Perrault: Death and Moral

Moral: Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say “wolf,” but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.

Grimm’s Little Red Cap: Eaten, Saved by huntsman, stone belly; Beats the wolf second time around

I usually dislike the versions in which LRRH dies, but in this one she only screws up once. The first time she encounters the wolf in her grandmother’s clothing she is an innocent and she is fooled. The wolf is killed and all is well.

While that is sometimes the end of the story, there is a part two. LRRH encounters another wolf. This time she goes directly to her grandmother and they defeat the wolf together, no men required. LRRH recognizes the danger and the grandmother figures out how to kill the wolf.

Note: Something I learned back in undergrad was that the four elements are gendered. Earth and water are feminine. Do pay attention to how the wolf dies (when he dies) in each of these stories.

Little Red Hat (Italy/Austria): Death. Ogre instead of a wolf. Cannibalism & striptease. 

“Grandmother, you have such a big mouth!”

“That comes from eating children!” said the ogre, and bam, he swallowed Little Red Hat with one gulp.

The Grandmother (France): Werewolf instead of a wolf, cannibalism, striptease, and then saves herself

This is one of my favorite versions because LRRH saves herself. She tells the wolf she has to use the bathroom and she refuses to go in the bed. So he ties a rope to her ankle and lets her go outside. Clever LRRH ties the rope to a tree and runs. By the time the wolf figures it out, she’s home and safe.

My other favorite version is similar to this story, but it extends her escape. In that one, the wolf figures out her ploy earlier. As she runs, she comes across some washerwomen at a river. When she explains hurriedly, the women pull their sheets taut and let LRRH run across. When the wolf tries to follow, the women catch him in their sheets and drown him.

By the way, if you’re a lover of fairy tales and you don’t know about Ashliman’s archive, do check it out. Other sites of note are SurLaLune and the archives of Endicott Studio (some great meta, retellings, and new tales; pity they quit).

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/

http://endicottstudio.typepad.com/articleslist/

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

The 10th Kingdom is a miniseries in which two New Yorkers travel to a land of fairy tales, post-happily ever after. 

In one scene, one of the main party of characters is accused of murdering a shepherdess. He is put on trial with a judge who has already decided his guilt and, worst of all, a jury panel composed entirely of sheep.

After the closing arguments, the sheep are released from the jury pen and are allowed to wander into one of two other pens: Guilty and Not Guilty. 

The Not Guilty box is empty. The Guilty box is full of food. Unsurprisingly, the sheep crowd on in.

On face this seems like a terrible system, but you have to remember— the characters are outsiders to an insular community and the crime in question is the death of a young girl. They never were going to get an advantage.

Imagine instead how the system probably works when the only ones on the stands are the ones who live there— when the town members are actually divided.

Now, here is aspect of the courthouse I neglected to mention before— the guilty/not guilty pens are open air and easily accessed by those watching. Anyone can toss food in. Instead of placing the responsibility of a decision in the hands of 12 people who, given the community and the large family sizes, could not possibly be neutral, the decision belongs to everyone who bothers to watch. Also, given that everyone in town appears to belong to some family and have access to a farm, sheep food, or something they can use to influence the sheep.

So, the justice system in the town allows for any member of the town who cares enough about the outcome of the trial to affect the trial.

Secondly, the use of sheep also introduces an element of chance or divine right. Think of trial by combat— whoever won was right. The idea was that the gods would side with whichever combatant was right and ensure that s/he won.

The sheep are the same. Sheep cannot understand human arguments or be persuaded, other than by food. If the two boxes are equally full, then whichever the sheep are led to occupy must be the truth. And, if the sheep ever turned from a full box for an emptier one, then that is even greater support. Remember, this is a world of fairy tales and narrative necessities— to borrow from the words of one character, the people in this world either live happily ever after or die from horrible curses. The toast in another scene is ‘happily ever after.’ So, instead of divine right, we have narrative right.

In other words, the story will decide, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stack the deck anyway.

And my lunch break is now over. :)