Feminists see a clear case of rape in The Little Red Riding Hood. Important character transformations within folklore always take place in the forest.Ģ0th century brought another interpretation of this probably most interpreted fairy tale of all. It is not a coincidence so many popular heroes and heroines (Red Cap, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks) must get lost in the woods just to come back as more responsible (and we can say domesticated) persons. Why? The forest is a very fertile place, but it is also wild, uncultivated, and unpredictable. Leonard Lutwack goes even further and he labels it as untamed feminine sexuality. In psychoanalysis a forest symbolizes unconsciousness. People’s existence was closely related to wood from practically forever, but forests also represent unknown, although very serious, danger.
There are many speculations why the forest is so important but we can also stick to the obvious: most of the people in medieval or pre-medieval times lived near forests. It seems trees are an endless source of inspiration in folklore. In many fairy tales the main character (the protagonist) must go in the forest. Only ladies with really bad reputation wore red dresses and Perrault’s insinuations were obvious. The red color of the hood is an invention of Charles Perrault and we should know in the 17th century decent woman would never wear a red hood because red was the color of sin. It can be easily associated with menstrual blood. The red color is, of course, the color of life and blood. When she gets a hood from her grandmother, we can say the life forces are passing from older (going) to younger (coming) generation. With covering (or cutting) her hair, she sends a message she is not available yet (or anymore).
When the girl reaches the age when she turns into a woman, her hair is one of her most powerful tools for attracting the opposite gender.
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