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
