The Wolf

This weeks reading was really interesting because we got a better look at the wolf and his interaction with Little Red Riding Hood. In the reading of the "The Wolf as Symbol" Carter's telling of the story changes the way LRRH is seen. It seems that while she was seen to be innocent she was also a seductress. She was depicted as being less of a damsel in distress.She has a knife in her basket and is ready to defend herself.  In the video lecture by the scholar Catherine Orenstein on the evolution of the wolf "Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked" they describe the different view and interpretations of the story. They also discuss the different behaviors of the wolf and Red. My favorite reading though from this week was Marie de France "Bisclavret". The way the women was depicted to be malicious and sneaky was out of the ordinary because it was not the norm or the usual way beautiful women would act. Her husband was a wolf and had the ability to transform from beast to man. When she finds out the reason why he constantly is leaving her alone she betrays him. She forces him to be a wolf for a long time and even remarries. This story makes you think about the possibility that the wolf in LRRH could have been a man and a wolf. Which makes you look at the story in a different light. It made me think that the wolf lusted for LRRH and planned the whole thing to not only eat her but to devour her in a sexual beastly manner. The different versions of the stories again have LRRH climbing into bed with the wolf knowing that it isn't the grandmother. Which also makes me think that she was longing for him just the same. I tell you this much I am really looking at this story with new eyes and it is amazing the different angles that this story has.


Marie France "Bisclavret". translated by Judith P. Shoaf. (1996)
Franz's Marie-Louise "The Feminine in Fairy Tales: The Wolf as Symbol"
Orenstein Catherine. The evolution of the wolf "Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked"