Why do you think Carol Anne Duffy opens the collection with ‘Little Red Cap’?

‘The World’s Wife’ is a collection of poems written by Carol Anne Duffy, a British poet who was almost made poet laureate in 1999. The collection portrays many famous historical, mythical and biblical characters through the eyes of the women behind the men. Duffy’s poetry is often seen to be controversial and many critics have called this collection ‘ feminist propaganda’. Duffy opens ‘The World’s Wife’ with ‘Little Red Cap’, a poem based on the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood although it takes an unusual perspective on the classic tale.

I think one of the main reasons that Duffy chooses to open the collection with this poem is that it is said to be one of her most autobiographical poems. The poem begins ‘At childhood’s end’ and goes on a journey through to adolescence which may reflect Duffy’s own personal journey of growing up. Through the use of an autobiographical poem Duffy is not only introducing her poetry to the reader but also herself. ‘Little Red Cap’ uses the main events of the traditional tale but takes away some of the innocence behind it, for example sexual references are made such as, ‘ I clung till dawn to his thrashing fur.’. However the idea that this is a very universal, well known tale may be one of the reasons Duffy chooses to open the collection with this poem, as many readers would be able to relate to it. The majority of readers would be able to relate to the line, ‘What big ears he had! What big eyes he had!’ as one of the main quotes from the fairytale, however Duffy takes this line out of context to give a twist on the tale. Some of the other poems which contain lesser known characters, such as Penelope or Mrs Sisyphus, may not have made such an impact as the first poem ad the ideas and concepts behind the collection would not initially be as clear as the original stories may not be as quickly understood.

By presenting ‘Little Red Cap’ as the first poem in the collection Duffy also prepares the reader for the following poems. This poem shares the similar idea as many of the other poems that where in the past men have been the primary source of information, now it is the time for women to have their say. The whole idea of a twist on a well known story is continued throughout the collection.