The narrator also describes herself as 'sweet sixteen' and a 'waif,' perhaps trying to portray how she imagines the wolf perceives her. Viewing the young girl as weak is more suitable in terms of the original fairytale, however, in Duffy's poem it is Little Red-Cap who '[claps] eyes on the wolf' and '[makes] sure that he [spots her].' This is initially unexpected in respect to conventionally established gender roles, the young girl is usually seen as passive, innocent and compliant. Instead of playing victim, Little Red-Cap willingly allows herself to be lead into the 'dark tangled thorny place' that is the wolf's 'lair,' it is inferred that the innocence she once had is tarnished as her stockings are 'ripped to shreds' and she 'clings till dawn to [the wolf's] thrashing fur.'
This being said, it still appears as if the wolf has some sort of advantage in the relationship as the young girl claims to take 'lesson' from him. The wolf is portrayed as cultured, 'reading his verse out loud.' It could be argued that Little Red-Cap is more interested in what she can learn from the wolf than the wolf himself, describing the wall of books in his lair as 'crimson, gold' and 'aglow.' 'Poetry,' she states, is the reason behind her interest in him, 'Words, words were truly alive on the tongue, in the head…warm, beating, frantic, winged; music and blood,' it is at this point that the narrative reaches its peak of intensity, therefore illustrating that she is passionate about the knowledge she can gain from the wolf. This further implies that Little Red-Cap defies gender stereotypes as she is using the wolf in a way that benefits her, hardly the actions of the submissive, innocent stereotype that is expected.
Little Red-Cap continues by saying, 'it took the years' to realise that 'a greying wolf…howls the same old song at the moon year in, year out… season after season, same rhyme, same reason' this realisation seems to indicate further that the student has taken over the teacher, the girl is more knowledgeable than the man.
Duffy, in an interview with Sheer Poetry, describes Little Red-Cap as 'more or less consum[ing] him’; as she finishes off by taking 'an axe to the wolf.' Here she finds the 'glistening, virgin white' bones of her grandmother in his stomach, further signifying that things have ended differently in the past and that the wolf's actions have been repeated, this in a sense supports the gender stereotype in terms of male promiscuity.
Considering the nature of the fairytale in which this poem takes inspiration, the relationship between Little Red-Cap and the wolf seems doomed from the beginning. Someone would, inevitably, be consumed and the fact that it was the wolf makes the statement: gender does not dictate the outcome of a relationship. Indeed, the poem could be described as an example of a feminist view on relationships but as well as thins it criticizes the social conditions that separate genders and the options available to them rather following gender stereotypes.
by
theoneinred (student)
