In the fairytale story “Little Red Riding Hood” the proposition of vulnerability is evident depicting lack of independence. Angela Carter’s film “The Company of Wolves” and Grimm’s story “The Little Red Gap” shows the contradicting state of a young girl. The plot portrays the young girl as innocent and ignorant that puts her into troubles. The ignorant nature of the girl represents her personality flaws as she remains unaware of the danger. The fairy tales convey a common theme of feminine weakness and dependence. The story highlights the moral implications for the girls and threatens them not to travel alone. The vulnerability of the young girl reflects her weakness and unintelligence as a strange man takes advantage of her. vulnerability also becomes visible when one assesses the role of a grandmother who is alone and weaker. The story gives a message that women as unable to handle difficult situations and relies on others for help.
Gendered roles are more obvious in Grimm’s story as she displays woman as kind-hearted. The portrayal of genders in a different manner reveals contradicting differences as the audience identify male as a savior and female as a troublemaker. Fairytales displays innocence and naïve in their construction of female character. The gendered role assigned to female character depicts their compromising positions. The takes present males as saviors or wolves while female as naïve and weak. Males will either help or hurt the feminine characters reflecting how much they lack strength and courage. It also transmits the notion that women are unable to guard themselves due to the inherent weakness. The fragility is apparent in Red’s description, “a charming innocent young girl swallowed by a wolf” (Grimm 166). The description shows how helpless the girl is who falls victim to a wolf.
Carter in the film “The Company of Wolves” creates a different version of Red Riding Hood as she herself meets the wolf. The girl in the film rejects the traditional notion of feminine trepidation as she exhibits no fear during her encounter with the wolf. The famous line in the film, “I love the company of wolves” shows her fascination towards wolves. The female protagonist in the film exhibits sexuality and fearlessness thus setting her free from the patriarchal dominance. The way she creates the protagonist undermines her feminist purpose in her engagements with patriarchal conventions and objectification of woman. It is imperative to understand the differences between the character created by Cartel and Grimm Brothers. Grimm’s version worked more to warn young girls about dangers of strangers and sex. The emphasis is more on the moral values as the story tell girls to stay obedient to their mothers and grandmothers. The feminist protagonist in Carter’s film is different from the original story as she enjoys independence and rejects the conventional thought of male dominance.
The striking difference between the two versions is of changing gendered roles. In Carter’s film, the huntsman saving the girl is missing. The theme thus confers the idea that there is no need for the huntsman or hero rescuing a ‘damsel in distress’. Carter contrary to the tale conveys the message that girls are brave and they can save themselves. Grimm’s story constantly conveyed the theme of innocence as the girl was unable to identify the danger and she only survived due to the help offered by a huntsman. It gives the message that girl would die if there was no man or the girls depends on men for encountering danger.
The fearless protagonist in Carter’s film is capable of thinking wisely and defending herself when encountered danger. Carter confers the viewpoint of an empowered female capable of self-defense. Male’s role is limited as girl’s mother says, “take your father’s hunting knife, you know how to use it” (Carter). The mother’s instructions reveal that she tells her daughter to stay brave. Carter shows the transformation of a girl from prey to a predator as she takes the knife and kills the beast. She displays how intelligently the girl takes control of the situation reflecting female empowerment. The power of girl also becomes visible as she lives in the house of her grandmother and takes control of the wolves. Carter transmits the message that the girl defeated the evil and created her fate.
Feminine weakness remains obvious in Grimm’s version as grandmother also falls victim to the wolf. The story mentions, “the wolf gained entrance at the grandmother’s home pretending to be little red riding hood and immediately swallowed up the old woman” (Grimm 167). The grandmother is unable to think and act because she is a woman, having no brain. The life depicts the idea that dodging girls is simple in ordinary circumstances. Grimm’s also displayed woman as fools reflected at the moment when Red Riding Hood observes the body of her grandmother and still takes time to recognize. Even when Red finds the reality she is unable to act and exhibits trepidation. Fear was only gone when the Huntsman arrives at the situation and kills the wolf with his ax. The ending of the story projects the belief that women are ineffaceable to handle problems on their own. In the original version, the girl remained a prey and lacked the ability to take control of the situation (Pulver).
The independent female character in Carter’s film depicts how comfortable the protagonist is with her sexuality. The poor Red transforms into a mature girl reaching her puberty and making her familiar with sexuality. The sexuality in the film symbolizes the independence and strength that Red was lacking in Grimm’s’ version. Comparison of the two versions depicts that freedom is missing in Grimm’s story as the girl follows the instructions of her mother. An absence of freedom also becomes visible when the wolf takes advantage of the girl and her grandmother. Grimm’s carries a conventional feminism tone as they state girls need to take caution.
Male supremacy is another contradictory factor between the fairytale and the film. Grimm’s version presents male figure as powerful and capable of controlling the women. The idea becomes apparent as the huntsman takes control of the situation by killing the wolf. Women in the fairytale always need a hero who saves her from the danger. The story portrays male as brave and intelligent conveyed through the character of a huntsman. He cuts the wolf with his ax shows his strong state. In Carter’s film, the girl does not rely on Huntsman and controls her fate (Ebert).
Fairytale stories focus on creating the heroin as an innocent and ignorant character looking for help in troubles. Grimm’s fairytale “The Little Red Cap” uses a similar theme to construct the character of Red Riding Hood. The girl in the story confirms conventional feminism where a woman plays the weaker, inferior and oppressed role. Her encounter with danger reveals the realities of her fearful character. Her survival relies on man’s help that she received when the Huntsman kills the wolf. Carter’s character shows transformations as she is wise and powerful. Carter rejects the conventional feminist theory and displays woman empowerment. The message changes in both sources; the story threatens the girls about their vulnerability to male dominance and power while the film motivates them to become their saviors.
Work cited
Ebert, Roger. The Company of Wolves. 1985. 09 03 2018 <https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-company-of-wolves-1985>.
Pulver, Andrew. Furry tale. 2004. 09 03 2018 <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/oct/02/featuresreviews.guardianreview12>
