Lake District Motif
The Lake District is an area in the north of England that as its name suggests is renowned for its series of large lakes around which villages and communities have formed and grown. It is an area of wild countryside and large open spaces, and this was especially true during the time in which Beatrix Potter lived there. A constant motif in Potter's books is the countryside where she lived. It is often described in the story itself and also pictured in the illustrations that Potter published inside the books.
The little villages that make up the Lake District also appear regularly, for example, the tailor, the village shop, the little laundry service that Mrs Tiggy-Winkle provides - all of these are centered around the community that Potter called home. Whilst the countryside in general is an ongoing motif it is the specific environment of the Lakes that helps to paint a more vibrant picture of a community of anthropomorphic country animals and present them as living side by side with their human neighbors.
Tailor of Gloucester Allegory
The story of the Tailor of Gloucester is an allegory of a real-life event that Potter witnessed at a tailor's workshop that she often frequented. Of course, she added some poetic and fantastical license (unfortunately in real life the mice did not finish the tailor's sewing for him) but in real-life, the tailor protected a "family" of mice from his cat, which prompted Potter to create the heartwarming story that she also confessed to friends was her favorite.
Housework Symbol
Potter stated that she wrote about Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and her laundry service mainly to appeal to little girls, and that all of the tales that centered around home-making or household chores were directed at her young female readers. This admission, and the way in which the tales that were written with female readers in mind center around housework, is a symbol of the roles that women were consigned to in Potter's lifetime. She had some frustration with this but also by writing books in this way bought into the stereotype as well. The tales also symbolize the expectation that home making and housework were enough for women and that they would be content with a life consisting of this.
Ginger and Pickles Allegory
Ginger and Pickles were a cat and a dog respectively who ran a corner store in the little Lake District village in which their particular tale was set. The setting and the story itself is allegorical, the corner shop being based on one in Smihy Lane, Sawrey, where Potter lived. The villagers would visit the store when they needed to purchase something, but also when they did not, because they also liked to go there to exchange gossip. The owner of the real shop in Smithy Lane was actually bedridden and told Potter that sometimes he felt that he could pass for a doormouse, and so she made him a character in the book - John Dormouse. Ginger was an allegory of a real life cat owned by a school teacher in Sawrey.
The book created quite a stir in the little village of Sawrey because all of the villagers claimed to be able to recognize different people in the characters, and there was quite a buzz of interest in who the real-life inspirations were.
Little Red Riding Hood Allegory
Potter told many friends, and her publisher, that The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck was actually an allegory, or a re-working, of the story of Little Red Riding-Hood. Jemima and her eggs are a new version of Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. The farmer's wife is a substitute for Riding Hood's mother and the fox and the wolf have obvious similarities, both pretending to be friendly when in reality they are plotting the downfall and likely planning to eat their prey (Riding Hood and Jemima). The dogs in Jemima's tale are allegorical of the woodcutters in the original fairy tale. Both tales are multi-level in that they appeal to children as a tale of good versus bad and they speak to adult readers about temptation.
