LITTLE RED-CAP

Background and Context

Little Red Cap is the Brothers Grimm’s version of Charles Perrault’s original fairy tale Little Red
Riding Hood. The original is written as a moralistic story, in which ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ is
eaten by the wolf, the moral being that children, particularly female, should not approach
strangers. In ‘Little Red-Cap’, the ending was modified to make the story less sinister, as ‘Little
Red-Cap’ and her grandmother are saved by a huntsman.
This poem is reflective of Duffy’s relationship with the poet Adrian Henry.

Plot
This rewriting of Little Red Cap tells the story of an adolescent, a sixteen-year-old, who becomes
sexually attracted to a poet, and the consequence of her willingness to spend the rest of her life
with him.

Analysis of Quotes
- ‘At childhood’s end’
This opening to Carol Ann Duffy’s poem indicates to the reader that the girl is an adolescent.
As a start to the entire anthology, it sets the scene for a quest – ending in ‘Demeter’ when the
woman in question is a mother, fully mature and experienced. It is also a power metaphor
which can be used to emphasise the power of childhood, as it is described physically as a
location or milestone.
- ‘kept, like mistresses, by kneeling married men’
Duffy’s use of a simile may have many meanings – that the allotments are well provided for,
like mistresses and men spend more time with these allotments than with their wives at home.
In general terms, this may refer to the time men spend at work, and the fact that women in the
past would not have to be able to question where their husbands are spending their time. It may
also be emphasising the power a woman can have.
- ‘I made quite sure he spotted me’
Unlike the original Little Red Cap, the girl is sly and in control. There is a sense that women are
as capable of leading men astray, as men are of leading women astray. Appearance plays an
important role in this. This image is paralleled in Snow Falling on Cedars, in which Susan
Marie describes how she attracted Carl Heine, and recognises that she could ‘shape the
behaviour of men with her behaviour’.
- ‘The wolf, I knew…’
The girl knows what she is getting into, but this does not stop her. This is emphasised later in
the line ‘for/what little girl doesn’t dearly love a wolf?’
- ‘stockings ripped to shreds, scraps of red from my blazer…’
Duffy’s use of imagery details the vulnerability of ‘Little Red-Cap’, outside the protection of
her home. It also conveys the idea that ‘Little Red-Cap’ is starting to lose her child-like
innocence and naivety. The colour ‘red’ may also be a metaphor, symbolising the height of
sexual passion on her part, or perhaps even blood, or the loss of her virginity.
- ‘wolf’s lair, better beware’
This staccato chant is a warning of the dangers in the wolf’s lair, and is also ironic, since the
girl feels that she needs to ‘beware’, despite desiring the relationship, and made the first move.
Here, Duffy refers to the conflicting feelings and the promises at the start of a relationship, as
well as her own experience, with hindsight. This line is also reminiscent of the childhood
 playground game ‘What’s the time, Mr Wolf?’, in which the danger heightens as the children
approach the ‘wolf’.
- ‘One bite, dead.’
The short, punctuated line emphasises the quick snap of the wolf’s jaw and the destruction he
could cause. A dove is an image of gentleness, purity, peace and innocence, and also a
representation of her poetic voice, which the wolf kills. This is also contrasting to previously,
where the wolf appears to be an intellectual, but here, it is ‘Little Red-Cap’ who depicts a
character who appreciates beauty. This may represent the start of the disenchantment in their
relationship.
- ‘breakfast in bed’
A subtle point where Duffy indicates that ‘Little Red-Cap’ has already been coerced into the
role of a household wife. This is an example of a point where Duffy uses modern, down-to-
earth settings and imagery to mix fantasy with reality.
- ‘As soon as he slept, I crept… a whole wall was crimson, gold, aglow with books./Words,
words’
An interesting image in which Duffy captures the desire ‘Little Red-Cap’ has for learning,
which seems to surpass her passion for the wolf. Duffy creates an impression that this is her
way of sustaining excitement, as she learns as much as she can from the wolf. At this point,
‘Little Red-Cap’ is still thinking only of the wolf’s charm.
- ‘a mushroom/stoppers the mouth of a buried corpse’
This sinister use of imagery evokes an impression that ‘Little Red-Cap’ has come to a full
understanding that she will never find self-expression if she were to remain with the wolf, after
ten years of learning and maturing.
- ‘same rhyme, same reason’
The wolf says the same things, does the same things, ‘year in, year out’, and this is the final
stage of her disenchantment.
- ‘I took an axe to the wolf…and saw/the glistening/virgin white of my grandmother’s bones.’
‘Little Red-Cap’ now finds the lies and deception under the wolf’s poetry and charm. By taking
an axe to it, she is able to release herself. Her ‘grandmother’s bones’ may represent that women
before her, from before even her grandmother’s time, have been taken in by men such as the
wolf.
- ‘Out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone.’
She is alone at the end, and is happy to be so. The poem almost has structural structure – at the
start ‘Little Red-Cap’ is innocent and naïve, and at the end, her ‘singing’ is also an expression
of innocence, and is a reminder of the ‘living dove’. However, arguably, by using violence and
through the course of her maturity, she has lost her innocence, which she will not be able to get
back. It is also likely that she no longer wishes to be ‘at childhood’s end’ and back in the
protection of her home. In the final poem of the anthology, ‘Demeter’ sees her daughter
‘bringing all spring’s flowers’, also a presentation of a hopeful future, and a reference to the
matriarchal line, similar to ‘grandmother’s bones’.

Language and Structure

The poem is written in the form of seven sestets. In the final stanza, the tense changes from the
past to the present, as shown by the line ‘I stitched him up./Out of the forest I come…’. This
helps to draw the reader’s attention to the importance of the final line.
- ‘It was there that I first clapped eyes on the wolf.’
By structuring this line is this way, Duffy puts emphasis on the word ‘I’ and therefore the
character of ‘Little Red-Cap’ is the focus of our attention, rather than the wolf.
- ‘drawl… paw… jaw’
 Duffy uses internal rhyme to portray the girl’s attraction to the wolf and his literature. ‘Little
Red-Cap’ instantly traps him, which is a play on the original fairytale story.
- ‘sweet sixteen, never been…’
A play on the phrase ‘Sweet sixteen and never been kissed’. Here, Duffy replaces ‘kissed’ with
other images, to convey the excitement of ‘Little Red-Cap’, which rushes into the third stanza.
- ‘You might ask why. Here’s why. Poetry.’
Here, ‘Little Red-Cap’ speaks directly to the reader. The word ‘Poetry’ is separated for the other
sentences, a technique Duffy uses to draw attention to the girl’s desire to learn. The
personification of the wolf in the poem also helps the reader to connect to the character of the
wolf, which again helps to emphasise her thirst for knowledge.
- ‘I took an axe/to a willow to see how it wept. I took an axe to a salmon to see how it leapt. I
took an axe to the wolf as he slept…’
This use of rhyme is contrasting to the rest of the poem. This slows the pace of the poem, and
also emphasises the final stanza. The penultimate stanza leads into the final stanza with an
enjambment, used to enhance the tension as ‘Little Red-Cap’ becomes furious.