How has Carol Ann Duffy rewritten/transformed a known text or story? How can her versions have the same characters, but be “about” something different?

Analysis of ‘little red cap’

Each well-known text is taken and altered in a way that fits the overarching theme of the poetry. For example one of her poems –  ‘little red cap’ is a take on little red riding hood, this is a classic story; typically told to infants as they are growing up, the moral of the story is to never talk to strangers. In this case, ‘little red cap’ enhances this moral and addresses a taboo topic of oppressive relationships between women and men. By taking a children’s tale and amplify it to match the intensity of this topic, it allows for a lighter and creative approach of portraying a global issue that occurs frequently today. The incorporation of the original little red riding hood ending into a ‘little red cap’ allows for a well-known tale to portray an alternative message and cause a powerful, or rather a distinctive message of happiness and fearless woman who are gaining empowerment through the realization of oppression, Evidence : ‘ I took an axe to the wolf, as he slept, one chop, scrotum to throat, and saw the glistening, virgin white of my grandmothers bones. I filled his belly with stones. I stitched him up. Out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone.’  Furthermore, Carol Ann Duffy uses a large amount of symbolism through various objects and items. For example the white dove is a representation of freedom and by the ‘wolf’ eating it in on bite, this portrays the elimination of freedom in oppressive relationships, and how easy it is for a man to take the freedom away from a woman, Evidence: ‘One bite’