Blog assignment #1

Question 1:
The version of Little Red Riding Hood I found most interesting was the Italian/Austrian version, "Little Red Hat."  What stuck out to me the most was the fact that instead of the story having a wolf, there is instead an ogre that deceives little red riding hood.  The ogre serves as good symbolism for men taking away girls' innocence just like the wolf illustrates in other red riding hood stories.  The story of "Little Red Hat" follows the basic format of little red riding hood that we discussed in class.  Little Red Hat goes to deliver soup to her grandmother but is led astray by an ogre in the forest.  One thing I did find very weird was what the ogre did after eating grandmother: "He went inside, killed the grandmother, ate her up, and climbed into her bed. He also tied her intestine onto the door in place of the latch string and placed her blood, teeth, and jaws in the kitchen cupboard" (Schneller).  When Little Red Hat comes to the house, she is naive and does not question any of the actions of the ogre pretending to be her grandmother.  In the end Litte Red Hat gets the reward for her actions when the orge ends up eating her in one gulp.

Question 3:
In the article, "Dances With Wolves," by Catherine Orenstein, the author discusses how the plot and themes of little red riding hood have changed over time.  From it's begginings in France, Little Red Riding Hood ended with her death; "According to the plot, she has just stripped out of her clothes, and a moment later the tale will end with her death in the beast’s jaws — no salvation, no redemption" (Orenstein).  During the first publications in the late 1600s and early 1700s, the stories reflected a time where it was looked down upon by society if a woman lost her virginity before she was married, and the plot is used to reflect these ideas of lost of innocence.  By the 1800's, the Grimm brothers telling of little red riding hood ends with her escaping from the wolf and takes all the sexuality out of the story.  This version of the plot that we are all more familiar with today, has a theme that teaches the audience about not disobeying.  Feminist movements in the 1970's brought reworks of the original storys that reflected women values in society with red riding hood shown more as a heroine.  But even old versions that have been made reflect the strength of women.  Early oral versions were often told by women, and have several symbolisims that reflect this fact.  "Such terms, symbolic of women’s work and skills, serve to remind us that these stories were once wives’ tales — that is, stories told by women — before that term came to mean a lie. Should it be surprising that a woman storyteller would cast her heroine as more clever than her adversary?" (Orenstein).
I can see how this works, but all these different revisions of the little red riding hood plot have given us different lessons that we can learn from.