Red In The Face Or The Golden Girl

Red in the Face or the Golden Girl
Little Red Riding-hood is an iconic children’s tale that has, as Jack Zipes puts it, “evolved through an intricate and complicated interaction” (338) this evolution is seen through changes in plot, theme, narrative, and/or character from author to author. The premise is always the same; a little girl is given a quest, but the differences are the twists and turns each author adds along the way and often the power of description can make the difference in how the reader relates to or views this journey. In Charles Marelle’s “The True History of Little Golden-hood” the changes are easily seen in the unique title change, however, the deeper messages within the Marelle’s text, strong family values versus loss of

In these two tales, they most certainly are as well. In both versions the Mother sends her daughter to the grandmother’s house and Red is met along the way by a wolf, but it seems the family card is played much more in “The True History of Little Golden-hood” starting with a more detailed description of Blanchette’s grandmother who is “so old that she did not know her age;” (Marelle, 348) but has magic that protects her granddaughter, and is strong enough to catch the wounded wolf in her sack and toss him down a well; whereas Red’s grandmother is only really described as “sick and weak” (Grimm, 345) until the second disconnected part of the tale. Blanchette’s mother too is given a different light starting with the quest itself which is portrayed as more of a test of Blanchette’s independence and maturity rather than simply sending her on an errand, which is the feeling given to Red’s path with her mother’s strict instructions. These two different approaches, however, seem to make the difference in how the girls react. Red breaks from her directions like a starving child at a buffet, needing to take in everything she can, consequences be damned. While Blanchette’s mother, though giving her an end game, a left room for her to take her time allowing her to just be a child. These examples of a strong and understanding family build up to the moments after the Grandmother kills the wolf, for trying to eat her Little Golden-hood, and helps Blanchette to redress before feed her the cake and wine and asking her the question of the hour “without my hood where would you be now” (Marelle, 350). The grandmother does not scold only questions and takes the little girl by the hand leading her home where only “when she knew all that had happened” (350) does Blanchette’s mother scold her daughter, as any terrified mother would, and only