Fairytales and Archetypes
October 28, 2013
The Company of Wolves and Little Red Cap Comparison “Little Red Cap” and the film Company of Wolves (1984) have some similarities yet still have some differences. Rosaleen appears to be a clever young teen who thinks ahead, whereas Little Red Cap seems to be a young innocent yet oblivious child. Little Red Cap wear a red cap made of red velvet but Rosaleen wears a red shawl made of wool. They both carry a basket of goods to be delievered to their grandmother. Little Red Cap’s basket contains just piece of cake and wine. However, Rosaleen’s basket contains liquor, cheese, oat cakes, and a knife that she put in the basket herself. In The Company of Wolves instead of first appearing as an actual wolf, he appears first in human form as a huntsman. He is dressed in nice clothes and has a uni-brow. Earlier in the movie her grandmother warned her that men with unibrows could not be trusted
The Company of Wolves retells the lore of the werewolf to point at which it completely changes the ending. In the original tale Little Red Cap revealed to the wolf where her grandmother was. Then, the wolf got Little Red Cap distracted. He said to her “Look at those flowers, Little Red Riding Hood! Aren’t they lovely? The ones under the tree over there. Why don’t you go closer so you can see them properly?” (p 138) Soon, while she went off course to get more flowers, the wolf ran straight to her grandmother’s house with intent to kill her grandmother first, then Little Red Riding Hood herself. In the film, the huntsman, who is also the wolf, already seems to know where her grandmother lives. He is instead attracted to Rosaleen and desires to kiss her. He makes a bet with her based on who would reach her grandmother’s house first. “I’ll be you your heart’s desire” he said. However if she lost, he said, “I’ll bet you a kiss.” (Neil) Both grandmothers of Little Red and Rosaleen are eaten by the wolf, however, Rosaleen’s