Gender Roles In Little Red Riding Hood

There are many issues regarding power in society, many of which boil down to sex. The classic fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, tells of a wicked witch who takes advantage of the young siblings, simply because of her size and wisdom; the story demonstrates how the more powerful character in the story is able to control how others behave. Continuing on this trend, Little Red Riding Hood stories express these same concerns, but directed at women of the time period. The story of Little Red Riding Hood evolves over time as society explores the conflicts in sexual power. In the sixteenth century, girls were completely controlled until they were old enough to be married. Once they finally escaped the clutches of their parents, the role was immediately

Going into the eighteenth century, women had earned some rights. These rights included the ability to sue and be sued, serve as legal guardians, and become executives to estates. Women were still, in theory, a servant to their husbands. This is because the father still had legal control over his daughter, until he passed her down to the husband. When Little Red meets the wolf, she talks about what she is doing and where she is going. While talking, she tells him that she is going to her grandmother's house, in which, “[T]he wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path”(Perrault). He lets himself into the house and “immediately fell upon the good woman”(Perrault). The diction of falling onto LRRH’s grandmother is used because it shows how the wolf has been, and now is in power. Granny does not fight back, which shows how many women reacted to being treated like this. As Little Red arrives at her grandmother's house, she walks in and is surprised to notice many changes with her grandmother. Her grandmother's big arms, legs, ears, eyes, and teeth are all surprising to Little Red Riding Hood. Once LRRH pointed out her “grandmother's” big teeth, the wolf fell upon her and “ate her all up”(Perrault). Perrault talks about how the wolf “falls on” and “eats” these nice women up. This is because at the time, women were nothing but a small bit of their husbands, and had to

Women in this time period were more seen as threats to men in power, so many men took advantage of them to put them down. However, with the gain of many legal and societal powers, women did not stand for this, and took action into their own hands. After the wolf bus the sixteen year old LRRH a drink, he takes her back to his lair. When they arrive, she points out how the “breath of the wolf in my ear, was the love poem”(Duffy). Duffy describes the scene like this to emphasize what Little Red and the wolf were doing in his lair. She also describes it this way because if the wolf's voice is in her ear, this means the wolf is on top of her and quite literally putting Little Red Riding Hood down. However, ten years later, she returns to the wolf. She realized that she was a victim to the wolf's corrupt actions and “took an axe to the wolf”(Duffy). Duffy points out in the text that it took ten years for the girl to realize that she was a victim and take action, which is what many women were brave enough to do once they could. They only could after the matter though, because women did not have those rights until later in society. Duffy paints the picture of a survivor using her new tools to get the trauma off her chest and move on from that point in her