The entry scene of departure is among the most popular scenes among the illustrators. Most of them never bother with the questions:
- Where is Red Cap's father?
- Why mother can't escort her daughter through the dangerous forest?
- What is so important to keep Red Cap's mother at home?
Even more, they mostly portrayed the mother and the daughter close together, touching or holding as a loving unit that is going apart just because of the circumstances.
Paula Ebner's illustration is a bit different. She created distance between mother and daughter. This distance can be understood as physical (the girl is already off the road), emotional (maybe the relationship between mother and daughter, or mother and grandmother is not good), and symbolic (Red Cap is old enough to go on her own, she should be ready to deal with some risk).
There are also a few hens in the scene. Maybe Red Cap's mother is just too busy?
Here we are at the first of the two encounters between the girl and the wolf. Little Red Cap is too naive to read the real wolf's intentions and gives him too much of info about her granny's house. She doesn't follow the advice of her mother which clearly suggests she is still immature and incapable of taking care of herself.
'Don't talk to strangers' and 'Don't stray from the path' are two of the most well-known pieces of pieces of advice given in the literature.
The scene of picking flowers is especially popular among German illustrators and Pauli Ebner is no exception. The image of a young, innocent, and irresponsible girl who is killing time in the blooming meadow while her grandmother (just 'betrayed' by her) is being eaten by a beast is totally in tune with the tutorial mission the fairy tales should carry to the young audience.
At least the Brothers Grimm believed so.
The wolf and the grandmother have completely different businesses at the same time. The illustrator decided to make the scene very tense and scary, with the big bad wolf climbing onto the bed, and threatening the ill old lady.
She is obviously scared but there is not much to do. There is no help to count on and granny's death is imminent.
Here we are at the most popular scene in Red Cap and maybe the most recognizable scene in world literature. The poor gullible girl finally got to her grandmother's hut to cheer her up but found a strange creature instead of her old friend.
Wolf is disguised, of course, but he is not very convincing. If we think a bit, he didn't need to disguise himself at all. He is clearly stronger than the little girl and could eat her right after she gets close enough. Yet, he takes some time to play with the Red Cap, pretending to be her granny just to enjoy her growing astonishment and fear.
Why are your eyes so big?
Why are your ears so huge?
Why are your hands ...
You already know what follows.
Red Cap is a story with a happy ending. Even though the grandmother and the granddaughter are eaten, a surprising twist happens. By chance, a hunter comes by and hears the wolf's snoring.
We must not forget, that the wolf is a wild animal driven by instincts. Instead of leaving the crime scene and finding a safe place for digestion, he just stays in the granny's bed and enjoys the nap. Hunter uses the opportunity to cut his stomach, save both victims, and destroy the beast once and for all.
Please, note:
- there are many similarities with Wolf and the Seven Kids,
- this is not the only version of Little Red Cap,
- the story of Red Cap can be interpeted in many different ways.