CONTEXTUALIZE - Written by Scottish poet Carol Ann Duffy - It is the first poem in her 1999 anthology The World's Wife, which subverts myths and fairytales in order to re-examine and play with traditional narratives that exist within them, particularly when it comes to gender roles. - subverts the original Brother Grimm’s fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. Though usually portrayed as a naive girl ultimately eaten by a wolf, Duffy's Little Red Cap is a young woman brimming with sexual curiosity and personal agency. Her relationship with the wolf, though marked by a predatory power imbalance, serves as the catalyst for her coming-of-age. - The content of this poem can be seen as a reflection of Duffy’s own experiences with her Adrian Henri who she was in a relationship with despite their large age gap. In this sense, this poem can be seen as having an autobiographical element.

OVERVIEW - The poem is telling the story of the female persona who transitions from childhood to adulthood and spots a wolf, who she gets into a relationship with. However, over time the female persona gains her poetic and sexual independence and slowly outgrows the wolf. Ultimately, the female persona kills the wolf (which has both a literal and metaphorical significance) and is able to walk away from her relationship as an independent woman. - The poem is highly symbolic, with the wolf representing male power, and Red Cap representing the transformation of a girl to young adulthood and sexual awakening.

NARRATION - Narrated from a first-person perspective instead of a 3rd person omniscient as is the case with the original story. This empowers the main female persona and is an example of a subversion of the original story.

STRUCTURE - Dramatic monologue form. In this form a single persona, who isn’t the poet, addresses the listeners at a specific moment in time. Duffy’s use of a dramatic monologue form allows her to control what the speaker of the poem says to reveal to the reader the speaker’s temperament and character. - 7 sestets, unrhymed lines, creates the feeling of breathless forward motion. However, there are many instances of internal rhyme, such as “paw” and “jaw”, “clues” and “shoes” and “dead”, “bed” and “said”. Ultimately, this internal rhyme gives the poem a certain childish tone to accentuate the innocence of the female persona. - The use of enjambment throughout the poem creates a sense of breathless forward motion, propelling readers through the poem with the same excitement as the speaker, particularly in the first two stanzas, as she exits her childhood and first encounters the wolf. Additionally, this sense of flow throughout the poem accompanies the female persona’s transformation from a passive victim to an active protagonist in her relationship.

THEMES - Sexual awakening and coming of age - Gender and power imbalance

TONE AND MOOD Childish tone and at times angry.

MIPs. in this commentary I will be returning to three main ideas: 1. The main themes of this poem 2. The characterization of the main female persona 3. The ways in which Duffy subverts the “classic” plot with a secondary female character using a feminist twist

LINE-BY-LINE ANALYSIS Little Red Cap

- Directly alludes to traditional fairytale being subverted by Duffy ​ ​

At childhood’s end, the houses petered out into playing fields, the factory, allotments kept, like mistresses, by kneeling married men, the silent railway line, the hermit’s caravan, till you came at last to the edge of the woods. It was there that I first clapped eyes on the wolf.

- Extended metaphor: portraying childhood as a physical place which the female persona can leave. As the female ​ persona strays further away from childhood the setting becomes increasingly isolated. She begins walking away from “houses”, which symbolize the safety and security of childhood, towards places like “factories” and “hermit’s caravan” which indicate isolation and uncertainty. - Duffy subverts the original story by showing how the main female persona leaves her childhood willingly instead of being told to as is the case in the original story. This allows Duffy to give the female persona a sense of agency and empowers her. - Simile: by describing the allotments as being kept “like mistresses” Duffy gives readers an insight into the ​ speaker’s state of mind and her sexual curiosity as she exits adulthood. - Asyndeton: the use of asyndeton in these lines helps convey the sensation of moving further and further away, of ​ ​ ​ more and more barriers appearing between the speaker's childhood and the "woods." - Symbolism: the edge of the woods symbolizes the cusp between childhood and adulthood which the main female ​ persona is crossing. - Use of first-person: the first use of the first person in the poem illustrates the female persona as the instigator of ​ the relationship between her and “the wolf”. This subverts the original story where the wolf spots little red riding hood and hence makes the female persona the dominant persona in the poem, which effectively empowers her.

He stood in a clearing, reading his verse out loud in his wolfy drawl, a paperback in his hairy paw, red wine staining his bearded jaw. What big ears he had! What big eyes he had! What teeth! In the interval, I made quite sure he spotted me, sweet sixteen, never been, babe, waif, and bought me a drink,

- Diction: the use of the word ‘he’ as a way to describe ‘the wolf’ is allegorical in nature as it allows Duffy to show ​ that this poem is a commentary on the universal struggle of women and not only her struggle with Adrian Henri. She furthermore highlights that the ‘wolf’ is a poet (e.g. “reading his verse out loud” and “a paperback”), which allows her to link the story of this female persona with her own experiences with Adrian Henri - Extended metaphor: the extended metaphor of the wolf as the main antagonist in this poem is further ​ emphasized by the ways in which the speaker describes him with animalistic qualities, such as a “wolfy drawl” and “hairy paw”. These descriptions allow Duffy to illustrate the predatory nature of the male in this relationship from the beginning of the poem - Intertextual reference: the descriptions of the wolf in the same way that little red riding hood describes him in ​ the fairytale. In the fairy tale, the wolf's big features are traditionally presented as sources of fear. Here, however, they represent sources of excitement as well, in which the potential dangers and complexities of adult sexuality are part of what makes it so thrilling and enticing. Likewise, the wolf's mature masculinity, symbolized by the "red ​ ​ ​ wine staining his bearded jaw," is also a source of the speaker's attraction. - Thematic: the female persona makes the first move which emphasizes her agency as a young woman exploring ​ her sexuality. Then she explains how she did so—ironically, by describing herself as "babe, waif," both of which ​ ​ imply childishness, innocence, and even fragility. By demonstrating awareness of her need to play up this image in order to attract the wolf's attention, the speaker introduces the gendered power imbalance between the two.

my first. You might ask why. Here’s why. Poetry. The wolf, I knew, would lead me deep into the woods, away from home, to a dark tangled thorny place lit by the eyes of owls. I crawled in his wake, my stockings ripped to shreds, scraps of red from my blazer snagged on twig and branch, murder clues. I lost both shoes

- Empowerment: in this stanza, Duffy is able to empower the female persona by illustrating that she is in control of ​ the relationship between her and the wolf. This is seen by how the speaker answers her own questions, clarifies that poetry is the reason why she got together with the wolf and shows that she knows and consents to the fact that the wolf would lead her deep into the woods. This is a subversion of the original fairytale where little red ​ ​ riding hood is spotted in the woods by the wolf. The use of caesura and monosyllabic words in the beginning of ​ ​ ​ ​ this stanza adds a boldness to the speaker's declaration - Natural imagery: the speaker describes the destination as a “dark tangled thorny” place that is “lit by the eyes of ​ owls”. This natural imagery, alongside the asyndeton in “dark tangled thorny”, allows Duffy to show that their ​ ​ relationship promises the mysterious world of sex and poetry as well as a certain wisdom, as is symbolized by the ​ ​ watching owls. Ultimately, this illustrates how in control the female persona is of the relationship yet also how there are certain unknowns as she transitions from childhood to adulthood. - Intertextual reference: as the female persona crawls in the wolf’s wake, which suggests that she is acting ​ submissively, her dressing is described as being made of stockings and a red blazer. This is a reference to the clothing of little red riding hood yet in this context the way in which this innocent and childlike clothing is ripped off has a sexual connotation which emphasizes the sexual awakening of the female persona - Sibilance and repetition: the sibilance and repetition in this stanza as well as throughout the poem give the poem ​ a sing-song quality which emphasizes the youth of the speaker and strengthens the childish tone.

but got there, wolf’s lair, better beware. Lesson one that night, breath of the wolf in my ear, was the love poem. I clung till dawn to his thrashing fur, for what little girl doesn’t dearly love a wolf? Then I slid from between his heavy matted paws and went in search of a living bird – white dove –

- Diction: the use of the word ‘but’ indicates a turning point in the poem, or possibly the transformation of the ​ female persona from a passive victim to an active protagonist. - Diction: the use of words such as “clung” and “thrashing” indicate a violent relationship, reinforcing the power ​ imbalance between the female persona who is the “student” and the wolf who is the “teacher” - Rhetorical question: the use of a rhetorical question illustrates how the female persona may have some doubt ​ of the power dynamic in her relationship as she matures, which illustrates the beginning of her transformation to an active protagonist

which flew, straight, from my hands to his hope mouth. One bite, dead. How nice, breakfast in bed, he said, licking his chops. As soon as he slept, I crept to the back of the lair, where a whole wall was crimson, gold, aglow with books. Words, words were truly alive on the tongue, in the head, warm, beating, frantic, winged; music and blood.

- Symbolism: the “white dove” in this part of the poem symbolizes artistic expression which the female persona ​ looks for. However, this hope is consumed by the wolf, illustrating how the power dynamic not only exists sexually but also in an artistic sphere. - Colour imagery: the use of the colours crimson and gold and the way the “glow” illustrate the excitement which ​ the speaker derives from poetry and the fact that the real reward of her relationship with the wolf is the ability to explore poetry and her own poetic voice - Personification: the personification of words as “beating” and “winged” link back to the bird symbolism in the ​ text and shows how the female persona sees poetry as an element of hope in her relationship with the wolf - Not only do these lines depict a vital step in the speaker's artistic evolution, they also capture the necessity for female artists to discover their own means of expression within male-dominated artistic traditions. It is up to the speaker to sneak into "the back of the lair" in order to have her own direct, experience with poetry, which in turn empowers her to find her voice.

But then I was young – and it took ten years in the woods to tell that a mushroom stoppers the mouth of a buried corpse, that birds are the uttered thought of trees, that a greying wolf howls the same old song at the moon, year in, year out, season after season, same rhyme, same reason. I took an axe

- Self-reflection: lines 31-33 capture her growing awareness during that decade of the oppressive nature of her ​ relationship with the wolf. First, she compares her situation to a “mushroom / stopper[ing] the mouth of a buried corpse,” implying that she can only grow by silencing the wolf's voice, which holds all the power. - Extended metaphor: Likewise, in lines 34-36, the extended metaphor of the wolf is given a new dimension, ​ ​ ​ when the speaker tells us that the wolf's song, which represents not only his own poetry but the presence of male poetic voices like his, has become tired and uninspiring. - Repetition: the repetition of the words “year”, “season” and “same” further illustrate the speaker’s growing ​ frustration with the wolf as he is “greying”, thus emphasizing an angry tone.

to a willow to see how it wept. I took an axe to a salmon to see how it leapt. I took an axe to the wolf as he slept, one chop, scrotum to throat, and saw the glistening, virgin white of my grandmother’s bones. I filled his old belly with stones. I stitched him up. Out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone.

- Internal rhyme: the rapid internal rhyme in the words “wept”, “leapt” and “slept” illustrate the speaker’s ​ growing impatience with the wolf - Anaphora: the repetition of “I took an axe” is utilized by Duffy to build up to the deed of the speaker and also ​ shows how the speaker becomes very prepared to kill the wolf in a very short amount of time in comparison to the long time she spent questioning her relationship with the wolf in the earlier parts of the poem - Intertextual reference: the reference to “grandmother’s bones” alludes to the original fairy tale, in which Little ​ ​ ​ Red Cap's grandmother gets eaten first by the wolf. The poem subverts this aspect of the fairytale by implying that the speaker and wolf's relationship can be understood as part of a larger history of men exploiting and silencing women. The line suggests that not only has the speaker exerted her own independence, she has also struck a blow at generations of male power over both the sexual and poetic spheres. - Personal pronouns: the repeated use of the pronoun “I” in this last stanza illustrates the power which the ​ speaker has gained as the focus of the poem turns to her and her actions to silence the wolf. - Intertextual reference: the last two lines of the poem are again an intertextual reference to the original fairytale ​ where little red cap fills the wolf’s belly with stones so that he remains a memory of her past. As she leaves the forest alone we understand as readers that her poetic license has finally “bloomed” into fruition and she has now gained independence over men.