Henryson and Perrault

Henryson’s moralitas for his fables keep reminding my of Charles Perrault’s morals for his fairy tales, so I thought I’d share one. Perrault tells many of the more "traditional" versions of fairy tales (though what is a "traditional" fairy tale is another line of discussion all together). Like Henryson, Perrault also likes to write little morals at the end of most of his fairy tales. The following is the moral for Little Red Riding Hood. In Perrault’s version, there is no hunter-rescuer, and the grandmother and Little Red do not get rescued. The fairy tale ends with the wolf saying, “The better to eat you with!” And then “upon saying these words, the wicked wolf threw himself on Little Red Riding Hood and gobbled her up” (Perrault 13).

Moral
From this story one learns that children,
Especially young girls,
Pretty, well-bred, and genteel,
Are wrong to listen to just anyone,
And it’s not at all strange,
If a wolf ends up eating them.
I say a wolf, but not all wolves
Are exactly the same.
Some are perfectly charming,
Not loud, brutal, or angry,
But tame, pleasant, and gentle,
Following young ladies
Right into their homes, into their chambers,
But watch out if you haven’t learned that tame wolves
Are the most dangerous of all. (Perrault 13)

Henryson reminds me of Perrault because they both tend to write morals to express their own views of society. Perrault’s morals feel more didactic, more cut-and-dry, but both writers are pedagogical.


**Citations from:

Perrault, Charles. “Little Red Riding Hood.” The Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. Maria Tatar. New York: Norton, 1999. 11-13.