Little Red Cap (poem)

"The Little Red Cap" is a poem by Carol Ann Duffy published by Picador as a part of her 1999 collection of poetry titled The World's Wife.

The book consists of poems that are based on old stories and tales in which she reshapes in terms of modern day culture.

Duffy's belief in feminist literary criticism is apparent as she believed that in order to find the truth, the female character was to be dominant.

She then found a personal connection within the original story line to help form a dominant female character in her writing.

Going along with the theme of poetry in The World's Wife, Duffy altered the original storyline to create a dominant female character, but also read as an autobiography of an important period of time in her life.

Little Red Cap examines the wolf, and found herself excited about his large ears, eyes, and teeth!

The wolf is portrayed as an older character by the reference of alcohol used in his description"his hairy paw, red wine staining his bearded jaw".

When she met the wolf she was only a child, but after 10 years passed Little Red Cap left the woods as an adult.

Little Red Cap falls in love with the wolf, and their venture into the woods represents her transition out of childhood.

Duffy also embeds a message "I took an axe to the wolf as he slept, one chop, scrotum to throat, and saw the glistening, virgin white of my grandmothers bones" this quote clearly defines the point that Little Red Cap took revenge.

The geography described in the first verse- playing fields, factory, railway line, woods is based on the landscape in her hometown.

[8] Duffy felt that the original Little Red Cap was a representation of male dominance over women in all English literature "The Wolf's belly, the grandmother inside, are all there waiting to be used.