Charles Perrault Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales collected by Charles Perrault

Fiction http://www.angelfire.com/nb/classillus/images/perrault/perra.html

The four stories read: Little Red Riding Hood, The Glass Slipper, Sleeping Beauty and The Master Cat.

Summary

Little Red Riding Hood was called that on account of the fact that she wore a little red cape made by her grandmother. Her mother one day gave her a basket to deliver to her grandmother, who wasn’t feeling well. Little Red Riding Hood set off into the woods and came upon a wolf, asking her where she was going. Now, she didn’t know the danger and answered that she was bringing food to her grandmother who lived near the woods. The wolf thanked her and set off down the path. Little Red Riding Hood continued on her way, picking flowers and playing along the path. The wolf by then and arrived at the house of grandmother and knocked on the door. Grandmother invited him in, thinking it was Little Red Riding Hood. He jumped to the bed and gobbled her up. He tidied up the room, for he made a mess when he ate grandmother and laid on the bed to wait for Little Red Riding Hood. Soon Little Red Riding Hood came knocking at the door. The wolf welcomed her in. Little Red Riding Hood peered into the bed and was astonished by the big legs, ear and eyes her grandmother had. The wolf replied they were better to run, hear and see with. Little Red Riding Hood looked closed and remarked on the wolf’s big teeth. The wolf said, ‘The better to eat you with,’ and ate Little Red Riding Hood just like that.

Response

I didn’t like this version of Little Red Riding Hood as much as the one where the woodcutter overhears the wolf’s snores and rescues grandmother and Little Red. This felt as if it wasn’t resolved and needed. A neat thing about the website I found, there was a short moral at the end of every story. The one for Little Red Riding Hood was that the sweetest tongue has the sharpest teeth.

Potential Problems

Some of versions of Perrault’s stories don’t end on a happy note. They don’t have the happy ending. For example, in the tale of Bluebeard, the wife opened the locked door. Furious, Bluebeard declares that he is going to kill her for not obeying. She is killed but avenged by her brothers who promptly kill Bluebeard. There is a lot of violence.

Recommendations

I would recommend these to an older audience. They would be able to separate the stories from real life and not be too worried by the fierce descriptions and events.