dressed himself in her cap laid himself in bed and drew the curtains.
Little Red-Cap, however, had been running about picking flowers, and when she had gathered so many that she could carry no more, she remembered her grandmother, and set out on the way to her.
She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself: ‘Oh dear! how uneasy I feel today, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much.’ She called out: ‘Good morning,’ but received no answer; so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.
‘Oh! grandmother,’ she said, ‘what big ears you have!’
‘The better to hear you with, my child,’ was the reply.
‘But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!’ she said.
‘The better to see you with, my dear.’
‘But, grandmother, what large hands you have!’
‘The better to hug you with.’
‘Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!’
‘The better to eat you with!’
And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red-Cap.
When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud. The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself: ‘How the old woman is snoring! I must just see if she wants anything.’ So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it. ‘Do I find you here, you old sinner!’ said he. ‘I have long sought you!’ Then just as he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf. When he had made two snips, he saw the little Red-Cap shining, and then he made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying: ‘Ah, how frightened I have been! How dark it was inside the wolf’; and after that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe. Red-Cap, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf’s belly, and when he awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell dead.
Then all three were delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf’s skin and went home with it; the grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Red-Cap had brought, and revived, but Red-Cap thought to herself: ‘As long as I live, I will never by myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.’
It also related that once when Red-Cap was again taking cakes to the old grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Red-Cap, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said ‘good morning’ to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up. ‘Well,’ said the grandmother, ‘we will shut the door, that he may not come in.’ Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried: ‘Open the door, grandmother, I am Little Red-Cap, and am bringing you some cakes.
’ But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Red-Cap went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness. But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts. In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child: ‘Take the pail, Red-Cap; I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which I boiled them to the trough.’ Red-Cap carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was drowned. But Red-Cap went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again.
THE END.
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The LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD story has been inspiring storytellers for centuries.
What’s your favorite adaptation?
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Little Red Riding Hood (character) - pictures, quotes, fairy tale, image, description
Character history
Little Red Riding Hood is a character in a popular children's fairy tale. The story of a little girl who met a gray wolf in the forest goes back to the Middle Ages. It was then that the first folk versions of the fairy tale narration appeared. Later, Western and Russian writers were engaged in the literary processing of the plot.
The story of the creation of the character
The tale of the adventures of a girl who met a wolf has existed for a very long time.
Such a story was passed from mouth to mouth by the inhabitants of medieval Italy and France. In Central Europe, this story has been spread since the XIV century and enjoyed unprecedented popularity. Moreover, in different countries, the contents of the basket of a little girl varied. So, in northern Italy, a girl went to her grandmother with fresh fish, in Swiss legends - with young cheese, in France in her granddaughter's basket - pies and butter. nine0005
The plot was as follows: a mother asks her little daughter to visit her grandmother, who lives on the other side of the forest. The girl should take a treat for a relative. In the forest, the heroine encounters a gray wolf (in some versions of the tale, a werewolf or an ogre). Trusting, the granddaughter tells the stranger where she is going. Then a plan ripens in the head of the wolf - the character hurries to the grandmother's house.
The gray villain kills the unfortunate woman and cooks dinner out of her, and the old woman's blood serves as the basis for the drink.
In the meantime, the wolf dresses up in the costume of the deceased, lies down on the bed and waits for the unsuspecting granddaughter. When the girl enters the house, the wolf kindly invites her to taste a fragrant dinner. The cat, who saw what was happening earlier with his own eyes, tries to warn the main character, but the antagonist throws wooden shoes at the animal and kills it. nine0005
Next, the wolf offers the naive girl to undress and go to bed with him. The granddaughter grants this request by throwing her clothes into the fireplace. This is followed by the questions of the little girl why "grandmother" looks so strange. The wolf pounces on the child and eats his prey alive. In some (rare) cases, the girl manages to escape.
In the 17th century the French writer Charles Perrault decided to rework this folk tale. Since the storyteller focused on a children's audience, he excluded cannibalism from the original narrative, and also removed the storyline associated with the murder of a cat.
The author dressed the nameless girl in a scarlet companion cap and named her Little Red Riding Hood. Such a cap had already gone out of fashion in the cities at the time of writing the work, but was still popular among village women. nine0005
Charles Perrault created his version of the tale in a poetic style, and also provided the text with a moral that expresses the main idea of the plot and the essence of the tale - a little girl who violates the rules of behavior bitterly pays for her frivolity. For the first time, the work of the French classic was published in 1697 - Perrault included this manuscript in the collection Tales of Mother Goose.
At the beginning of the 19th century, German storytellers, the brothers Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm, offered the children's audience a new literary arrangement of the plot. The storytellers removed the motives about the relationship of the sexes, which reflected the fairy tale of Charles Perrault, and endowed the story with a happy ending: the woodcutters who were passing by heard a noise, burst into the house and cut the wolf's stomach with scissors, freeing both the grandmother and the granddaughter.
nine0005
Literary critics note that such a line could be borrowed from another children's book called The Wolf and the Seven Kids, as well as from the play by the German romantic Ludwig Tieck, The Life and Death of Little Red Riding Hood, created in 1800. In the new interpretation of the Brothers Grimm, the heroine violates not decency, but the order of her mother, who warned her daughter not to communicate with strangers and turn off the straight road.
In Russia, literary critic Pyotr Polevoy was involved in the translation of the story, who tried to preserve the original meaning created by the Brothers Grimm. The literary treatment of the plot, made by the Russian classic Ivan Turgenev, gained particular popularity. There are also translations by other authors. At different times, the pictures for the fairy tale were made by famous artists. nine0005
Biography and image of Little Red Riding Hood
In the editions of Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, a detailed description of the appearance is not given, the age and characteristics of the heroine are not indicated.
According to the text, she is a little girl who lives in a village on the edge of the forest. Traditionally, artists depict the child as fair-haired, with cute features. The heroine is dressed either in a red cloak with a hood, or in a red head cap. The image of the girl is simple-hearted and naive, which is typical for her young age.
The action of the tale begins with the fact that the mother asks her little daughter to take gifts to her grandmother, who lives on the other side of the forest. The woman warns the girl not to stop and talk to strangers along the way. The little heroine leaves the house and soon meets a gray wolf on a forest path. He asks where Little Red Riding Hood is going. The girl does not hide that she is going to visit her grandmother. nine0005
The wolf says goodbye to the girl and quickly heads towards the old woman's house. There he eats his grandmother, puts on her clothes and cap, glasses, and goes to bed, waiting for the arrival of the little heroine.
Arriving at a relative, Little Red Riding Hood does not immediately notice the unusual appearance of the "grandmother". But after seeing the "old woman" closer, the girl asks why she looks so unusual. The wolf, taking this opportunity, pounces on the heroine, eats and falls asleep.
Soon lumberjacks (lumberjacks) pass by my grandmother's house. They hear loud snoring as the door remains open. Seeing a wolf with a swollen belly, the lumberjacks rip open the wolf's belly, and Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma emerge unharmed. There are options for saving female characters by hunters (or a hunter). The story remains popular today. The phrases of the heroes have become famous quotes. nine0005
Little Red Riding Hood in films
In 1977, the Soviet musical film “About Little Red Riding Hood. Continuation of the old fairy tale. The role of the main character was played by 10-year-old actress Yana Poplavskaya. The plot of the picture differed from the classical version - two wolves hunted the girl at once, but it turned out that in fact people are more dangerous and angrier than these predators.
And Little Red Riding Hood herself has to protect the wolves from the attacks of the locals. The film includes vocal compositions, among which the song of the main character (the composition was performed by 8-year-old Olga Rozhdestvenskaya) gained particular popularity. nine0005
In subsequent years, various director's versions of the European fairy tale come out. Basically, the action is presented in the genre of horror or thriller. The plot of Little Red Riding Hood often appeared in Soviet animation - the first cartoon based on the fairy tale was released in 1937. An amusing rethinking of the fairy tale narrative is introduced in the 1958 animated feature Petya and Little Red Riding Hood, where the heroine is rescued by a Soviet pioneer. In 2012, the comedy Russian musical Little Red Riding Hood was released.
Interesting facts
- According to research, there was also a second wolf in the folk story, but this unfortunate predator, drowned by the heroine in boiling tar, was forgotten.
- A monument to Little Red Riding Hood and the Gray Wolf was erected in the town of Schwalm. In this German town, there is a tradition: on holidays, girls wear scarlet capes, and guys wear wolf masks.
- Sculptures dedicated to the heroine are also in Munich, Yalta, Berlin and other cities.
Bibliography
- 1697 - “Red hat”
- 1800 - “Life and death of red cap”
- 1810 - “Red hat”
Filmography
- 1937 - “Red cap” (USSR)
- 1958 - “Petya Petya and Little Red Riding Hood” (USSR)
- 1977 — “About Little Red Riding Hood. Continuation of the old fairy tale "(USSR)
- 2011 -" Little Red Riding Hood "(USA)
- 2012 - "Little Red Riding Hood" (musical) (Russia)
"Little Red Riding Hood" summary for the reader's diary based on Perrault's fairy tale (grade 1 ) - review, the main idea that you liked
4.3
Average score: 4.3
Total assessments were received: 98.
updated August 6, 2021
4.3
Average rating: 4.3
A total of assessments: 98.
updated August 6, 2021
"Little Red Riding Hood" is an instructive story about a gullible girl who, due to her frivolity, almost became a victim of an evil gray wolf.
Summary of "Little Red Riding Hood" for the reader's diary
Name of the author : Charles Perrault
Title : Little Red Riding Hood
Number of pages : 4. Charles Perrault . "Little Red Riding Hood". Publishing house "Rosmen". 2008
Genre : Fairy tale
Year of writing : 1697
The material was prepared jointly with the teacher of the highest category Kuchmina Nadezhda Vladimirovna.
Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 27 years.
Main characters
Little Red Riding Hood is a kind, sweet girl, overly trusting and frivolous.
Mom is a kind, caring woman who sent her daughter to visit her grandmother.
Grandmother is a loving, kind old woman who became a victim of the Wolf.
The wolf is an angry, hungry and treacherous predator trusted by Little Red Riding Hood.
Lumberjacks are brave and determined men who saved Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood.
Please note, we also have:
Plot
In a village there lived a kind little girl who was very much loved by her mother and grandmother. For her birthday, her grandmother gave her a wonderful little red cap. She liked the girl so much that she went everywhere in it and never took it off. Since then, everyone began to call her Little Red Riding Hood.
One day, her mother asked Little Red Riding Hood to visit her grandmother - to bring her pies and butter, to ask about her health. The road ran through a dense forest, but Little Red Riding Hood fearlessly set off. Soon she met the Wolf, who asked the girl where she was in such a hurry.
Little Red Riding Hood told him everything. nine0005
The wolf decided that the old grandmother would be easy prey for him, and ran to her house. He swallowed the old woman, and he lay down in her bed and began to wait for Little Red Riding Hood. When the girl knocked on the door, the Wolf in a hoarse voice invited her to enter. She did not recognize the voice of her beloved grandmother, but decided that she was simply hoarse from a cold.
When Little Red Riding Hood entered the house, she wondered why her grandmother had such big eyes, hands, ears and teeth. At that moment, the Wolf pounced on the girl and swallowed her. nine0005 Luckily, there were lumberjacks walking nearby. Hearing the noise, they hurried to the rescue and ripped open the belly of the Wolf. Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood were alive and unharmed.
Retelling plan
- Mother sends Little Red Riding Hood on the road.
- Road through dense forest.
- Meeting with the Wolf.
- Little Red Riding Hood tells the Wolf about her grandmother.
- The wolf eats the grandmother and lies down in her place.
- Little Red Riding Hood does not recognize her grandmother.
- The wolf eats Little Red Riding Hood too. nine0046
- Lumberjacks come to the rescue.
Main idea
Do not trust strangers and tell them about yourself and your loved ones.
What it teaches
The fairy tale teaches to be careful and attentive when dealing with strangers. Not all people are kind and harmless, some of them can cause serious harm.
Review
Even if a person is as kind, sweet and open as Little Red Riding Hood, you still need to be always on the alert. You can get into big trouble, and not always someone can come to the rescue. nine0005 Illustration for the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.
Proverbs
- Trust but verify.
- God saves the safe.
Liked
I really liked that the Wolf, no matter how cunning he was, still got what he deserved, and Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother were free.
