Breaking the Red Riding Hood Mold

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Breaking the Red Riding Hood Mold Imagine a time saturated with foreign war, where people in the homeland are constantly at odds with one another over whether the war is necessary, and a time of growing dominion of media which only seeks to capitalize on this turbulence in society. Welcome to the United States in the 1970s. While this period of history holds many negative connotations it also resulted in positive growth of society and positive social reform for the people of the United States. A portion of the social reform dealt with the glass ceiling rising, ever so gradually, for women in society. It is therefore somewhat easier to imagine the thought process behind Angela Carter’s retelling of the classic Red Riding Hood stories of old in “The Company of Wolves” in 1979. Red Riding Hood’s shift from being the victim to being very willing to succumb to the wolf’s, along with her own, desires makes it clear that Carter felt no reluctance in subverting the tropes set forth by Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood.” This change in roles for Red Riding Hood mirrors the shift in power and attitude towards men for women at the time the story was written, and the use of character exposition and symbolism helps accomplish this. “The Company of Wolves” first establishes during the time period and the snowy alpine regions where the Red Riding Hood tale takes place that children mature very quickly. There are no toys or playgrounds and the savage environment demands that children be taught fear and extreme caution when venturing beyond the homestead. Red Riding Hood, however, was not taught this fear and was raised under the care of her mother and grandmother, becoming the prettiest of the family. It is possible that because she was born late her father had little time to devote to another child and her older siblings most likely held her in contempt for how much attention
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