Penelope the Executioner
By who would send such a weightless being to judge my life? My thoughts are deep and my memory long; - “Penelope’s Stubbornness” by Louise Gluck
There are countless interpretations of Penelope from the Odyssey. Most commonly, she is a representative for marital fidelity and chasteness. Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Penelopiad, brings several more readings of Penelope into the mix of all the other different versions of Penelope. Atwood’s writing offers countless ways to interpret Penelope, ranging from a cunning and pragmatic feminist to a shrewd and bitter pessimist to a bored and lonely housewife. One interpretation of Penelope is highlighted by her relationships with the maids. She is illustrated as a manipulative …show more content…
Penelope full well knows that asking the maids to infiltrate the ring of suitors will lead them to being raped and assaulted. As the maids begin to spy, many come to Penelope saying they had fallen victim to such atrocities, but she does little to help the maids. The maids, who are raped, should be cared for physically and emotionally after the fact by Penelope herself because she is the one who puts them in danger. She instead makes Eurycleia help the maids. “I comforted the girls as best as I could… The ones that had been raped needed to be tended and cared for. I put this task into the hands of old Eurycleia,” (Atwood, p. 116). Penelope claims she is doing her best to ease the maids’ sufferings but leaves the nurturing and nursing to Eurycleia in her place. Penelope instructs the maids to continue their spying because she claims it serves the master well despite knowing they will most like be harmed again. She even tells them that they should pretend to be in love the men to help them endure the hardships. These actions are not of a woman who truly cares for these girls as she says she does. They are of a woman who cares more about her own gain than the safety of others. In the end, Penelope’s devices lead directly to the maid’s execution at the hands of Odysseus and Telemachus because she fails to defend them. Odysseus and Telemachus …show more content…
She even admits to their deaths being her fault, but she does nothing before their death to ensure their safety. One significant way Penelope could have protected the maids is by letting Eurycleia in on her plan to spy on the suitors. Explaining the plan Eurycleia would allow her to help the twelve young maids to cope with the suitors and by defending their faithfulness to whoever questions it. The deaths of the maids could be avoided if Eurycleia knew that the maids are not disloyal to Odysseus. After all the caring Eurycleia does for the maids, she shows her trustworthiness to Penelope, so why would Penelope not clue her into the spying? The simple answer is that Penelope did not see the usefulness of telling Eurycleia; however, Penelope is more complicated than that. Penelope displays signs of not trusting maids, which clouds her judgment about the safety of the young maids “There could be more sinister explanation. What if Eurycleia was aware of my agreement with the maids…? What if she singled them out and had them killed out of resentment at being excluded,” (161). Penelope’s suspicion of maids overshadows her sorrow for the twelve young maids because instead of grieving for the loss, she focuses on her paranoia of
By who would send such a weightless being to judge my life? My thoughts are deep and my memory long; - “Penelope’s Stubbornness” by Louise Gluck
There are countless interpretations of Penelope from the Odyssey. Most commonly, she is a representative for marital fidelity and chasteness. Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Penelopiad, brings several more readings of Penelope into the mix of all the other different versions of Penelope. Atwood’s writing offers countless ways to interpret Penelope, ranging from a cunning and pragmatic feminist to a shrewd and bitter pessimist to a bored and lonely housewife. One interpretation of Penelope is highlighted by her relationships with the maids. She is illustrated as a manipulative …show more content…
Penelope full well knows that asking the maids to infiltrate the ring of suitors will lead them to being raped and assaulted. As the maids begin to spy, many come to Penelope saying they had fallen victim to such atrocities, but she does little to help the maids. The maids, who are raped, should be cared for physically and emotionally after the fact by Penelope herself because she is the one who puts them in danger. She instead makes Eurycleia help the maids. “I comforted the girls as best as I could… The ones that had been raped needed to be tended and cared for. I put this task into the hands of old Eurycleia,” (Atwood, p. 116). Penelope claims she is doing her best to ease the maids’ sufferings but leaves the nurturing and nursing to Eurycleia in her place. Penelope instructs the maids to continue their spying because she claims it serves the master well despite knowing they will most like be harmed again. She even tells them that they should pretend to be in love the men to help them endure the hardships. These actions are not of a woman who truly cares for these girls as she says she does. They are of a woman who cares more about her own gain than the safety of others. In the end, Penelope’s devices lead directly to the maid’s execution at the hands of Odysseus and Telemachus because she fails to defend them. Odysseus and Telemachus …show more content…
She even admits to their deaths being her fault, but she does nothing before their death to ensure their safety. One significant way Penelope could have protected the maids is by letting Eurycleia in on her plan to spy on the suitors. Explaining the plan Eurycleia would allow her to help the twelve young maids to cope with the suitors and by defending their faithfulness to whoever questions it. The deaths of the maids could be avoided if Eurycleia knew that the maids are not disloyal to Odysseus. After all the caring Eurycleia does for the maids, she shows her trustworthiness to Penelope, so why would Penelope not clue her into the spying? The simple answer is that Penelope did not see the usefulness of telling Eurycleia; however, Penelope is more complicated than that. Penelope displays signs of not trusting maids, which clouds her judgment about the safety of the young maids “There could be more sinister explanation. What if Eurycleia was aware of my agreement with the maids…? What if she singled them out and had them killed out of resentment at being excluded,” (161). Penelope’s suspicion of maids overshadows her sorrow for the twelve young maids because instead of grieving for the loss, she focuses on her paranoia of