The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood

When is a wolf a wolf, and when is he a rapist? In the new, expanded edition of his controversial and groundbreaking work, Jack Zipes presents the many faces of Little Red Riding Hood. In tracing the evolution of the story, the author takes on those questions which other authors have shied away from; violation, rape, male fantasies and manipulation. This book collects 35 of the best versions of the story, from the first tellings as a folktale, to its written renderings by such authors as the Brothers Grimm, Walter De La Mare, James Thurber, Alphonse Daudet, Anne Sexton, Olga Broumas and Angela Carter, providing a detailed social history of the literary Red Riding Hood. Zipes uses these tales to explore questions of Western culture, sexism, and politics and in a new epilogue examines the illustrations used in past versions for their "take on the tale". A new preface and an expanded bibliography have also been included for the second edition. As with Jack Zipes' other works, The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood will cause the reader to question just how harmless our fairy tales are. Jack Zipes is Professor of German at the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. He is the author of Breaking the Magic Spell, Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion and Don't Bet on the Prince, all available from Routledge. He is the translator of the complete Grimm fairy tales.