The story of the novel The Penelopiad by Margret Atwood, set in a twenty first century, where Penelope herself narrates her story at Hades and her relationships with her parents, Odysseus and with Helen (her cousin). The story is frequently interrupted, in the form of chanting and singing, by twelve hanged maids, asking questions about their brutal murder and making comments on the events in the plot. Though the story of Penelope is indulged in the domestic details of her life of being a daughter, wife and mother, and then a queen who alone has to manage her husband’s estates on the island of Ithaca for twenty years. While, Atwood’s novel argues for the instability and the subjectivity of truth based on her exploration and approach to retelling …show more content…
In spite of being ruled by men in her entire life, Penelope remains patient and not only dexterously runs Odysseus’s state, but also cunningly manipulates the suitors in the ploy of shroud weaving. In addition, Atwood depicts the melancholy life of Penelope in the chapters of her childhood, marriage, slanderous gossip and suitors stuff their faces, where she struggles for her dignity and existence. Thus, the author often favours matriarch, opposes the double standard between genders and the roles imparted to boys and girls from their early age. Therefore, Atwood wonders that why women not men have to deal with violence, patriarchal oppression, infidelity, and objectification along with indifferent roles as well as duties in the society. Subsequently, Atwood exhibits the face of gender biased society and how female is treated as mere object of pleasure and child birth. As girls learn domestic work such as craft or to do things with hands, whereas, boys get training in bravery or war acts. Similarly, all twelve maids spend their childhood as slaves with no parents or playtime, sing of freedom, and dream of …show more content…
Atwood is playing with two levels of myth here: the Homeric myth of ‘faithful Penelope’ and cultural myths about women as either submissive or domestic (Howell 9). After marriage Penelope spends most of her time alone in boredom and Eurycelia, former nurse of Odysseus, often reminds her duties as wife by saying, “So you can have a nice big son for Odysseus. That’s your job” (63). Furthermore, Atwood recounts the vulnerability of alone woman in the male dominated world. To grab opportunity of being king, a number of suitors assemble at Ithaca, to marry Penelope, and she thinks, “They all were vultures when they spot the dead cow: one drops, then another, until finally every vulture for miles around is tearing up the carcass” (103). Moreover, Atwood argues about the partiality of sexual of freedom along with the vexed relationship between man and woman, as the former can do sex with any other woman such as Odysseus’s affairs with the goddess and whores, but the woman is restricted to marriage like Penelope. The foremost fatuous allegation makes on Penelope is about her faithfulness and loyalty for her husband Odysseus, and she defends herself from any sexual conduct in the chapter, “slanderous gossip”. The death of Amphinomus, the politest suitor among all, leaves the question of marital infidelity among the genders.
Some women are known for the deeds of their sons or husbands, but never for a heroic deed of their own, their personalities, and what they do themselves. It seems the only accomplishment women could achieve was being beautiful. Theseus "had no joy of"(195) the princess Ariadne because she died before this was possible. Homer makes it sound as if Ariadne's life was useless because she did not give Theseus pleasure. The only woman we hear of for a different reason is Klymene, and we only hear of her because she "betrayed her lord for gold."(195) This is the only time we hear of a woman for something she did, and once we do, it is a negative remark. Penelope, Odysseus' queen, is paid attention to only because of her position. Because she has a kingdom, she has suitors crowding around her day and night. Being a woman, Penelope has no control over what the suitors do and cannot get rid of them. The suitors want her wealth and her kingdom. They do not respect her enough to stop feeding on Odysseus' wealth; they feel she owes them something because she won't marry one of them. One of the suitors, Antinoos, tells Telemakhos "...but you should know the suitors are not to blame- it is your own incomparably cunning mother."(21) Even Telemakhos doesn't respect his mother as he should. When the song of a minstrel makes her sad and Penelope requests him to stop playing, Telemakhos interrupts and says to her, "Mother, why do you grudge our own dear minstrel joy of song, wherever his thought may lead.
Despite the number of years that have passed since Odysseus left home, his loyal wife is still clinging onto the hope that he will return. Many “random drifters” come by Odysseus’ house where Penelope is residing and “lie through their teeth,” saying that they of know news regarding the long lost Odysseus. Before even welcoming the “wanderer[s]” into her home, Penelope knows deep down that the truth that they claim to know is a lie. However even with her knowledge, her hopeful heart drives her to tolerate and hear everything that the travelers have to say. She “[presses] for details” and “ushers [them] in” believing that one day, some traveler will come uncovering the truth instead of generating lies. After every falsehood is revealed to Penelope, “warm tears of grief come trickling down her cheeks” and it is as if her heart is breaking all over again after she hears each voyager’s dishonest story. This “loyal wife” is not the kind of woman to give up hope easily, especially in regards to her beloved
Women are often treated as tools to accomplish men’s goals because of this authority and are seen as beings who cannot live without the support of men. In The Odyssey, Penelope, Telemachus’ mother, is used by Telemachus to show his authority as the man of the house by sending her away to her room by his “masterful words” (Homer 186). By doing so he is also warning the suitors who have come to take advantage of the xenia he and his mother provided to them. While Penelope is strong by refusing the passes of the suitors, she maintains the vulnerable image by weeping for Odysseus who has been gone for ten years (Weimer 1). In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Shamhat the Harlot is used as a tool to seduce Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s male partner and friend. Ninsun’s reaction to Enkidu brings to attention to her worries of Gilgamesh being taken away from her, showing that relationships between men were held in much higher regard than mother and son relationship (“The Epic Of” 51-52). Men are depicted more powerful than women thus leading to supporting women, especially those they are related to.
Atwood’s “The Penelopiad”, explores the evolving characterisation of key characters such as Penelope and Odysseus through her postmodernist reimagination of Homer’s classical “The Odyssey”. Through the exploration of the characters, the reader is provided an insight into the context of Atwood’s writing. Her characterisation of Penelope and Odysseus are shaped from our understanding of the characters within “The Odyssey” and allows us to draw comparison between the predominant culture and society of the Homer and Atwood’s writing.
Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each—through her vices or virtues—helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks. Before we delve into the traits of individual characters, it is important to understand certain assumptions about women that prevailed in the Homeric Age. By modern standards, the Ancient Greeks would be considered a rabidly misogynistic culture. Indeed, the notoriously sour Boetian playwright Hesiod-- who wrote about fifty years before Homer-- proclaimed "Zeus who thunders on high made women to be evil to mortal men, with a nature to do evil (Theogony 600).
Firstly, Penelope who plays Odysseus’s wife is alone tending to her city Ithica until her husband returns. Meanwhile Odysseus is out fighting in the Trojan War and against many of the Greek God’s who are trying to make his trip back home as eventful and hard as possible; “…work out his journey home so Odysseus can return” (Homer 276). While King Odysseus is away Penelope is to deal with a bunch of suitors who are eating and trashing out Ithica, “…if those suitors have truly paid in blood for all their reckless outrage” (559). In order for Penelope to keep peace until Odysseus returns she has to come up with a clever plan to keep the suitors from completely taking over. For almost 2 years Penelope was able to keep the suitors from getting out of hand by saying she will find someone to marry and replace Odysseus after she is d...
However, his journey isn’t over yet. This last leg of Odysseus’s journey is perhaps the most important and crucial. Odysseus’s nurse and maidservant, Eurycleia is the first woman in Ithaca to know that Odysseus is back after she recognizes the scar on his leg while she is washing him. Eurycleia vows to keep his identity a secret. Odysseus’s wife, Penelope has stayed faithful to Odysseus for all the years that he was gone. Penelope was consistently unweaving her web to the delay the suitors. The reader even grows sympathetic for Penelope as “we see her struggle to make the virtuous choice about her marriage, despite pressures from her suitors, her son’s endangered situation, and her own uncertainty about Odysseus’s survival” (Foley ). Finally, Odysseus reveals his identity and Penelope is bewildered, but quickly embraces her husband after he tells her the secret of their immovable bed. It is the faithfulness of Penelope and nurse Eurycleia that insures Odysseus’s survival to the very end.
Imagine living a life where you’re treated as an object by perfect strangers and you spend every day missing the love of your life who has been gone for 20 years, all while raising a son by yourself. In Homer’s beautiful poem, The Odyssey readers are introduced to Queen Penelope, wife of Odysseus, mother of Telemachus and fearless leader of Ithaca. On the day of Telemachus’s birth Odysseus went to fight in the Trojan war and did not come back for 20 years, leaving Penelope to raise their son all alone. Penelope not only had to deal with being a single mother but also had to face hundreds of men who arrogantly bombarded her home in hopes of taking her hand in marriage while Odysseus was away. Similar to single mothers today, Penelope was able
The first major female character introduced in this epic is Penelope. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. She is portrayed as a strong-willed widow, who even after not seeing Odysseus for twenty years, keeps her trust in her husband to return home. The main tool is the rule of law, but even before laws customs could be used” (rwaag.org).
The power and influence of women is symbolized in Odysseus’ encounter with the dead in Hades. In the Underworld, Odysseus meets more women than men. He meets his mother and then a “grand array of women” (334). They all were “wives and daughters once of princes” (334). All of them are the legendary women who were the mothers of the greatest Greek lineages. This symbolizes how Greek civilization was founded by women; they were the ones who gave birth to the heroes. Similarly, The Odyssey is a story created by women. The plot revolves around the actions of women. Athena orchestrates all the events. The seductresses, such as Circe, the sirens, and Calypso, attempt to stop Odysseus from reaching home. The helpmeets, such as Nausicaa, Arete, and Athena, aid Odysseus in his homecoming. The wise and virtuous Penelope is the object of Odysseus’ quest. Unlike Helen who forsakes her husband, Penelope remains faithful. Unlike Clytemnestra who assassinates her husband, Penelope patiently waits for Odysseus. She becomes a model of female patience and of female intelligence. Her craftiness is the only one which can match up to Odysseus’. The Odyssey presents a wide array of women and demonstrates the influence that women have in the life of a
Within the Penelopiad, Atwood’s responds to the cultural values of Homer’s Odyssey through the characterisation of Penelope. Penelope’s narrative perspective exposes aspects of gender and class relationships that the Homeric original ignores. Atwood couples this with multiple genres and an emphasis on the process of myth formation. This serves to challenge the construction of the Odyssey as a tool to encode social norms. However, this focus on subjectivity also emphasises the unreliable female narration of the Penelopiad. Conflict between these female characters reinforces values imposed within the Odyssey. Penelope’s interaction with other women demonstrates her compliance with Homeric ideas about class and gender. To a major extent, the
Odysseus on numerous occasions, is unfaithful to Penelope. Penelope however, remains loyal to Odysseus and she is praised by greek society for it while Odysseus is never seen as adulterous for his disloyalty. However, one could argue that Odysseus’s relationship with Calypso is non-consensual, as she used her power over him as a goddess to control him and keep him on the island. In the end, however, Penelope and Telemachus are the main reasons Odysseus continues his journey home to Ithaca. The other marriage we are introduced to is the relationship between Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra. When Agamemnon returned from war, his wife and her lover murdered him. He sees this as a cruel act of deceit, despite the fact that he killed their daughter. Agamemnon views Clytemnestra, and other women as evil and untrustworthy. In book eleven he tells Odysseus, “So, there’s nothing more deadly, bestial than a women set on works like these, what a monstrous thing she plotted, slaughtered her own lawful husband!” Agamemnon makes this generalization and doesn’t take into consideration that he also cheated on his wife and probably murdered numerous
Such a society obviously places severe restrictions on the position of women and what is considered to be acceptable behaviour for women”. (Whittaker 39) Penelope is forced to step out of the typical Homeric Greek woman role in order to make sure Odysseus has a success homecoming. She does this by proving to be clever, like her husband, when she tricks the suitors, claiming that she will choose one once she finishes a burial shroud for Laertes. Every night she undoes the weaving she has done for the day. This works until some of her house servants catch her. Another example of this trickery, is her promise to marry any suitor that can string and shoot Odysseus 's bow. Penelope knew no one but Odysseus could do this. There are many different interpretations of Penelope 's role as a woman in this moment of the epic. Homer has Penelope show a role that isn’t what you would normally see in a Homeric Greek woman. She depicts that she can be just as manipulative as a man can
Women play an influential role in The Odyssey. Women appear throughout the story, as goddesses, wives, princesses, or servants. The nymph Calypso enslaves Odysseus for many years. Odysseus desires to reach home and his wife Penelope. It is the goddess Athena who sets the action of The Odyssey rolling; she also guides and orchestrates everything to Odysseus’ good. Women in The Odyssey are divided into two classes: seductresses and helpmeets. By doing so, Homer demonstrates that women have the power to either hinder of help men. Only one woman is able to successfully combine elements of both classes: Penelope. She serves as a role model of virtue and craftiness. All the other women are compared to and contrasted with Penelope.
For some odd reason, it seemed that men were allowed to be philanderers while their wives stayed at home. This is evidenced in the Odyssey quite well- Odysseus the?hero? is free to sample all the pretty ladies he cares for, whereas Penelope, his wife, is expected to fend off all the suitors at home. Predictably, Penelope melts into his arms when she realizes it is her long-lost husband without pausing to consider what he has done in his absence. This reaction portrays the unequal morals of Greek society regarding gender.