Little Red Cap Feminist Criticism

In Carol Ann Duffy’s “Little Red Cap,” from her collection The World’s Wife, Duffy incorporates her feminist views on life to develop Red-Cap’s character into an independent woman. In her work, Duffy intends to illuminate the power of women as much greater than society perceives them. She writes about a young girl, Red-Cap, at the peak of her childhood, who is about to enter the next phase of her life. After Red-Cap loses her innocence to “The Wolf,” she begins her transition into adulthood. The loss of her purity contributes to the realization that she no longer needs an old, no good wolf. Following her departure from the wolf, she gains knowledge and power to become an independent woman, no longer needing a man. Duffy’s version of “Little …show more content…
Once Red-Cap recognizes that she no longer desires to be with the wolf and prefers to show her strengths with a voice of her own, she “…saw/the glistening, virgin white of my grandmother’s bones” (42). This line indicates that Red-Cap’s grandmother’s bones illustrate the presence of suppression towards women by proving that the patriarchal society is bias on how women should act. Red-Cap finally gains all the knowledge she needs to empower herself to create her own voice and get back her literary freedom. In the ending, Duffy demonstrates the clemency of Red-Cap’s evolution into a strong, powerful woman regaining her previous life. Red-Cap’s relief and recovery from her regrettable time with the wolf manifest once she walks “out of the forest” (44). As Red-Cap makes her way out of the forest, Duffy’s poem contradicts the traditional view men have of women. Duffy is proving to the reader that she does not want Red-Cap’s character to be quiet and live in the shadow of a man when she can have the power to be independent and successful. Duffy shows the capability of women even though the traditional literature silences women that speak out against the normal standards set by …show more content…
The wolf acts as an analogy for the patriarchal male with the dominance over the submissive female. The original fairy tales imply that a naive woman is a perfect prey for the powerful men to manipulate into getting what the male wants. Duffy uses feminist qualities to convey Red Riding Hood’s character in Duffy’s version as a misconception of most women’s roles in society seen from a more traditional viewpoint. In the initial versions of the Red Riding Hood fairy tale, the Grimm brothers and Perrault characterize the little girl as “beloved by everyone” (Grimm Brothers 1) and the “prettiest creature,”(Perrault 1) which are generally how men perceive a woman to be, proving the sexist nature of the originals, whereas Duffy creates a more feminist interpretation, of her poem, making the woman the strong, powerful figure. Duffy challenges the traditional views of women by allowing Red-Cap to go after the wolf to lose her virtue. The originals imply that young girls are naive and obedient to the patriarchal society. These stories convey the subjugation women go through every day because men want to control how the women act. However, Duffy portrays the female character as a more dominant, independent woman going after what she wants rather than being submissive and controlled by a