I grimm, cappuccitto rosso E napoleone
Grimm's n. 26 tale, Rotkdppchen ("Little Red Riding Hood"), is often read as a political tale: a protest against the Napoleonic invasion of Germany. Such an interpretation is founded on a study by Hans-Wolf Jager (1974), based on the analysis of a theatrical piece by Ludwig Tieck (Leben und Tod des kleinen Rotkappshens, 1800). According to Jager, Tieck's was an anti-French tale, and from it the Grimms had taken the idea for constructing their anti-Napoleonic narration. Reassessing Jager's argumentations, this essay wishes to demonstrate that Tieck's work has a very different character, and thus, that such a political interpretation of Grimm's tale totally lacks of evidence.