Comparison Table

Editors Stewart and Shanley have created a table that looks at the different features of the four stories in focus.

It explains how each story has been interpreted in a clear and concise way.

STORY	Contents taken to grandmother’s house.	How the grandmother is killed.	How Little Riding Hood ends up.	Beginning	Ending	Persona of the wolf.	Significance of her name.
Oral Tale: The Story of Grandmother	Hot loaf and a bottle of milk.	The werewolf murdered Little Red Riding’s Grandmother before her arrival. Grandmother’s meat was put in the cupboard and the werewolf bottled some of her blood.	Litle Red Riding Hood tricked the wolf by saying she had to relieve herself an escaping whilst outside.	Little Red Riding Hood leaves the family home on request by her mother, to visit her Grandmother.	Little Red Riding Hood escapes the werewolf and makes it home safely just before he gets to her.	The wolf is a bzou or also known as a werewolf who can take on the persona of a man, usually seen naked in the forest.	In his tale Little Red Riding Hood does not have this name; she is just called a little girl.
Red Riding Hood – By Charles Perrault (1697)	Biscuits and small pot of butter.	Pretends to be her grand-daughter and devours her.	Eaten up while in bed with the wolf.	Describes her as a little village girl, pretty, doted on.	Pretends to be grandmother and eats up Little Red Riding Hood.	The wolf was seen as the old neighbour. He comes across as a friendly stranger.	Grandmother made her a little red hood that suited her so well.
Little Red Cap – By Brothers Grimm (1812)	Piece of cake a bottle of wine.	Wolf pretends to be Little Red Cap and swallows grandmother up.	Swallowed up by the wolf.	Describes her as a sweet little maiden, everyone loved her, explains how she got her name.	Huntsman is suspicious about old lady’s house and cuts open the wolf to save Little Red Cap and Grandmother – she fills him up with stones to kill him.	He was a wolf who was known to be a wicked man and people didn’t know who he really was.	Grandmother made her a present which was a small red velvet cap and she always wore it.
The Company of Wolves – By Angela Carter (1979)	Cheeses and liquor is taken to Grandmother.	The wolf killed the Grandmother by stripping off his clothe in front of her then devouring her, leaving only her hair which he threw in the fire.	Little Red Riding Hood strips off her clothing infront of the wolf, then willingly gives him the kiss that she owes him. She burns both of their clothes so that they may be together as wolves.	Little Red Riding Hood left her other in the morning unbeknowns to her father, running into the ‘handsome gentleman’ in the forest, yet taking a different path then him.	The story ends with Little Red Riding Hood sleeping soundly in granny’s bed, between the paws of the tender wolf.	In the forest the wolf appears as a handsome gentleman, but soon turns into a hairy wolf.	In the actual story, Little Red Riding Hood is simply called ‘a girl.’

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©2006 StewartShanley	©2006 StewartShanley