Little Red Riding Hood: Grandmother's Tale

Little Red Riding Hood: Grandmother’s Tale is based on the oral tale The Grandmother’s Tale (pre 1690); Little Red Riding Hood, by Charles Perrault (1697); and Little Red Cap, by the Brothers Grimm (1812). Long before Charles Perrault wrote down his moralistic version of Little Red Riding Hood, the story The Grandmother’s Tale was told and retold across Europe. Perrault altered the story dramatically by making Little Red little (younger) and putting a red cape on her, thus alerting the world that this was a child at risk, and by having the wolf, which was a werewolf in the oral tale, gobble up Little Red. Perrault’s alterations of the tale violently changed the meaning and intent of the tale. In the oral story, a mother sends a girl of indeterminate age into the deep forest to bring a basket of food to the girl’s grandmother.  She encounters a wolf, who is pleasing to her, and she imparts the information about where she is going and what path she is taking. The wolf arrives first and pretends to be Granny by getting into bed. When the girl arrives, she recognizes the wolf and matches wits with him. This adaptation incorporates elements from all three versions but is primarily based on The Grandmother’s Tale, the closest version of the oral story. It is told with a direct focus on the overall meanings of the original tale as well as with a sense of mystery, play and humor.