Wolves in the Woods: An Ecocritical Analysis of Natural Motifs in Marissa Meyer’s Scarlet

Abstract

Marissa Meyer is a popular American author of young adult literature, known for writing retellings of famous fairy tales. One of her best-known works is The Lunar Chronicles (2012-2015), a speculative fiction series of which Scarlet (2013) is the second instalment. The novel is loosely based on “Little Red Riding Hood”, centring on Scarlet Benoit and her endeavour to save her kidnapped grandmother. To do so, she joins forces with Ze’ev Kesley, nicknamed “Wolf”, and must leave her grandmother’s farm and travel to the city (the futuristic Paris). Meyerʼs protagonist is an active heroine, an agent in her own journey, while the places she travels through and animals she encounters are not typical, fairy tale topoi serving only as metaphors for human concerns. Instead, they are represented as having innate value, inviting an ecocritical reading. In addition, the novel comments on ecological issues and paints a sharp contrast between the countryside and the cityscape. The article presents an ecocritical analysis of the motifs of the forest and the wolf in Scarlet, tracing their transformation from the traditional versions of “Little Red Riding Hood”. It also explores Meyer’s representation of the future Earth and follows Scarlet’s journey to show how the city has become the main locus of danger, with the text promoting a stronger link between humans and nature.

Keywords

• marissa meyer
• little red riding hood
• scarlet
• ecocriticism
• speculative fiction
• fairytales