Different versions of red riding hood, the death drive, and modern medicine

Psychoanalyst Eric Fromms once made the assessment that the “wolf” character in “Little Red Riding Hood” is suffering from womb envy. I disagree with this assessment, as womb envy entails partially that one wants to create something new, That he wants the life-giving creation power that women have but he will never (Nam 2013). The simple act of holding something in one’s stomach, especially after violently devouring whatever is there is, in my opinion, archetypal of something more destructive. I do however agree that the tale has a lot to say about sex and/or power dynamics.

Sabrina Spielreins death instinct theory proposes that in every sexual act there is a destructive nature where male and female become one, destroying their individual identities in the process, devouring each other (Spielrein, 1912, as cited in Caropreso 2016). This is seen in many of the stories as the wolf devouring grandmother and putting on her clothes, or her skin, as in “the story of grandma” adaptation.

The wolf is a symbol of un-satisfiable hunger. He eats grandmother but is always wanting more. What exactly the wolf represents depends on each version of the story. Perrault’s version is the only one in which the wolf ends up getting exactly what he wants, he eats little red riding hood and her grandmother, and nothing more is done about it (pp.13).

One can deduce both a sexual and a death-oriented theme in this retelling. From a sexual standpoint, it is very easy to see that by little red riding hood removing her hood, she is removing a symbol of virginity, her hymen, the red garment she wears is also used as a metaphor for the hymen in “in the company of wolves”(pp.114), and after that is removed, she dies(pp.13). One might imagine that this as Perrault’s way of saying, once a girl loses her innocence, she is as good as dead, and her innocence was what the wolf, and all men ever desired of her. “in the company of wolves” is, in my opinion, the converse of the sexual interpretation of Perrault’s tale. The girl does not die after she removes her shawl/innocence, she did not succumb to shame as her religious grandmother did, instead, she survives and is proud (pp.115–118), by the end of the story, she is a wolf in her own right, as in Speilreins theory, male and female converge, they devour each other, but female is strong enough to prevail.

From a death standpoint, it is easy to look at the tale in terms of sickness. It devours all, spares none, and is always hungry. The grandmother archetype is always ill, and the illness she has might be symbolically spread to little red riding hood when she is “Eaten”.

In “The story of grandma” she outruns the infection/wolf by leaving her grandmother's house, but the wolf is still out there. It is an immutable force and is never killed in this story(pp.11–12). Modern retellings such as the brothers Grimm version change this story. During the brother’s Grimm’s lifetime, Modern medicine was taking hold in western Europe. The monsters of pestilence and death were no longer immutable forces. The huntsman in the Grimm version of the tale in effect serves as doctor and the stones that kill the wolf modern medicine (pp 15).

The archetypes in little red riding hood can be analyzed through various psychoanalytical lenses. Folktales spread cultural and time period morals, fears, and aspirations. Relationships in stories are not always explicitly as they are written to be and to truly understand them it is important to look between the margins to learn what we are really reading.

Works Cited

Caropreso, Fátima. “The death drive according to Sabina Spielrein.” Psicologia USP, December 2016, doi:https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-656420150058

Five versions of little red riding hood pp. 10–15

In the Company of wolves pp. 110–115

Pam, N. “Womb Envy.” Entry 1. Psychology Dictionary, 2013, psychologydictionary.org/womb-envy/