Little Red Riding Hood, or Little Red Ridinghood, also known as Little Red Cap or simply Red Riding Hood, is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings. The story was first published by Charles Perrault as Le Petit Chaperon Rouge and later by the Brothers Grimm as Rotkäppchen.
Story
The story revolves around a girl called Little Red Riding Hood. In the Grimms' and Perrault's versions of the tale, she is named after the red hooded cape/cloak that she wears. The girl walks through the woods to deliver food to her sickly grandmother (wine and cake depending on the translation). In the Grimms' version, she had the order from her mother to stay strictly on the path.
A Big Bad Wolf wants to eat the girl and the food in the basket. He secretly stalks her behind trees, bushes, shrubs, and patches of little and tall grass. He approaches Little Red Riding Hood and she naïvely tells him where she is going. He suggests that the girl pick some flowers; which she does. In the meantime; he goes to the grandmother's house and gains entry by pretending to be the girl. He swallows the grandmother whole (in some stories, he locks her in the closet) and waits for the girl, disguised as the grandma.
When the girl arrives, she notices that her grandmother looks very strange. Little Red then says, "What a deep voice you have!" ("The better to greet you with"), "Goodness, what big eyes you have!" ("The better to see you with"), "What big ears you have!" ("The better to hear you with"), "And what big hands you have!" ("The better to hug/grab you with"), and lastly, "What a big mouth you have" ("The better to eat you with!"), at which point the wolf jumps out of bed, and eats her up too. Then he falls asleep. In Charles Perrault's version of the story, the tale ends here. However, in later versions the story continues generally as follows:
A Huntsman (in the Brothers Grimm and traditional German versions, but in the French version, a Woodcutter) comes to the rescue and with his axe cuts open the sleeping wolf. Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother emerge unharmed. They then fill the wolf's body with heavy stones. The wolf awakens and tries to flee, but the stones cause him to collapse and die (Sanitized versions of the story have the grandmother shut in the closet instead of eaten, and some have Little Red Riding Hood saved by the Huntsman as the wolf advances on her rather than after she is eaten where the woodcutter kills the wolf with his axe). The tale makes the clearest contrast between the safe world of the village and the dangers of the forest, conventional antitheses that are essentially medieval, though no written versions are as old as that. It also warns about the dangers of not obeying one's mother (at least in the Grimms' version).
Main Characters:
Little Red Riding Hood: The protagonist of the story, she is a sweet and innocent young girl who wears a red hooded cloak, which gives her the name. On her way to visit her grandmother, she encounters the wolf and naively trusts him, leading to dangerous consequences. Her character represents innocence and the risks associated with naivety.The Wolf: The antagonist of the story, the wolf is cunning, deceptive, and predatory. He tricks Little Red Riding Hood into revealing her grandmother's location, then proceeds to eat both the grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood. In Charles Perrault's version, the wolf is symbolic of the dangers that lurk in the world, particularly for the innocent and naive.
Grandmother: The elderly woman whom Little Red Riding Hood is visiting. She lives alone in the forest, making her an easy target for the wolf. In this version, both she and Little Red Riding Hood are devoured by the wolf, emphasizing the story's cautionary theme.
The Woodcutter (or Huntsman): In some versions of the story, particularly the Brothers Grimm version, a woodcutter or huntsman saves Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother by cutting open the wolf's stomach after he devours them. He represents bravery and the triumph of good over evil.