Little Red Cap recorded in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm and The Little Girl and the Wolf published in 1940 by James Thurber reflect societal values and society’s representations of gender during the time that they were written in. In the first version of the Grimm’s tale, they constructed an unintelligent and oblivious protagonist to depict the incapability of women. They also introduced a male hero to the tale to enforce the belief that a woman will always be saved by a masculine man in society. However, Thurber portrayed his protagonist as capable and intelligent to highlight women’s ability to defend for themselves. He also wiped the character of the huntsman present in the Grimm’s tale to subvert the values of needing a masculine figure to
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Thurber gave his heroine qualities that were considered masculine in the Grimm’s tale, including capability and intelligence. Thurber characterised his protagonist so that she was able to defend herself as she took an ‘automatic’ and ‘[shot] the wolf dead’ when she realised that she was in danger. He utilised her initiative to kill the wolf in order to comment on the capabilities of women in regards to defending for themselves and their intelligence to recognise danger in disguise. Unlike the Grimm’s Little Red Cap, the Grimm’s protagonist was oblivious to the danger of wolves, and instead provided him with confidential information where she told him that her grandmother’s house was ‘under three large oaks.’ Due to her lack of awareness, it led her to her downfall. The Grimm’s used her oblivious attitude of the dangers in society to ridicule women’s intelligence and insinuate that women are too weak to defend for themselves. It is evident that the differing abilities that the female characters in Grimm’s and Thurber’s tale have, attribute to the societal values that it was written in, as Thurber’s tale is more modern than the Grimm’s tale. Thurber’s tale depicted how women are as capable as men and it reflects modern values in current
Thurber gave his heroine qualities that were considered masculine in the Grimm’s tale, including capability and intelligence. Thurber characterised his protagonist so that she was able to defend herself as she took an ‘automatic’ and ‘[shot] the wolf dead’ when she realised that she was in danger. He utilised her initiative to kill the wolf in order to comment on the capabilities of women in regards to defending for themselves and their intelligence to recognise danger in disguise. Unlike the Grimm’s Little Red Cap, the Grimm’s protagonist was oblivious to the danger of wolves, and instead provided him with confidential information where she told him that her grandmother’s house was ‘under three large oaks.’ Due to her lack of awareness, it led her to her downfall. The Grimm’s used her oblivious attitude of the dangers in society to ridicule women’s intelligence and insinuate that women are too weak to defend for themselves. It is evident that the differing abilities that the female characters in Grimm’s and Thurber’s tale have, attribute to the societal values that it was written in, as Thurber’s tale is more modern than the Grimm’s tale. Thurber’s tale depicted how women are as capable as men and it reflects modern values in current