The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter is a different adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood where, instead of the little girl becoming the victim of a vicious wolf, she embraces the wolf as an experience beyond anything she has known or learned. Red Riding Hood reveals herself as a young woman; she is going through puberty, which often means changes in her sexual interest and curiosity. Her family took the time to preach to the little girl that there are beasts outside of her protected bubble that are dangerous and not appropriate to interact with at such a tender age. As she is the youngest and prettiest child, her mother and grandmother have gone to massive lengths to ensure that she remains as innocent as possible. However, when the little girl makes her way through the woods, she discovers that her innocence does not interest her. She discovers that she wants to explore her sexual desires which are uncivilized. Sexual desire is something wild and natural, something that civilized and cultured girls should never want to explore. Women are often discouraged from exploring their sexual desires because it is a behavior that is not normally classified as feminine. The heroine of The Company of Wolves rejects her civilized way of life to experience an animal sexual desire. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The Company of Wolves begins with an old wives' tale and a warning. A little girl is told stories about beasts that make you shudder with fear and are untrustworthy. Her grandmother tells her these stories to ensure that the little girl remains innocent and pure. However, Red Riding Hood learns stories from these old women about these wolves and how they preyed on innocent townsfolk; she took him and, instead of cowering before him like prey, she asserted her dominance before the wolf. Old wives' tales are intended to frighten him into obedience; to keep her a little girl, her mother and grandmother strive to kill all curiosity. They said to him: “Fear and flee the wolf; for, worse still, the wolf is perhaps more than he seems” (Carter 111). This echoes the idea that boys will be boys; they don't know how to control themselves. Women take it upon themselves to teach their daughters stereotypical male behaviors and that good women are not supposed to engage in such behaviors. The women in this story, with the exception of the heroine, could almost be called antagonists. They discourage her from exploring her sexuality and sexual desires using scare tactics in the hopes that their youngest, prettiest child will remain civilized and innocent. However, in doing so, there is a disconnect in their care of him; the heroine doesn't seem to care that her grandmother was eaten by this wolf. She actively rejects her teacher on how good girls should behave. Without her grandmother, no one can force her to conform to the rules of their society, but even when her grandmother dies, the clicking of her bones is meant to serve as a warning against the wolf. The red shawl not only symbolizes her coming into her womanhood, but it also physically protects her body from wolves. As a developing young woman, “her breasts have just started to swell” and she has started her period; her grandmother makes the cape to protect her granddaughter from prey (Carter 113). She burns her cape to show how much sheis not afraid of the wolf. She burns her clothes to reject her civilized way of life and accept an animal way of life. Carter says, “She rolled up her shawl and threw it on the fire, which instantly consumed it” (Carter 117). Once she threw the shawl into the fire, she immediately found relief from the pressures of being in a civilized society. She does not want this life for herself; instead, she allows the wolf to introduce her to the world of sexual desire and to act on her natural instincts rather than learned behaviors. The shawl is the first thing she burns because it is the antithesis of what she wants to be and what the wolf can teach her. Once the shawl is burned, she begins to undress to embrace her natural body. “The fine muslin ignited in the fireplace like a magic bird and now her skirt, her woolen stockings, her shoes came out, and they went to the fire too and were gone for good” (Carter 118). She undresses to slowly show that she is ready to shed everything she has been taught. Then she undresses the wolf to put them on an equal footing. Neither has an advantage and is in no immediate danger because they are the same gender exposed opposite each other. This story is not a love story; it's all about lust and a biological hunger for sex. The description of the heroine makes it clear that she does not intend to love the wolf. Rather, she is eager to explore sexual desire within herself. Their roles have reversed; she is supposed to be afraid of the wolf because his intention is to eat her. Ultimately, the act of having sex and the act of consuming another being are closely linked. She “burst out laughing; she knew she was no one’s meat” when the wolf said he was going to eat her (Carter 118). It ended up being two hungry beings devouring each other instead of a predator devouring its prey. Often, nature has served as a place to find one's truth. Carter placed Red Riding Hood in the woods because she is supposed to begin searching for her sexual truth. Even though the wolf wishes to pursue her sexually, it would have been a different story if he had deliberately sought her out in the comfort of his nurturing community. Red Riding Hood finds herself in the woods without the protection of her mother or grandmother; she wants to explore sexual desires and is in an ideal position to do so. Instead of following what people tell her to do when she goes into the woods, she acts on her animal instincts and sexual desires. The wolf is dirty and untrustworthy while she is pure and clean thanks to continued grooming and sheltering her family. She loses her virginity to the wolf; she sheds her blood and immediately loses the innocence with which her family protected her. Her instincts told her that she needed to experience her sexual awakening because she had no other opportunity to do so. Since the loss of virginity is often associated with marriage in civilized society, Red Riding Hood found herself making a sort of commitment to the wolf by having sex with him. “She will lay her fearful head on his knees and she will pull the lice from his skin and maybe she will put the lice in his mouth and eat them, as he asks her, as she would in a ceremony wild wedding. » (Carter 118). Lice are the quintessential sign that someone is not clean; Red Riding Hood says that maybe she would put the lice in her mouth to show that she is voluntarily becoming impure. She didn't get wolf lice while they were having sex; she takes them into herself with enthusiasm as part of her new life. Keep in mind:.