There are several contemporary poetry collections critiquing fairy tales; one even focuses on a specific fairy tale throughout.
Jessica Q. Stark frequently references Little Red Riding Hood and similar stories throughout her collection to address common feminist issues. Four of her poems are even called "Little Red Riding Hood," while another is called "Little Red Cap," and even more mention "Red" somewhere in the title.
Accompanying several of Stark's poems are illustrations, mostly pictures from her life but some illustrations of Little Red Riding Hood. One such illustration accompanies "Phylogenetics" at the beginning of the collection (despite the title). Another accompanies "Little Red Hat: An Intermission" and one more accompanying "Little Red Cap." All pictures have cutouts or pastings as well.
Even though Stark splits her collection into three sections, the themes remain similar: describing the fear girls and women face (whether or not it relates to Little Red Riding Hood). Stark uses the tale to illustrate how girls and women face restrictions because of the danger; she writes in the first line of the third stanza in "Phylogenetics," "Why not a hard-edge (for once) let the girl wander where she pleases."
In several poems, Stark uses the wolf as an allegory for an abusive man. One poem in which she does so is "A Wolf Promises Happiness, or Still Life as a Fruit Basket." In a poem, a man with cigarette-smelling breath named Linh asks Red to stay, only to see him beside a paved road at sunset.
Stark's poems are not always easy to contextualize within the greater theme, especially those that don't specifically mention problems. For instance, "Little Red Cap" merely summarized the story after mentioning the grandmother "did not know what to give the child." Yet, how is a red hood antifeminist?
Stark employed free-form poems throughout her collection; some have linear stanzas, others appear in disarray with indents and extra spaces, and others look more like paragraphs. The variety of poetic structure helps to engage readers, especially those who tend to grow weary of the same thing over again. It can also inspire readers to write a variety of poems themselves.
Regardless, for a real-world look at the Little Red Riding Hood story and the danger girls and women face, Buffalo Girl serves as an interesting read. A bonus is an appendix at the end describing various versions of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story.
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