Duffy has successfully written about childhood and the loss of innocence in ‘little red cap’, discuss with detail reference to the poem and how Duffy has used imagery, syntax and structure effectively in the poem. Little Red Cap is written by Carol Ann Duffy and it is taken from her feminist collection ‘The World’s Wife ‘. Carol Ann Duffy creates a voice for the unspoken, oppressed women, for this reason it has been considered ‘her most feminist work.’
‘The World’s Wife’ explores the thoughts and opinions from the female counterpart of significant male figures throughout history, many women of whom have been silenced due to the patriarchal society and subordination of women. Duffy subverts many well-known stories from history to centre on the female perspectives, giving a voice to women who have been silenced by male society. Duffy became the first female poet laureate in 2009 and is secure to her own attitudes and appears to understand women very well.
The poem “Little Red Cap” originates from a well-known children’s story ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. The morals of Perrault’s original tale are subverted in Duffy’s as the moral of the story was to be watchful and not talk to strangers. Duffy uses this journey into the woods to depict the journey of women and explores a woman’s journey to independence. The purpose of the original story is based on moral and rules to those children who disobey their parents, However Duffy has deliberately re-told the original story and created the poem to be more sexual and dangerous.
Duffy’s change to the title from ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ to ‘Little Red Cap’ is extremely significant because the cap of liberation reflects Duffy’s feminist views as ‘Red Cap’ connotes the name of freedom from the French war. Duffy does this as she is linking it to the freedom of women. It also connotes the royal military police of the British arm. This also gives us the idea that the young lady in little red cap is a girl whose attitude is strong and an independent women. Furthermore Duffy puts two ideas within her poem, which is partly autobiographical.
When Duffy was sixteen she met the poet Adrian Henri, this is when she was at a poetry reading. Adrian Henri was 23years older than her, however she went to Liverpool University with him, their relationship lasted for 10years. This is further seen when it quotes in the poem ‘but then I was young – and it took 10 years’, this symbolises the 10 years of her marriage to Henri . The wolf in the story is to indicate a male poet (Adrian Henri), by the use of the internal rhymes ‘drawl, paw, jaw’ suggests to us the poetry reading and are described in those phrases.
“He has red wine staining his bearded jaw”. The red colour connotes the passion and the idea of a blood stained mouth. In addition when the use of the joking reference to the well-known line “What big ears he had! What big eyes he had! What teeth! ”. Readers will be aware that the lines are the same to the original story but they will also see that Little Red Riding Hood in “Little Red Cap” makes a move on to the wolf herself. This is seen when it states “In the interval, I made quite sure he spotted me”.
Moreover , When Duffy states “At childhoods end”, these first three words set the scene immediately, as the reader will instantly think the poem is about a loss of innocence and a sexual awakening. At the start of the poem it begins with a metaphorical journey through Duffy’s life. ‘Playing fields’,’ The factory’, ‘Allotments’. This is demonstrating Duffy’s childhood, working life, and retirement. ‘The silent railway line’ and the ‘Hermits caravan’ are both two possible routes that little red riding hood could take, however taking the path towards the ‘edge of the wood’ symbolises the unknown the future, sex and maturity.
The setting in the woods is described with words that suggest pain, confusion and darkness. This is shown when it states “tangled thorny place”. However when it states is “lit by the eyes of owls”, it indicates to us that she is being watched, and also traditionally owls are birds of wisdom and knowledge in fairy tales. Little red riding hood follows the wolf like an infant, this could suggest to us Duffy is trying to show how women in that time could be lured away by men very easily. “I crawled in his wake” this indicates on how much she has to learn.
The childlike metaphor is continued with scraps of red from my blazer, reminding the audience of ‘little Red Cap’ again. When little riding hood “crawled in his wake”, Duffy is trying to show that the wolf did not invade her but she willingly follows him in “Wolf’s lair”. As she wants to seek knowledge of books and languages. This is shown when she comments “What little girl doesn’t dearly love a wolf? ” Duffy describes the books in rich and lavish imagery “A whole wall was crimson, gold, and aglow with books”.
This creates a picture to the readers of how extravagant the books are and how it was worth putting trust in this man and getting something useful out of it. However when little red riding hood has lost her physical and literary virginity. And also when her education has lasted for 10 years she becomes disappointed and finally sees underneath all the magical things and that a “ Greying wolf , howls the same old song at the moon”. Duffy is trying to demonstrate that you don’t really need a man by your side so you can be successful, women can achieve their goals independently if they work hard up to it.
The structure of the poem is set out into seven stanzas, each that are six unrhymed but mostly regular lines this is indicates to us that Duffy has used an iambic pentameter. In the poem stanza 5 is the longest, the rushed enjambment of the words give the reader the sense of excitement. Imagery is used effectively in ‘Little Red Cap’. The imagery of the white dove immediately being destroyed by the wolf particularly fits with the image just right, as the illusion, danger and excitement seems to disappear with ‘one bite dead ‘.
This is very effective in the poem as Duffy illustrates the image in the readers head, and as it is very powerful it suggests many different meanings. It also combines different images into one word which makes the poem more interesting. Furthermore the continuous imagery of being stripped of her clothes ‘my stocking ripped to shreds ‘seems also to symbolise the stripping or discarding of her childhood. As scraps from her possibly uniform may be removed, Duffy describes them as ‘murder clues’.
In addition Duffy has used imagery in the poem, when it states ‘Away from home, to a dark tangled thorny place’. The use of the descriptive adjective makes the image very clear to understand in the readers head. It presents that picture of the wolf’s lair, what it could like and how unsafe and unprotected it is. This links back to the moral of the story, on how you should be watchful and not go astray from the path. In addition when it quotes, “Year in, year out, season after season, same rhyme, same reason. ” Duffy does this as she is trying to emphasis the idea of her use repetitious rhyme.
She is playing on proverb ‘Without rhyme or reason’ this infers that someone acts without motivation. She has become bored of the wolf, and ‘music and blood ‘have become stale and repetitious. She now has become independent and now she can analyse poems, and do things that work for her and express metaphorically in nursery style rhymes. Finally when it states ‘Out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone. ’ Duffy is presenting little red riding hood as a completed female and a complete revolution against the male subject of literature and music.
She is showing a powerful women that can succeeded without no male partner. This is emphasised when little red riding hood comes out ‘singing, all alone’ independent and dominant. Duffy’s ‘Little Red-Cap’, along with Angela Carter’s “Company of Wolves”, Anne Sexton’s ‘ little Red Riding Hood’ and other retellings have taken the fairy tale and used it to expose the wolves so to speak. In this re-telling, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ has entered the woods knowing exactly what its darkness holds.
