The Fabula Rasa

Forget the nighttime tales of your youth. This... is Origin


        
             The story of Little Red Riding Hood conceals several symbolisms that explain the sexual ethics of its time.  As Catherine Orenstein stated, "the red cape [is viewed] as menstrual blood marking the change from childhood into womanhood; the relationship between the wolf and the girl as that between man and woman, a seduction by a temptress (Red Riding Hood), the rape of a virgin, and in Freudian terms as the battle of the ego over the id" (1).  Charles Perrault created his version in 1697, and the Brothers Grimm's version came about in 1812.
            Perrault's version contains Little Red Riding Hood  invited into Grandma's house by the wolf.  The girl disrobed but the wolf only asked her to put down the basket and climb into bed with him.  Once voicing her perplexion over the wolf's physical appearance, she was promptly gobbled up.  The moral of the tale warns young girls, though they must be "pretty, well-bred, and genteel," (Tatar 12) that a man can be a wolf.  A wolf is the symbolism of a seducer. While wolves come in many forms, "tame wolves are the most dangerous of all" (Tatar 13).  In this time era, women that were not chaste were condemned from society and given a social death.  The Brothers Grimm gave Little Red Riding Hood redemption by adding a huntsman to rescue both women.  The huntsman saves both by cutting open the wolf with a pair of scissors.  The moral of this story is that a husband or a father can give the girl a second chance to redeem herself and forgiver her for her actions. 
            As the time changed, society had begun to give women more societal freedom and rights.  In today's time, women do not follow the rules spoken of by Perrault and Brothers Grimm.  Women have the right to have pre-marital relations without fearing extreme consequences or to form and leave several relationships.  Of course, pre-marital relations consequences depend on culture, age, and acceptance of said action. The woman can play with the wolf than leave him if she so wishes. Advertisement today actually encourages men to be wolves by posing women in alluring positions in order to sell their products. 
Works Cited
Orenstein, Catherine. Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, And The Evolution Of A Fairy Tale. Jackson: Basic Books, 2003. Print.
Tatar, Maria. "Little Red Riding Hood." The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 1999. ix - 22. Print.



 Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was a story told between peasants to pass the time while working the fields.  As the seasons changed, so did she.  Multiple versions of her story sprouted, each giving her a different character, thus, a different face. 

Charles Perrault created his version 1697, in a time of nobles and peasants, which would make sense that the moral of his story would involve chastity and obedience.  This child quickly became a victim of the Wolf, falling easily for its deception. Perrault used Wolf as a metaphor, "a stand in for male seducers who lure young women into their beds" (Tatar 5).  He made her responsible for the Wolf eating her because she spoke to a stranger.  The ending was a moral note for women to be "pretty, well-bred, and genteel" (Tatar 13) and to be careful of men since the tame wolves "are the most dangerous of all."

As the years go by, the later versions become more risqué and violent. Roald Dahl created his version in 1995.  This was a time were women were firmly entrenched as equals due to the Women's Rights Movement 70 years prior.  This version was the more refined tale of James Thurber's 1940 edition of Little Red Riding Hood.  Dahl empowered Red Riding Hood by giving her the power of observation and deductive reasoning.  By using rhyming, he created a fast paced tale with Red Riding Hood using her quick wit to retaliate against the wolf by shooting him with a pistol and eventually wearing his skin as a cloak.  This  shows how society's view on what is accepted is changing in regards to women's rights.  Women now rights to defend themselves instead of relying on men and expecting a metaphorical knight in shining armor to save them.
Work Cited
Tatar, Maria. "Little Red Riding Hood." The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 1999. ix - 22. Print.

An interesting category exists of women in fairy tales... those that refuse to marry.  These women are shown as spoiled, vain and willful.  By refusing to marry, these women suffer some form of punishment.  It is inferred that they refuse marriage to preserve their freedom and identity. Any refusal to wed is denied or disallowed.  When a stubborn princess succumbs to marriage, and consequently, her husband, it is a cause for celebration. While marriage occurs in “The Blue Fairy Book,” few go into detail of the married life.  A child may learn that a woman who disobeys her husband’s command may be subjected to her husband’s expression of fury.  While punishment from the wife’s husband is allowed, a domineering wife is viewed as abominable while a “helpless, threatened, passive wife” (Lieberman 394) is approved.  

 In tales that show marriage, one or both parents of the main character are deceased.  This is seen in several stories such as “The Sleeping Beauty, Little Thumb, and Hansel and Gretel.”   Marriage is integral to the reward system in fairy tales and few lives are shown beyond the act.  It can be said that stories which contain marriage are more concerned with the courtship process.  Courtship is the most important part of a woman’s life.  It is a time where she can be briefly viewed as a person, instead of as a means to an end.  When the deed has been done, she ceases to be a human, a person with thoughts, dreams and an identity.  Children who see this courtship process and its abrupt end may develop the thought that courtship keeps the excitement going so it must never end “since marriage is literally the end of the story” (Lieberman 394).


Lieberman, Marcia R. "Some Day My Prince Will Come: Female Acculturation through the Fairy Tale."
College English 34.3 (1972): 383-395. Print.

Fabula?

Yes, yes, Its a play on an overused cliche but I think it works. Tabula Rasa is latin for blank slate and in writing this blog I hope to highlight just how little modern fairytales and folklore actually represent their original tellings, in essence, losing most of its meaning and context creating a blank tale or ... a Fabula Rasa

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