Girls and Wolves

In "Towards a Feminist Poet" Showalter mentions that "in some women's literature, feminine values penetrate and undermine the masculine systems which contain them" and Carter does just that when the girl in The Company of Wolves seems to take control of her vulnerable situation by attacking the wolf in some way. Angela Carter's The Company of Wolves is a twist to little red riding hood that enforces the feminine nature. The young girl in the story is portrayed as being both vulnerable and also as a strong fearless female. The child is fearless when she is traveling in the woods although "children do not stay young for long in this savage country'. She brings a knife with her but she also has never had reason to fear the woods. Mentioning that she is still a virgin may protect her. "She is an unbroken egg; she is a sealed vessel; she has inside her a magic space the entrance to which is shut tight with a plug of membrane; she is a closed system; she does not known how to shiver. She has her knife and she is afraid of nothing." However, because she is a virgin, her sexuality is somehow increased and she looks more like the perfect victim. This passage can be interpreted in two ways; the young girl's virginal status keeps her protected or it increases her chances of danger in the woods. The girl also shows that she may be vulnerable in the forest when she chooses to trust the strange man she encounters in the forest. She even allows him to take her basket, which has the knife and promises to keep her safe with his rifle. But, when she arrives at her grandmother’s house, although she says she senses danger, she seems calm and collected and even laughs when he threatens to eat her.