Ruth Sandes 4°C

Bruno Bettelheim: Little Red Riding Hood

FEBRUARY 4, 2016  BY SI ERRA SH AWWORD

The story of Little Red Riding Hood is not just one of a little girl bringing simple biscuits and
wine to a sick grandmother. Rather, the tale chronicles a young girl’s trip into adulthood, the
woods functioning as the hazy middle ground between being an innocent child and a knowing
adult. In the beginning she is still a child, and it is only after her walk through the forest that she
leaves childhood and is ready to become an adult. Bettelheim acknowledges that depending on
which text is read—Grimms’ or Perrault’s—the message of loss of virginity will be altered. Red
Riding Hood represents the perfect innocent childhood. She is described as “sweet,” “pretty,”
“little,” and a “maiden” as she skips serenely through the forest to her grandmother’s house. But
how innocent is Little Red Riding Hood, and does she need to be protected by her mother from
the big bad wolf?

In Bruno Bettelheim’s Little Red Riding Hood takes a different outlook on the fairy tale’s
morals. The typical story’s morals tells young girls not to trust strangers, especially men. In
Bettelheim’s review on Little Red Riding Hood he starts off with describing the young girl as
“innocent” hinting that she is not actually pure. His main point throughout his writing is to
explain that the young girl wanted to be seduced. For example, in the original story by
Perrault’s she was more than willing to take off her clothes and get into the bed. Little Red is at
the age of question and is not completely incapable of knowing right from wrong. Bettleheim
compares Hansel and Gretel to Little Red by showing the age differences and how they think.
Little Red is more aware of her surroundings. The red cap, huntsman, and attraction to the wolf
are all examples of Little Red’s sexual awakening. Bettelheim’s explains everyone curiousness
with sex, “It is this “deathly” fascination with sex which is experience as simultaneously the
greatest excitement and greatest anxiety that is bound up with the little girl’s oedipal longing for
her father and with the reactivation of these same feelings in different form during puberty”. 

Bruno Bettelheim, in The Uses of Enchantment, examines the story of Red Riding Hood’s trip
as culminating with her loss of virginity. As Red Riding Hood encounters the wolf in the forest,
she is presented with the hurdle of entering adulthood—losing her virginity and reaching sexual
maturity. Two of the best-known versions of the story represent Red Riding Hood’s entry into
adulthood differently. In Charles Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood,” the line between Red
Riding Hood as a child and an adult is clear; as soon as she is consumed by the wolf and loses
her virginity, and she is no longer a child. However, in the Brothers Grimm’s “Little Red Cap,”
the transition is not as defined. While Red Riding Hood reaches sexual maturity when the wolf
eats her, her transition into adulthood does not end there. She must continue the journey with
new experiences and gained knowledge after she is cut out of the wolf’s stomach.
In The Uses of Enchantment, Bettelheim argues that “Little Red Riding Hood” is a story about
the loss of virginity. Bettelheim adheres to a Freudian psychoanalytical approach to analyze the
story by looking at ideas of oral fixation, Oedipal conflicts, the id, and the ego. Bettelheim
refers to the opening, before Red Riding Hood has completed her trip to her grandmother’s
house, saying, “Little Red Cap’s danger is her budding sexuality, for which she is not yet
emotionally mature enough” (173).

Answer these questions:

1) How Little Red Riding Hood can be described before she enters in the
woods?
1-She is described as “sweet,” “pretty,” “little,” and a “maiden” as
she skips serenely through the forest to her grandmother’s house.
2) Is Red Riding Hood aware of the dangers? What does she want?
2-Little Red by showing the age differences and how they think.
Little Red is more aware of her surroundings.
3) How can you describe the versions in terms of reaching adulthood?
3-In Charles Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood,” the line between
Red Riding Hood as a child and an adult is clear; as soon as she is
consumed by the wolf and loses her virginity, and she is no longer a
child. However, in the Brothers Grimm’s “Little Red Cap,” the
transition is not as defined. While Red Riding Hood reaches sexual
maturity when the wolf eats her, her transition into adulthood does
not end there. She must continue the journey with new experiences
and gained knowledge after she is cut out of the wolf’s stomach.
Bruno Bettelheim, in The Uses of Enchantment, examines the story of Red
Riding Hood’s trip as culminating with her loss of virginity. As Red Riding
Hood encounters the wolf in the forest, she is presented with the hurdle of
entering adulthood—losing her virginity and reaching sexual maturity.
4) In conclusion, what is the principal idea of this story?
 The main idea of the story is about the transition of a girl from
childhood to adulthood, the woods function as the hazy middle
ground between being an innocent child and a knowing adult.

Please, analyze if these sentences are true or false :

1) Little Red Riding Hood represents a girl who knows where she goes. False.
2) The girl is not so curious about the excitements of sex. False.
3) The two versions of the story represents the girl entering into adulthood. True.
4) Bettelheim adheres to a Freudian view of evolution. True.

What these pronouns refer to?

1) “she” (line 4) ……………child……………………………….
2) “his” (line 14) ……outlook on the fairy tale’s morals………..
3) “her” (line 3) ………young girl’s trip to adulthood…..

Look for antonyms and synonyms:

Imperfect…………perfect…………….Inmaculate……..pure………….
Adulthood………childhood…………Observing ………looking……………….
Old…………young………………………..Finish…………end………………..
Can you make a summary (in your words) about this text?
The text is about Bruno Bettelheim’s psychoanalytical analysis where he talks about the
two versions of Little Red Riding Hood. The analysis is focused on the child’s transition
from childhood to adulthood. In said transition she starts experimenting sexual interests
and ends up reaching sexual maturity in two different moments, depending on which
version of the fairy tale we talk about. But the common thing in between is that the
woods the function as the hazy middle ground between being an innocent child and a
knowing adult.