If you were to look centuries ago and compare it to the sexual behavior of “men” in today’s society, there would not be that big of a difference. Though this may be a long time from now, in various literature we can smell scents of sexual symbolism tracing to how women were perceived in the olden times. This literature includes fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood. In Little Red Riding Hood, sexuality is continuously expressed in various versions of little Red Riding Hood.
During the time of Charles Perrault, environmental factors were a big influence in the making of his version of the Little Red Riding Hood. He was the first to translate the fairy tale from an oral tale to a narrative. During his time, there were increasing reports of rape of women which impacted his version of Little Red Riding Hood. “Moral: Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say “wolf,” but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.” (Perrault).In this quote, Perrault was referring to the “wolf” as men and the “well bred young ladies” as the women.
“There were a virtual epidemic of trials against men accused of being werewolf’s in the 16th and 17th centuries similar to the trials against women as witches” (Zipes, 1983, p.4) Characteristics for little red in Perraults story signified that women are to blame for their own rape. In his narrative, Charles Perrault had started off with describing little red, “ the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood”(perrault) Due to the fact that Perrault chose to describe little red riding hood in a certain way, women were perceived as , “In both Perrault’s tale and French Jurisprudence, women were faulted for the crime of rapt and rape, in part because they were perceived as weak, both mentally and physically” (Johnson, 2003, p. 338). Since women were perceived as responsible for their rap families were constantly fearing for their children as the cases kept increasing each year. Luckily, “there were a virtual epidemic of trials against men accused of being werewolves in the 16th and 17th centuries similar to the trials against women as witches” (Zipes, 1983, p.4). Paul Deralues Story also sexualized little red, but had a different outcome for little red than Charles Peraults little red. Since the time derulo wrote his story was different than the time Perrault wrote his story, the influences were different, “over time original tales were adapted to fit the different cultural norms and preferences, which gave rise to different ecotypes” (Tehrani, 2013, p.1). “ However, there were still implements of sexualization towards little red riding hood throughout his story. For example, in his story, he wrote “Undress yourself, my child,” the werewolf said, “And come lie down beside me.” Little red riding hood was almost peer pressured into having nonconsenual intercourse, but Peraulue ended up showing a courageous and witty side of red , where she outwits the wolf and runs away before he catches her. In peraules time, education was becoming an important necessity for children, “ This new ‘educational’ perception of society, unlike the ‘amusement’ perception which preceded it, created for the first time theneed for children’s books, and became the frame of reference in which the first books were written whose intended audience was specifically children. When a change in this understanding came about, text written for children changed as well.” (Shavit,1993,page 136)
Paul Deralues ending showed how little red was able to escape being raped by the wolf due to her confidence . “Undress yourself, my child,” the werewolf said, “And come lie down beside me.” (Perrault). “The sexual cravings of the wolf are debunked and treated as harmless because the little girl knows how to take care of herself in nature” (Zipes, 1983, p.53) The symbolism in The Company Of Wolves depicts that Little red is willing to be seduced or have sexual intercourse with the beastly wolf. “make sure the handsome gentleman would win his wager.” (Carter) . “ to show the opposition between women’s growing awareness of their sexuality and the cruel constructs which society creates to control women.” (Rabab,2013, pg 6)