grandmother on a bed, talked her into joining him, and finally ate her. Through the presence of gender roles and simplistic imagery, the fairy tale served as an allegory for women being simple. Gender roles among the characters effectively strengthened the allegory.
This characterization method was common in Perrault’s generation. Male authors presented male characters with power, while the female characters exhibited weak or foolish traits. In Little Red Riding Hood, Perrault utilized this method in each character. Little Red’s travel exemplified a young woman’s naïve decisions. She conversed with a stranger, discussed private information, distracted herself along the way, and fell victim to the wolf’s trickery. Plus, Little Red’s mother, ironically presented as a loving figure, failed to warn her about any danger. While the women served as failing characters, Perrault presented males as capable. For example, as the male antagonist, the wolf fatally duped Little Red and her grandmother. However, he, earlier in the tale, refrained from eating Little Red “because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest.” In other words, Perrault subtly regarded the static woodcutters, most likely male during Perrault’s generation, as safeguards for Little
Red. The plain imagery successfully supported allegory in different factors. Rather than heavily revealing the settings, Perrault introduced them with little details. For example, Little Red “lived in a certain village,” then “she was going through the wood,” and finally arrived at her grandmother’s house. However, Perrault focused more on the characters. He informed the audience about Little Red’s visual appearance for most of the first paragraph, the grandmother’s sickness, and the fluctuating discussion about the wolf’s appearance when disguised. Little Red was known for her looks, her grandmother was depicted mainly as physically weak like a damsel in distress, and the discussion somewhat indicated Little Red’s ignorance. In addition to the allegory, she distracted herself on the path “by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets.” Through these instances that strayed Little Red from her prior responsibility, Perrault considered her more childish. Viewing the tale, Little Red Riding Hood, as an allegory for women being simple seems shocking at first, yet through further research on the author’s, Charles Perrault, generation, the allegory becomes understandable. Usually, male authors depicted female characters as damsels in distress but male characters rescuing the damsel in distress, acting as a hero, succeeding in his conflict, or all of the above. This tale, like many others, featured the male wolf triumphing over the females.