The Penelopiad

Firstly, in the Odyssey the narrator is Homer and in the Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood the narrator is Penelope, Odysseus’s wife. Odysseus’s goal in the Odyssey is to tell the story of the hardships he experienced getting home after the Trojan War and the many challenges and obstacles he faced before he finally got back to Ithaca and reclaimed his family and kingdom. Penelope’s goal is to tell her story: her childhood, her marriage, her life in the Underworld, her relationship with her cousin Penelope, and Odysseus’s journey in her own words. The major difference in these two texts is the way Penelope is portrayed. In the Odyssey, Penelope is seen as the typical doting wife who remains faithful to Odysseus despite a plethora of aggressive suitors who pine for her attention and hand in marriage while he is away from home for 20 years. However, the Penelopiad takes a different approach. Penelope is brought to life in this story, and you can see her true personality awakened. She is interesting and very jealous and loathsome of her cousin Helen, who is only really mentioned as King Menelaus’s wife in the Odyssey. Penelope also alludes to the…

Greek mythology although based in ancient times is still prevalent today. Many themes that appear in myths are still maintained in modern adaptations. Homer’s Greek epic, The Odyssey gets a fresh perspective in Margret Atwood’s novel The Penelopiad. Taking place during the same timeline of Odysseus’s long journey home, The Penelopiad brings to life the perspective of his wife, Penelope. Penelope who is miserable and longing her husband’s return has to take care of kingdom he left behind on her…

Scenery, lighting, sound, and costumes are just a few of the theatrical elements that stood out and shaped the live performance of The Penelopiad, written by Margaret Atwood and performed by students in the Department of Theater and Film at Bowling Green State University. The play is narrated in Hades by the main character, Penelope who is haunted by twelve maids. The story line is centered around Penelope’s relationship with her parents, her marriage to Odysseus, dealing with life during the…

Penelope's stream of consciousness begins with the feeling of disgust when she first meets Arnold. For example, when Arnold tried to talk to her, she ruddily replied to him and humiliated him. This is important because this shows how highly she thinks of her self and what she would do to keep her reputation. Penelope teases Arnold because peer pressure forces her to. In order to keep her beloved reputation, she willingly teases him to keep her place and put him down. Penelope even teases…

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…

They plot to kill Prince Telemachus and King Odysseus if he ever returns to Ithaca. Once Odysseus returns home, he remains in disguise until he is certain it is safe for him to reveal his identity. He convinces Penelope to set up a contest for the suitors in which they try to string King Odysseus’s bow, which only he can string, and shot an arrow through twelve axe heads. After he wins the contest, he reveals his true identity to everyone. He and Telemachus plot to slaughter the suitors as well…

Ever wonder what it’s like to meet yourself from someone else’s perspective? Everyone has a different way of seeing and describing one person. One can see this in how characters’ change over time through the works of different authors. A great example of this is Penelope from Greek mythology. Many different authors have examined the character of Penelope and presented her character in different ways. Originally from Homer’s Odyssey, Penelope has been perceived in many different ways, including…

English Essay (How do composers represent a sense of power and powerless?) Harwood’s Mother Who Gave Me Life, Sexton’s Little Girl, My String bean, My Lovely Woman and the novel The Penelopiad by Margaret Attwood all illustrate the restrictions and the resilience associated with feminine power. A woman’s true ability to create life is ultimately the greatest form of resilience inherited. However societal expectations of femininity prevent a woman to excel past the barriers of her patriarchal…

maids is her way of asserting the importance to the narratives from the margins, addressing not just issues of gendre but also those arising out of the intersection of class and gendre. Through the incorporation of two narratives in the novella, Atwood challenges the hegemonic monopoly of a single narrative voice and provides a deeper understanding of the already known story. Indeed by focusing upon the emotions of women through the projection of the various occurences Atwood instills a need for…

In ancient Greece, women were objects to be won. In The Odyssey by Homer, Penelope is shown as a one sided character. She only weeps and waits for Odysseus. She is portrayed as an eternally faithful wife. In The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, we see another side of Penelope. The book is set in the underworld after they have all died and Penelope is telling her side of the story. She is shown as a strong, clever, deceptive woman. She is a more developed character and actually has opinions and…