The Female Protagonists in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been and Disney

Have people ever considered any of their favorite stories one reads from this era, to be like those of fairy tales of old? Especially the story, “Where are you going, where have you been”. This unnerving story about a girl named Connie, who is very beautiful, and she knows it. She catches the eye of one named Arnold Friend who ends up not being a friend at all. Within this story one can see three fairy tales, which are Disney’s Snow White, Rapunzel and most of all Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood.

First is Snow White “folklorists have identified more than 400 versions of this wonderful fairy tale.” (Schulte-Peevers, Andrea) The reason why Connie is closer to snow white in the Disney version is because, both her and Snow White are dreaming of a prince that will whisk them away to a better place. A prince that is gentle and kind that will come to her on a noble steed in Connie’s case and real nice car. They also saw their Prince for just a little bit before there final meeting where they are being taken away by their princes. Connie is also like the Evil Queen with always checking the mirrors gawking at her beauty, and always checking her beauty compared to others. They also want someone dead, but one of them does not hire someone to do so. Her sister June is also like Snow-white with them both being kind and being a help around the house. There is not anything bad is said about June in her case by her mother or Snow-white other than when Connie, Arnold Friend, and the Evil Queen says about June and Snow White’s character. This also brings us to Arnold Friend who is close to the Prince Charming and the Evil Queen. The way he is Similar to prince charming is in his looks and having a majestic steed even though it may not be white like the one in Snow White. That they fell in love with their princesses when they first saw them in their first meeting. Now how he is also like the Evil Queen well in this fact they both must disguise themselves as a different age to get close to the people they are after. Which works and they both achieved their goals even though one only achieved their goal without dying in the end or having it being cured.

Second is Rapunzel, well mostly, Tangled from Disney. The reason why this is the other fairy tale that has similarities to “Where are you going, where have you been” is that both Connie and Rapunzel were both kidnapped from their families. They both took very good care of their hair; they are both pretty and both felt like they were trapped. They also had both of their princes take them out of their house when their families were away taking care of food. That someone does fall in love with them, well if one could count what Arnold Friend was feeling was love.

Finally, Little Red Riding Hood by Charles Perrault, one of the reasons why this fairy tale is closest to “where are you going, where have you been.” Is that both Little red riding hood and Connie are very pretty girls and both like talking to strangers. When the wolf and Arnold Friend saw Little red riding hood and Connie for the first time, they both wanted to go after their prey and devour them, “but they dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the forest.” (Andrew Lang) So, they waited in their own ways to get their prey one probably longer than the other. Both the wolf and Arnold Friend have killed one other person in their stories who were the woman down the road from Connie and Little red riding hood’s Grandmother. The wolf mimicked Little red riding hood’s voice to have Little red riding hood’s Grandmother tell him how he could get in, when he came to consume her, and Arnold Friend started to sound like the man on the radio to try and give ease to Connie. On that Sunday Connie was enjoying herself in the sun and listening to music and Little red riding hood “entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and gathering bouquets of little flowers” (Andrew Lang) on their last day. Connie notices that there is something wrong with Arnold Friend the fact that he was way older than her, and the fact that he is not as tall as he seemed. This is the same with Little red riding hood, she noticed that Grandma had large arms, legs, ears, and teeth. In the end, the Wolf and Arnold Friend get their ladies, one might say that the wolf would lose his girl, but “in Charles Perrault’s version 1697, the story concludes with the wolf devouring the child, it is the Grimm Brothers’ version where she and Grandmother are rescued by the wood cutter.”( Red Riding Hood) While Arnold Friend kidnaps Connie achieving his goal in making her his.

Even the moral of the story of Little red riding hood also works for “Where are you going, where have been”. Here is the moral of the story for Little Red Riding Hood, “children, and Teens should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf, but there are various kinds of wolves. Some are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.” (Andrew Lang) Arnold Friend is one of those gentle wolves at first and then becomes a bit aggressive towards the end. As one can see Snow White, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood are related to the story “Where are you going, where have you been.