W.B. An Irish poet. Yeats stated once, “Storytellers are the ones who remind us what mankind would be like without fear and the failing of will. And the laws that govern nature have also tripped it up”. In the modern world, folktales and folklore are losing their popularity. Their childhood was so unique and different because of folk and fairytales. Their family memories will remain forever memorable. This is a very popular tale. The folktale is available in three versions, including those by Delarue and Perrault. Each version has a unique twist. This classic tale tells readers how to deal with cruel and evil things. It teaches about the gender roles of men and women, equality, as well a certain mentality that makes someone a good person or a bad one. Perrault’s tale and Grimm’s tale will be compared. The two stories are different in their climaxes and both have moral lessons.
Perrault wrote his story towards the end of 1600. In that time, gender roles were very important to every person. Men were mainly farmers, blacksmiths and bakers. Women were mostly housewives or nuns. “What Perrault did was adapt a crude story to meet the refined tastes of the high social class. It was usually not intended for children, but rather for the rich. It contains explicit sexual content. The ending of his version is bad. The wolf was hungry and ate the girl. Little Red Riding Hood threw off her clothes, climbed into bed and laid down. She was shocked to see her grandmother. She knew something was wrong, yet she continued to be with the wolf. She might have been saved by seducing the Wolf. Last but not least, there is the German version of the Grimm Brothers made a century ago. In 1800, class and gender roles were different. Women’s roles were to take care of children, the house, kitchen or church. During this time, women began to attend school while men played the most important role. Women are earning more and they have the right of study. The red clothing and the wolf are still there. But, unlike Perrault, they choose to ignore the cannibalistic snack the girl makes out of her grandmother. This is a twist, because the hunter comes to save both the girl and grandmother. The good sign who saves the grandmother and the girl from the wolf, and then dies. Take the cake to your grandmother, “Look little Red Cap”. The girl has to take food to grandmother. She must obey her mom.
Since then, the issue of equality in our society is the most important one. Inequality is a problem in many countries, especially for women. The wolf in the Little Red Riding Hood story did not treat the girl correctly. “I’ll go see her too.” The wolf said, “Let’s see who gets there faster. I will go this way and you shall go that road. The wolf takes the shortest route to get to the grandmother’s house. The wolf does not run from the house. In the Perrault era, men ruled the country. They were the only ones who had the right to go to school. Women could not be involved in politics or pay dowry to marry. In early 1800s Germany, the Grimm brothers ruled the country and women could do nothing without the consent of men. She was seen as less intelligent than a men and most men only see women as good wives and mothers. “So he decided to use scissors instead of a gun and cut the wolf’s stomach open. “Both were alive and well”. Both were safe and alive”. He protects them because women have the same right to fair living as men.
Last but not least, certain attitudes can indicate whether someone is a good or bad person. France, as an example, was facing similar challenges to Europe. These included political, financial, social, etc. strains, exacerbated further by religious division. France is a difficult place to govern, and even the best-equipped authorities have trouble. The wicked wolf wentbbled up Little Red Riding Hood as well. The wolf represents evilness. It is a greedy wolf who wants to trick people into believing his lies. In the end, he ate both his grandmother and granddaughter. In the early 1800s, Germany was undergoing a lot of social changes. The social changes between 1800-1850 were major. It was determined by the place, that the end of the old house frame was. This was when the family and servants lived together in a large home. The families rearranged their living arrangements into separate ones. The wife of the owner no longer takes care of all household chores. The hunter thought to himself: “What an old woman snores!” It’s best to go see what’s wrong. He went into the house, entered the room and found the wolf lying down. He destroyed all evil in the home and saved two people. A brave and good hunter.
