Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton’s poem "Red Riding Hood" reimagines the familiar fairy tale as a vehicle for exploring themes of deception, vulnerability, and the cyclical nature of life and death. In this retelling, Sexton weaves together the story of Little Red Riding Hood with contemporary vignettes of deceit, making the classic tale resonate with modern anxieties.

The poem opens with a series of modern deceptions, where ordinary characters—like a suburban matron and a stand-up comic—live duplicitous lives. These initial stanzas set the tone for the poem by illustrating how deceit is not just a relic of fairy tales but a pervasive element of everyday life. The matron, who appears proper and grounded in her domestic routine, secretly plans to meet a lover, demonstrating how appearances can be deceiving. Similarly, the comedian, who entertains millions, hides a deep despair that leads to his suicide. These stories of modern deception serve as a prelude to the more traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood, grounding the fairy tale in the reality of human experience.

When Sexton transitions into the story of Little Red Riding Hood, she does so with a wry, almost cynical tone, questioning the logic and morality of the tale. The poem maintains a sense of disbelief and irony, evident in lines like "Wine and cake? / Where’s the aspirin? The penicillin? / Where’s the fruit juice?" Here, Sexton critiques the absurdity of sending a child into the woods with such an inappropriate care package for an ailing grandmother, highlighting the irrationality often found in traditional stories.

As the narrative unfolds, Sexton retains the core elements of the original story but infuses them with a sense of inevitability and doom. The wolf, described as a "deceptive fellow," becomes a symbol of the predatory nature of deception, lurking beneath the surface of polite society. Red Riding Hood’s encounter with the wolf is portrayed as a meeting with something far more sinister than the innocent child initially perceives. The wolf's trickery, leading to the consumption of both Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, is presented with an unsettling calmness, as if such horrors are to be expected.

The poem reaches its climax with the huntsman’s arrival and the grotesque rescue of Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. The huntsman’s "carnal knife" performs a grim caesarean, releasing the women from the wolf’s belly. This scene is not just a rescue but a rebirth, with the characters emerging from the darkness of the wolf's stomach as if from a womb. Sexton’s choice to describe the event as a "little death" and "little birth" underscores the cyclical nature of life and death, as well as the intertwining of innocence and experience.

The poem concludes with the ironic image of the huntsman, Red Riding Hood, and the grandmother sitting down to eat a meal of wine and cake beside the dead wolf. This ending mirrors the beginning of the tale, where Red Riding Hood originally set out to deliver these items. The circular structure of the poem reinforces the idea that life is a series of repeated patterns—of deception, downfall, and recovery.

Sexton’s "Red Riding Hood" is a dark, modernized retelling of the classic fairy tale, infused with her characteristic wit and insight. By juxtaposing the story of Little Red Riding Hood with vignettes of contemporary life, Sexton emphasizes the timelessness of deception and the human capacity to navigate through it. The poem suggests that while we may encounter wolves—both literal and metaphorical—in our lives, there is also the possibility of rebirth and renewal, even in the face of profound loss and betrayal.

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