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Summary Of Angela Carter's The Werewolf

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“The Werewolf” is a short story written by Angela Carter, in which she gives a dark twist to he traditional version of “Little Red Riding Hood” by Charles Perrault, to suggest female empowerment. Therefore, in Carter’s story the role of female characters is readapted from traditional fairy tales. In this way Carter explores the independence of women in her story.

In the first place, Carter’s “The Werewolf” presents the feminine figure as heroic. This does not inline with the prototype of women that usually appear in traditional fairytales. In traditional fairy tales, we should expect a naive girl victim that cannot save herself from the situations she gets involved. In “Little Red Riding Hood” by Perrault, the girl is a set example the characteristics mentioned before: “The poor child, who did not know that it was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf …” Little Red Riding Hood is not aware of the dangers that she can face on her way to her grandmother’s house. By no means we should expect a girl that can save herself from adversities. However, Carter’s girl is brave and practical. She carries a knife with her when going to the woods: “she made a great swipe at it with her father’s knife and slashed off its right forepaw.” Besides carrying a knife, this girl is also able to use it virtuously. This means that she could defend herself and save her own life, unlike Perrault’s girl in “Little Red Riding Hood”. The character of the girl in Carter’s story is unnamed. This may

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