Little Red Cap (German fairy tale)

Author: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Time Period: 1701 CE−1850 CE

Country or Culture: Germany

Genre: Fairy Tale

PLOT SUMMARY

“Rotkäppchen” or “Little Red Cap,” better known as “Little Red Riding Hood,” is the version of the story recorded by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in their 1812 volume of German folktales. The tale starts by introducing a well-loved maiden who has a special connection with her grandmother. The grandmother often bestows presents on the girl, including “a little cap of red velvet” (13) that the girl wears at all times, leading to the nickname Little Red Cap. The girl’s adventure begins when her mother sends her on a mission to take food to her sick grandmother. As she leaves, she is cautioned by her mother to follow the direct path to her grandmother’s cottage and to pay attention to social niceties.

As soon as Little Red Cap enters the woods outside of her village, she encounters a charming wolf who inquires about her mission. Naively, the girl reveals her destination and the purpose of her trip. The wolf shrewdly recognizes the potential of two victims and distracts Red with the enticements of the forest. Disregarding her mother’s earlier admonitions, the girl leaves the trodden path to pick flowers for her ailing relative. The wolf, in the meantime, hurries to the grandmother’s cottage, consumes his first meal, and disguises himself in the old woman’s clothes and bed.

Little Red Cap eventually comes back to the purpose of her trip and reaches her grandmother’s home. Upon entering, she senses that all is not well and begins to question the wolf: “Oh, Grandmother, what big ears you have! . . . Oh, Grandmother, what big hands you have! . . . Oh, Grandmother, what a big, scary mouth you have!” (Grimm 15). Unfortunately for Little Red Cap, the wolf is so fast that she is eaten before she can react further.

The ending of the story varies from version to version from this point. Some stories conclude with the deaths of Little Red Cap and her grandmother. Some introduce a huntsman who saves them. The Grimm brothers’ version continues with the huntsman, who cuts the wolf’s belly open, freeing both the girl and her grandmother. The three then weigh the wolf down by loading his stomach with rocks, which eventually kill him when he awakens and attempts escape. Each human character receives a boon: the huntsman skins the beast for its pelt, the grandmother enjoys the contents of the basket brought by her grandchild, and the girl acknowledges a lesson learned and vows to heed her mother’s guidance in the future. The Grimm version adds one last note to the story, however. In this extra piece, Little Red Cap has returned to her grandmother’s cottage with another basket of goodies. Once more, she meets a wolf, but this time she flees. Upon reaching her grandmother’s house, she shares her predicament, and together the two women outsmart and kill the wolf.

SIGNIFICANCE

“Little Red Cap” is often interpreted as the story of a young woman who moves from the innocence of childhood to the recognition of sexual maturity. Though the tale originates in oral tradition, there are numerous literary versions from across the world, with the German version by the Grimm brothers being one of the most commonly recognized.

One of the most notable fairy-tale motifs relevant to this story is the repetition of the number three. This starts with the characters. The story begins with a child, her mother, and her grandmother, representing women from all stages of life. There are also three male stereotypes: the charming wolf who entices the girl to stray from her moral upbringing; the heroic huntsman, often viewed as a father figure, who frees the girl and her grandmother; and the second, more obviously villainous wolf, who is outsmarted by the women. The characters also reflect the three sets of rules given to Little Red Cap by her mother: set off early (practical), “don’t stray from the path” (moral; Grimm 14), and be polite upon entering the grandmother’s home (social). Finally, there are three clearly symbolic locales in the story: the town where Little Red Cap lives (civilization), the woods that separate the village from her grandmother’s cottage (the uncivilized wasteland), and the cottage itself (home/safety).

The motif of three, combined with possible broader symbolic meanings, also connects to three possible purposes for the story, based on the point when the story was collected. Zohar Shavit argues that Charles Perrault’s 1697 version was written for adult entertainment purposes, the Grimm brothers’ story is more pedagogical, and later variations told as children’s amusement are more “protective” in nature (322), softening the narrative for an audience of children that is more sheltered.

One of the most common interpretations of the story focuses on a sexual interaction between the characters. In this vein of criticism, the red cap represents the child’s movement into sexual maturity. Catherine Orenstein argues that the tale can be twisted “to portray a seduction by a temptress, the rape of a virgin or the passage of a young girl into womanhood” (4). Perrault’s version ends with a moral that warns women about the dangers inherent in being involved with men, while the Grimm brothers shine a more positive light on men, as the huntsman enters the story to rescue Little Red Cap and her grandmother. However, their story becomes ambiguous regarding women’s need for male protection when the women overcome the second wolf on their own. The suggestion may be that a dose of charm—as utilized by the first wolf, who does devour the women—may mislead, but aggression, as demonstrated by the second wolf’s approach, will ultimately lead to the demise of the wolf’s lecherous plans, along with the wolf himself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dundes, Alan, ed. Little Red Riding Hood: A Casebook. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1989. Print.

Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. “Little Red Cap.” Tatar, Classic 13−16.

Orenstein, Catherine. Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale. New York: Basic, 2002. Print.

Shavit, Zohar. “The Concept of Childhood and Children’s Folk Tales: Test Case—‘Little Red Riding Hood.’” Tatar, Classic 317−32.

Tatar, Maria, ed. The Classic Fairy Tales. New York: Norton, 1999. Print.

---. The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Exp. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2003. Print.

Zipes, Jack. The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood: Versions of the Tale in Sociocultural Context. South Hadley: Bergin, 1983. Print.