Little Red Cap: Carol Ann Duffy
A poem where there is a significant moment which reveals the central idea is “Little Red Cap” by Carol Ann Duffy. Using the dramatic monologue form Duffy reshapes the traditional fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood to explain a time in her life when she too found herself in danger from “a wolf”. The significant moment comes in the poem when she takes an axe to her wolf and in “one chop, scrotum to throat” slices him into two. It is this moment which reveals her central idea – the dominance of the female over the male.
The poem begins, however, at an earlier significant moment when Duffy first meets her “wolf”. The poet uses first person narrative to draw attention to the fact that she is sharing a personal experience with her reader. As a result of the use of first person narrative the reader finds himself having to respond to the poet’s experience: “It was there that I first clapped eyes on the wolf.”
The “there” referred to was a particular moment in time when the poet was only “sweet sixteen”. At that age the normal route of life, introduced in the first verse, of childhood (“playing fields”) followed by work (“the factory”) followed by retirement (“allotments”) was interrupted by seeing the wolf (a poet) at a poetry reading. Duffy describes this moment in the metaphorical imagery of the fairy tale as being “the edge of the woods”. It would seem that although young she still had an awareness of crossing some kind of line into new, probably dangerous, territory.
“He stood in a clearing, reading his verse out loud
In his wolf drawl, a paperback in his hairy paw,
Red wine staining his bearded jaw.”
Although wolflike Duffy is attracted to the poet and “in the interval, I made quite sure he spotted me.” This makes it clear that even at this early stage in the relationship Duffy sees herself in control of the situation and making the choices. Thus at an early stage in the poem there is a significant moment which reveals the central idea – the female in control, getting what she wants from the male.
The reader is surprised by how confident this female is. Although the title “Little Red Cap” suggests the youth of the female character it also suggests a sweet and innocent girl through the use of the word “little.” Instead of such a sweet image the poet reveals herself as sexual and controlling: “sweet sixteen, never been, babe …” The idea of her youth is continued later in the poem when there is reference to “scraps of red from my blazer” reminding the reader that the title “Little Red Cap” is not only a play on the traditional fairy tale but also a reference to school uniform.
Despite her young age the poet is prepared to leave her place of safety and enter into danger: “I knew he would lead me deep into the woods, away from home, to a dark and tangled place lit by the eyes of owls.” This place, the wolf’s lair or equivalent to grandmother’s cottage. although carrying connotations of danger and confusion is also “lit” and will lead the young girl into the knowledge she requires: “the eyes of owls” suggesting that wisdom is to be found in this strange place.
As in many fairy tales there is treasure to be found, for Duffy in her relationship with the poet, the treasure is literature and poetry. She describes this as “a whole wall was crimson, gold, aglow with books.” To reach this treasure, however, she had to be prepared to lose first of all her innocence, then her virginity. The loss of her innocence is described in the imagery of child abduction and murder:
“my stockings ripped to shreds, scraps of red from my blazer
Snagged on twig and branch, murder clues. I lost both shoes
But got there, wolf’s lair, better beware.”
Although this loss of innocence is described in violent terms the central idea of the female being in control is still present – on her way to the wolf’s lair she leaves “clues” suggesting that she can be traced or can even find her way back should she choose to do so. Although she “lost both shoes” she still “got there” suggesting that she finds it a personal success to get to the wolf’s lair even if it did mean a loss of innocence.
The idea of loss is then extended from innocence to virginity. Although “sweet sixteen” the poet vividly shares her first sexual experience which she describes as “Lesson one.” During that night she “clung till dawn to his thrashing fur”; she gave to the poet her virginity expressed in the metaphor of a white dove: “white dove which flew, straight from my hands to his open mouth.” All of this was happily sacrificed for the knowledge of poetry which the “wolf” could provide her.
The last verse introduces a turning point in the poem introduced by the word “But”. The poet shares with her reader that life with the poet was perhaps a mistake of youth and that ten years later another significant moment comes as boredom with the wolf: “a greying wolf howls the same old song” and her ability to write any analyse poetry on her own leads her to literally sever the relationship. Taking her imagery from the story of Little Red Riding Hood Duffy describes her ability to analyse poetry for herself as:
“I took an axe to a willow to see how it wept.
I took an axe to a salmon to see how it leapt.”
Then, still taking her imagery from the fairy tale she deals with the wolf in a significant moment:
“I took an axe to the wolf
As he sleeps, one chop, scrotum to throat”
This long slit from the scrotum (she no longer needs him for sex) to the throat (she no longer needs him for poetry) is a defining moment and the central idea of the poem is exposed. Inside the wolf she finds “the glistening, virgin white or my grandmother’s bones” the imagery suggesting a new, bright, clean reconnection with the feminine and the female’s successful dominance of the male.
In conclusion. Duffy cleverly presents the traditional fairy tale in a startling new way to explain the significance and power of key moments in her life and to introduce us to a central idea of her female independence over the male poets of her day. All the time she was in control of the wolf, as she cynically puts it in the pun: “I stitched him up”. As a result of this stitching up of the wolf Duffy leaves this dark forest of male dominated poetry and into independence:
“Out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone.”