Duffy Little Red Cap poem
In “Little Red Cap” discuss the use of imagery, syntax and structure.
Plan:
Introduction to the collection of poems
Similarities and differences between this poem and original fairytale
Imagery – how has Duffy used the words used to create pictures in the reader’s head?
Syntax – word order. Why has she written sentences the way she has? Emphasis on a particular word.
Structure – length of stanzas
“Little Red Cap” is written by Carol Ann Duffy found in a collection of poems called “The world’s wife”, where she has given a voice to the women (fantasy characters and real people) who have generally been silent or their thoughts made clear through the voices of their husband’s or partner’s.
Firstly, the title of the poem grabs your attention and reminds you of ‘Red Riding Hood’, a children’s story. This is clever, as it sets the readers mind to thinking about the story, which means that the reader can connect all of the similarities in the poem to the children’s story, for example; “What big eyes he had! What teeth!”
The poem “Little red cap” is among others where Duffy has based this poem on a fairytale story, in this case, little red riding hood. However, this poem has a few differences to the original version of the story. For example, this poem uses imagery to create a very sexual feeling, where as the original fairytale was not in any way sexual, but had a more simplistic idea of ‘good – little red riding hood’ and ‘bad – the sly wolf’.
The wolf in this poem is portrayed to the reader as a ‘good’ character, and Little Red Cap as the ‘sly’ one who appears to know what she is doing in order to get what she wants.
In the first stanza of the poem, Duffy starts off with the metaphor “At childhood’s end”. This portrays that childhood is so powerful it has been described as a physical place. The reader can picture this place clearly because of they way she has continued to describe the “houses petered out into playing fields” “…till you came at last to the edge of the woods”. This makes the reader think that she is no longer an innocent child, she is independent and is now an adult. However, we find out in the second stanza that she is still only “sweet sixteen” which makes us wonder if she is really as grown-up as we first thought.
Little Red Riding Hood, by Paul Galdone is a children's book generally for early elementary reading level. It focuses on a young girl,Little Red Riding Hood, who was instructed by her mother to deliver cake and wine to her ill grandmother. Her mother strictly told her not to speak to anyone but the Little Red Riding Hood did anyway. She spoke to a wolf , who questioned her about where she was going. Not knowing any better Little Red Ridding Hood
The fact that they feel they can sit about the knee of their mother, in this stereotypical image of a happy family doesn’t suggest that the children in this poem are oppressed... ... middle of paper ... ... y has a negative view of the childish desire for play which clearly has an effect on the children. The fact that they the are whispering shows that they are afraid of the nurse, and that they cannot express their true thoughts and desires freely, which is why they whisper, and therefore shows that Blake feels that children are oppressed. I feel that the two poems from innocence which are ‘The Echoing Green,’ and ‘The Nurses Song,’ display Blake’s ideological view of country life which I referred to in my introduction, and show his desire for childhood to be enjoyed.
It was so dark in the wolf’s belly!” And then the old grandmother found her way out alive, though she could hardly breathe. Little Red Cap quickly fetched some large stones and filled the wolf’s belly with them.” (Grimm 15). The dark stomach of the wolf represents the negative feelings of the mother. As Little Red Cap and her grandmother find their way out into the light, things are beginning to get better in the relationship between the husband and wife. The stones that are put into the stomach of the wolf are symbolic for leaving the past behind. He was unable to get up and keep going which shows that the husband is going to make a change and fulfill the desire his wife has for being loved.
Ziolkowski, Jan. M. "A Fairy Tale from before Fairy Tales: Egbert of Liege's 'De puella a lupellis seruata' and the Medieval Background of 'Little Red Riding Hood'." Speculum 67:3 (July 1992): 549-575. JSTOR. Penn. Coll. Kib., Williamsport. 23 July 2004. <http://www.jstor.org>.
Imagery is when the author presents a mental image through descriptive words. One prime example of imagery that the author uses is in paragraph 3; where she tells of a moment between a man and a woman. In this narration she states the time, year, outfit of each character described, and what the female character was doing. These details might come across as irrelevant, or unnecessary, but this is Didions way of showing what the blueprint of notebook it. Using imagery reinforces the foundation of the essay, and what the essay’s mission was.
The writer uses imagery, because he wants to let the readers into his mind. By describing the scene for the readers, makes the readers fell like they were there. Therefore, it gives us a better ability to emphasize with him.
Likewise in ‘Salome’ Duffy uses visual imagery such as ‘his head on a platter’ and also uses colour imagery ‘the reddish beard’ red is associated with blood.
In all poems the theme of Disappointment in love is seen throughout. Duffy focuses on the pain, despair and acrimony that love can bring, whereas Larkin focuses on the dissatisfaction before, during, and after a romantic relationship. Both Duffy and Larkin differ in tone. Duffy takes a more aggressive and dark stance to portray what love can do to a person after a disappointing love life. Duffy also uses this sinister and aggressive stance to try and convey sympathy for the persona from the audience in ‘Never Go Back’ and ‘Havisham’ Whereas Larkin conveys his discontent in love through his nonchalant and dismissive tone, but still concealing the pain that has been brought by love in ‘Wild Oats’ and ‘Talking in bed’.
The ability of words to calm a child’s fears is shown in “A Barred Owl.” Additionally, the author conveys the idea that even though one may say everything is alright, what one makes up in one’s mind is often worse than reality. The rhyme scheme in “A Barred Owl” helps depict the simple and soothing tone of the poem. Not only the rhyme scheme but also the repetition of certain consonants and sounds such as, “the warping night air having brought the boom / of an owl’s voice into her darkened room” help emphasize Wilbur’s i...
Tatar, Maria. "Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’" The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2002. 17-27 371-373. Print.
The book was first published in 1812 hence, these tales were previously transferred orally and among adults through the long nights. It is also possible that fairy tales were used to warn the children of particular ideas such as in Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market’. The integration of explicit ideas into these tales suggests that their disruptive nature could reflect the reality of the 19th century. In ‘Little Red Cap’ the most evident sexual symbol is the use of the colour red as this is associated with sensuality, love and passion. Through this realisation, the image of the wolf becomes an even darker and dominant figure: ‘Once the wolf had satisfied his desires’ (1812:15). Not only does he commit an act of violence but he also craves the consumption and therefore sexual gratification of an adolescent (Little Red Cap) by challenging her innocence. In ‘Hansel and Gretel’ a similar scenario is presented through the witch’s cannibalistic desire to cook and consume the children. The witch explains: “He’s staying outside in a shed, waiting to be fattened up. When he’s put on enough weight, I’ll eat him”. (1812:189) This clearly shows her intentions and the wish-fulfilment that she would obtain from it. Sexual innuendos in these fairy tales occur regularly and are distinctly visible in ‘Little Red Cap’. The wolf is said to think “That tender young woman will make a dainty
The stories ?Little Red Riding Hood,? by Charles Perrault, and ?Little Red Cap,? by the Brothers Grimm, are similar and different. Moreover, both stories differ from the American version. The stories have a similar moral at the end, each with a slight twist. This story, in each of its translations, is representative of a girl?s loss of innocence, her move from childhood or adolescence into adulthood. The way women are treated within each story is different. Little Red in the French version was eaten; whereas in the German version, she is rescued by the woodsman, and this further emphasizes the cultural differences.
Little Red Riding Hood retold by the Brothers Grimm version by Paul Galdone includes a "sweet little maiden" (Galdone 1) who never wears anything else but a little red velvet cloak, given to her by her Grandmother. Little Red Riding Hood's mother asks her to take cake and a bottle of wine to her Grandmother. The wolf in the woods is very talented as in she is somewhat convincing in the story. She first approaches Little Red Riding Hood in the woods keeping her calm with polite conversation and convinces her then to pick the beautiful flowers, meanwhile, she scurried away to Grandmother's cottage to devour Grandmother; later to devour Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf later lay there in Grandmother's bed convincingly as Grandmother in Grandmother's cap down over her face. After convincing Little Red Riding Hood to approach the wolf then devours her. The heroin turns out to be a huntsman, whom "took a knife and began cutting open the sleeping wolf" (Galdone 26) when out popped Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother. Little Red Riding Hood is victorious by putting all inside the wolf big stones, which weighed him down, ...
Stanza three explains what life was like at the farm he lived on, as the previous stanzas have. Line twenty describes the landscape and how beautiful it is. It describes it as Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air,” (20). Lines twenty one through twenty three use more imagery to describe the landscape. They use words such as “lovely and watery” (21) to show how pleasant it was to gaze upon the land. The word “And” is also repeated in the beginning of each of these lines which creates suspense. They also show repetition by repeating words such as “green” and it brings up the starry night again. Line twenty four talks about owls and how they are starting to come out. The day is starting to end and there is still beauty in everything. Now night has begun and all the things that made the day happy and carefree are starting to disappear. Lines twenty five through twenty seven use imagery to show that the moon is appearing and the horses and everything else is disappearing into the night. This begins to show that the youth the speaker is experiencing is starting to
Carol Ann Duffy’s version intensifies the role of the girl. She subverts the typical stereotype of a woman who is often seen as a weak victim or the “dangerous seductress” and is frequently used to form the plot of a story. CAD states that “Little Red...